Topic: Curly's screen test - oh boy

[falsealarms]

[youtube=425,350]ezJUKCCeMB4[/youtube]

[stooged and confused]

What the? What was this, anyway?

[falsealarms]

What the? What was this, anyway?

I have no idea "what" it is... other than something on youtube.

[Giff me dat fill-em!]

... a "less-than" passable imitation of Curly. howsomeever ...
imitation is the best form of splattery. (got the voice down perty good - maybe he should get a "screen test" with the Farrelly's)

[stooged and confused]

I agree. It was a lukewarm impersonation, at best. On the slate, I saw the name Farrelly. Was this a mock screen test that this guy was sending to be considered or an actual screen test? If it was, they should KEEP LOOKING!! Too bad John Candy is gone. He and Joe Flarety and Eugene Levy (from SCTV)would have made an awesome Curly, Larry and Moe in their younger years.

[locoboymakesgood]

I agree. It was a lukewarm impersonation, at best. On the slate, I saw the name Farrelly. Was this a mock screen test that this guy was sending to be considered or an actual screen test? If it was, they should KEEP LOOKING!! Too bad John Candy is gone. He and Joe Flarety and Eugene Levy (from SCTV)would have made an awesome Curly, Larry and Moe in their younger years.

Didn't they do a Stooge sketch on SCTV at some point? I seem to remember John Candy as Curly for some reason..

[stooged and confused]

Yes, they did! And it was pretty good. In fact, if you look at Eugene Levy's performance in the Tom Hanks comedy "Splash", he is totally channeling Moe.

[locoboymakesgood]

I gotta see if I can find that sketch on YouTube, or scan through some of the DVD sets. I remember it from when I was a kid. I think Nick @ Nite showed it then, so we're talking ages ago..

[stooged and confused]

It's not on any of the Shout Factory DVD sets. There are some skits with John Candy doing a Curly impression or Stooge mentions, but the skit that John, Eugene and Joe did as the Stooges are not on any of the released sets.

Not all of the SCTV episodes have made it to DVD thus far. Many of the half hour earlier shows still have yet to be released.

[stoojitsu]

SCTV never did a Stooge sketch.  What some people might be remembering is the Ben Hur parody where Candy's character was a Curly impersonation.

By the way, I'd like to clear up confusion about "Curly's Callback" which was shot by my friend Paul and I.  My name is Bill Chott and I was in the Farrelly Bros. film The Ringer.  I got some great reviews for my performance as Thomas including Variety and the New York Times.

Pete Farrelly asked me to put myself on tape for the role of Curly, and so I did. As artfully as I could with the help of my friend Paul.  I'm pretty proud of my impression, and you're certainly welcome to your opinion.  But as you can see from my myspace and YouTube, my fans are rooting for me.

If another professional actor can do the job better than me, I'd be happy for him to get it. But I have to believe in myself and put myself out there.  I want Curly to be portayed by a real comic, not just someone with a big name.  If this movie is going to get done, I want to see it get done right.

[Hammond Eggar]

If another professional actor can do the job better than me, I'd be happy for him to get it. But I have to believe in myself and put myself out there.  I want Curly to be portayed by a real comic, not just someone with a big name.  If this movie is going to get done, I want to see it get done right.

I totally agree with you about the 'upcoming' Stooges feature film.  All this conjecture about actors such as Russell Crowe and Robert DeNiro being considered is just one of the many things that has me worried about this project.

As for John Candy, didn't he incorporate the Curly persona into his role in Stripes?  I've never actually seen the film in it's entirety, but, from what I have seen, I seem to recall him evoking the spirit of Curly Howard.

In the world of sketch comedy, the most infamous Stooges parody comes from the ABC show, Fridays.  It contained a drug theme.  Apparently, the sketch only aired once, due to protests from Moe's estate.  Here it is.  Oh, and that's Larry David of Curb Your Enthusiasm as our beloved Larry Fine.

[youtube=425,350]eo-4p8L0jiY[/youtube]

If the preceeding sketch only aired once, then how did the following 1980 sketch make it to air?

[youtube=425,350]QOgm4JuB2XQ[/youtube]

[locoboymakesgood]

If that was an issue back then, I wonder how MadTV got away with their Black Three Stooges sketch about 10 years back. David Faustino from Married With Children played a drug lord, and the Black Stooges (Orlando Jones as Curly, Debra Wilson as Larry, and Phil LaMarr as Moe) were at the this party he was throwing for some reason. Anyway, in vein of the pightfights the Boys had they ended up having a cocaine fight which ended in everyone being dead except for the Stooges.

I'm sure that's on YouTube somewhere.

And Stoojitsu, more power to you and the Farrally's.. I just wasn't impressed with your Curly. I'm not saying I can personally do better, but I've seen better myself.

I like Farrally Bros. a lot. I just don't know if they can pull this move off though. I thought the project was cancelled honestly, I haven't heard a thing about it in ages.

[stoojitsu]

Yes, the project was off and the Farrelly's lost the rights.  But they attained the rights again because they're really dedicated to the idea.  It has taken so long because they don't want to do it unless they can do it right.

And I take no offense if you've seen a better Curly impression.  I'm building the best impression I can every day.  The job will go to whomever can best perform as an ensemble and create new Stooge-style insanity in the moment.  As a Second City trained improviser and burlesque performer I'm uniquely qualified for the role.

[stooged and confused]

That's cool, Stoojitzu. I actually have a photo of Candy, Levy and Flarety as the Stooges. They did, indeed, do a skit. In fact, I recall the photo was also published in "The Three Stooges Scrapbook" book by Joan Maurer and the Lenberg Brothers. I also remember the Ceasar skit and other bits that had mannerisms or mentions of the Stooges in various SCTV skits, including an "Altered States" parody with John Candy watching the Stooges in his tank.

You've got a tough job ahead of you for the role. It's going to be hard to have fans accept someone else in the role(s). I've seen a few get close. I think it is wise (and I've felt strongly all along) that BIG marquee names are a HUGE mistake for the "new" Stooges film.


More power to you!

[stooged and confused]

Yes, Candy was channeling Curly in "Stripes", particularly in the mud wrestling scene. Also, his SCTV cohort, Eugene Levy was channeling Moe in his role as Professor Cornbluth in "Splash" with Tom Hanks.

[locoboymakesgood]

That's cool, Stoojitzu. I actually have a photo of Candy, Levy and Flarety as the Stooges. They did, indeed, do a skit. In fact, I recall the photo was also published in "The Three Stooges Scrapbook" book by Joan Maurer and the Lenberg Brothers. I also remember the Ceasar skit and other bits that had mannerisms or mentions of the Stooges in various SCTV skits, including an "Altered States" parody with John Candy watching the Stooges in his tank.

I thought about this after our discussion about it Stooged and I remember the photo in the Scrapbook. So at first I thought my mind could have been playing tricks on me, but that doesn't make any sense if there was a photo of it in in the Lenberg book.

Anyone have a scan of it?

[stoojitsu]

I wonder if that was on the Showtime version.  Because I followed the show from Second City Television to SCTV to SCTV Network 90, and thought I'd remember it.  If you find it on YouTube, please let me know.

[busybuddy]

There was one SCTV sketch where John Candy played Curly that I can remember, the sketch had something to do with a bunch of people named Howard, and he was of course, Curly Howard. I also remembered that photo from the Stooges Scrapbook but I 've been checking all of the SCTV DVD's and never found it. Didn't Carol Burnet do one on her show and that is edited out when the show airs nowadays because they didn't have the copyrights to do it? I may be wrong but someone told me that.

[stooged and confused]

The SCTV skit was a take off on the "Melvin and Howard" movie with Jason Robards and Paul LeMat. They used the Howard theme...Howard Cosell, Howard Hughes, Curly Howard etc..the skit was called Melvin and Howards.

Yes, Carol Burnett had a Stooges skit on her show that was edited out when it went in half hour syndication packages from the original CBS hour broadcasts.

[Tardo317]

I wonder if that was on the Showtime version.  Because I followed the show from Second City Television to SCTV to SCTV Network 90, and thought I'd remember it.  If you find it on YouTube, please let me know.

SCTV Melvin & Howards

[locoboymakesgood]

Ahh some of this is coming back to me again. Thanks for that link.