Re: Slowly I Turn

Seems that Gary Lucas (THE Gary Lucas, of the Beefheart Band and Gods and
Monsters) was asking the same question.  Here is the reply he got (I found this
through Google):

--- Gary M Lucas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> by the way, saw the old Abbot and Costello film
> "Lost in a Harem" on TCM last night at 2am, which  >
had the "Slowly I turn...step by step..."...I seem >
to recall this same routine in a Three Stooges     >
short...anybody know if Abbot and Costello and the >
Stooges shared the same writers? or is this just a >
hoary vaudeville staple routine of yore...

Since I'm in trivia research mode...the latter. From
the Abbott & Costello site FAQs:

"Bud and Lou didn't originate the "Niagra Falls"
(a.k.a. "Slooowly I Turned") routine; it is an old
burlesque bit. As A&C screenwriter Harry Crane
explained in the book, Abbott and Costello in
Hollywood,  "That [routine] is a burlesque classic;
all the comics knew it, and there were even several
different versions of it." That's why the Stooges were
able to do the "Niagra Falls" version of the routine
in their short, "Gents Without Cents," while Bud and
Lou did the "Pokomoko" version in their film, "Lost in
a Harem." Both films were playing in movie theaters
late in 1944!"

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Did you know that Lou Costello paid for Dean Martin's
nose job when the Eyetalian crooner was trying to
break into the business?