COME ONE; COME ALL! Bisbee's Comedians are back in Fordsville in their all new waterproof, fireproof tent theater. Five big nights of drama, comedy, vaudeville, magic, music, dancing, variety acts. Starting Monday August 1st at the Fordsville School grounds. New shows each and every night, featuring that king of country comedy and drama; Grand Ole Opry star, Boob Brassfield, the imitable Toby T. Ticklebush. This is the greatest show of its kind under the sun---or the moon. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.; the show starts at 8:00 p.m. with a concert following the show. As always Bisbee's promises, "A thousand laughs, a tear or two, but never a single blush. This was a typical Ballyhoo announced all over Fordsville, KY in late summer heralding the return of Bisbee's Comedians. It was broadcast from a panel truck from two large speakers, fore and aft, accompanied by stirring marital music. "THE TOBY SHOW Yesterday---a vacant lot, quiet without a sound. Today---a busy beehive, the Toby show's in town. The canvas top is billowing out, the side walls are in place. The quickly laid out stake line, displays a certain grace. At evening when shadows form, and sunbeams start their lagging'. You see the line begin to form, before the ticket wagon. The farms, the shops, the stores they leave, making straight for the tent show door. Happy to be here again this year, for they've seen a Toby show before. The house lights are killed, the curtain goes up, the actors steps out with his line. And the background is set for a wonderful play, produced to tickle your spine. And as entrance is made from center stage, that brings you up from your chair. A tousled mop of red hair on his head, freckled face set off with a grin. Checkered pants, yellow coat, shoes too big, lets you know Toby's in town again. If you've read the heralds around the town, you know the show is quite cricket. It may be "John Slater Awakens," or Bob LaThey's "Meal Ticket". There are many acts to amuse you, with comedy bits in between. There are hoofers, vent acts and magicians, all add to the color and sheen. Now the bill for tonight is ended, the curtain comes down on the finale. And the crowd slowly troop from the tent, to the tune of the orchestra bally. Then as you slowly drive home in the night, there's one thing you'd like to know. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing . if life was a Toby show." by W.V. Matthews of Fordsville, KY A Bisbee fan for many years For over 100 years traveling tent repertory shows were an integral part of American theater history. They were active from 1870's to the mid-1960's. At their peak in the first two decades of the twentieth century these traveling troupes numbered between seven and eight hundred. In 1927 Don Carle Gillette said. "the canvass playhouses of the country now constitute a more extensive business than Broadway and all the rest of the legitimate theater industry put together." Even as late as 1949 Mr. Gillette editor of Billboard reported, "Nearly 700 tent shows are expected to be on the road this year bringing drama and variety to 15,000 communities." The earliest tent shows consisted of comedy or drama plays, music, and vaudeville and began in 1889. At first the tent shows moved from town to town by horse and wagon. At the turn of the century as railroads expanded the shows moved by rail. In the 1920's the tent shows began traveling by truck which gave them greater access to towns not serviced by the railroad. There is no record of who invented the first dramatic end tent , although they were proved to have been invented before 1900. This invention eliminated the center pole in front of the stage and allowed clearer sight lines of the stage. Tent sizes varied but many dramatic end tents were 60 feet wide and 145 feet long and seated an audience of 1,500. Sarah Bernhardt performed in a traveling test show with a tent that seated 4,500. Although not all the tent shows performed "Toby Shows" but the shows that survived after World War II were all Toby shows. "The late Joe Creason, long time Louisville, Kentucky, Courier Journal staff writer said in one on his many stories of the Bisbee show and Toby, "The show had been playing for four or five minutes when a loud voice that twanged like a lost guitar string was heard off stage." The audience came to life as the owner of the voice, a freckled faced party wearing a red wig and clothes that fit like they wanted nothing to do with him, bounded in front of the footlights. "My name is Toby T. Ticklebush.," he announced to no one and all. "and I'm on my was to Chicago to sell a load of hawgs." The crowd howled in wild abandon as Toby followed that announcement immediately by letting the villain have it with one of the oldest gags known to man. "I didn't sleep a wink last night," he reported, "the window shade was up." "Why" the heavy bit, "didn't you pull it down?" "Because," he replied, looking out over the crowd with a look that had "vacancy" stamped all over it, "I couldn't reach across the street." As far as the audience was concerned, the show started at that moment. Bisbee's Comedians was a Memphis-based traveling repertory tent show started in 1927 by J. C. (Jessie Carroll) Bisbee shortly after his marriage to Mary . Bisbee's Comedians offered old-time dramas and magic nightly, with a complete change of bill each night during the week. It was a well respected company. A 1943 article states, "Bisbee confines his talents now to two states, Tennessee and Kentucky, where his 28 person troupe had made the same circuit for 16 years. After his eight-month season is over he returns to his winter quarters at White Station, Tennessee, outside Memphis. The route or the Bisbee's Comedians started about the start of the cotton season in west Tennessee in Lexington, TN. the show played locations in eight other Tennessee town before crossing over into Kentucky and playing Murray, KY. They played 14 towns in mainly the Purchase area before playing Fordsville, KY, the town in which I grew up, which was between Owensboro and Leitchfield. They then played five other Central Kentucky towns before playing Elkton, Hopkinsville and Cadiz. They then crossed back into Tennessee , playing Union City, TN and thirteen other Tennessee towns before ending their season in Collierville, TN. Mr. Bisbee died in 1955 at age 65. In 1956, Bisbee's Comedians was bought by Billy Choate, grandson of William Carroll Choate, founder of Choate's Comedians, an earlier reparatory tent show. Billy had travelled and performed with Bisbee's Comedians since 1942. Bisbee's Comedians played three day and week stands. The outfit would be set up early Monday morning and the show would be presented that evening at 8:00". Prior to the orchestra concert and show each eve, popcorn, snow cones and candy was sold. The main curtain would raise to a stage filled with prizes large and small; egg beaters, hair ribbons, table lamps GIANT teddy bears. Here is the way Bob LaThey pitched the candy of the Choate show: "Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Choate's Comedians. We have a fine show in store for you but before the show starts we are going to give you the opportunity to buy some of that good old candy we sell every year. Now this is good candy and also if you have a loose tooth or you are going to a dentist to have a tooth pulled, you can save a lot of money by buying some of this candy. Now, I must warn you when you chew this candy, you must chew it fifty times, no more or no less. I'll tell you why. In the stomach there are cells that contain gastric juices. When you take a bite of this candy right away a message goes to the gastric juices in the stomach saying, Candy coming." The stomach sends a message back to the brain saying, Let her flop." Now is you don't chew the candy fifty times, what is the result? All the gastric juices run to the stomach at the same time causing internal revolution, of what is commonly known as stomachache. Now don't become alarmed, when the candy arrives in the stomach, there are no gastric juices to dissolve it. It forms a large white lump---that lump finally dissolves into a fine powder. The white powder sifts all through your system--- finally coming out on the top of the head---and this is what is commonly known as---dandruff. You will notice, we have a lot of nice prizes on the stage . There is a coupon in every five boxes. If you get a coupon, bring it up to the stage and the little lady will give you what is calls for. The candy is only fifteen cents a box We are only allowed 10 minutes for the candy sale so get it while you can. The boys will now pass through you---I mean among you with the candy for sale---only fifteen cents a box." The prize lady on the stage gave out the prizes gave out the prizes according to how the candy sales was going. If the sales were lagging, she'd give out a giant Teddy bear or a table lamp, causing candy sales to soar. Invariably sometime during the candy sale she'd give a late teen boy a pair of women panties much to the boy's embarrassment and the delight of the audience. The show began each evening with a 30 minute concert by the orchestra. They played old standards and popular songs of the day." One of the most interesting features of the orchestra was the piano playing of Leon Block, who had a most distinctive style (demonstrate). " After the orchestra, the play began. "A three act comedy or drama play and vaudeville specialties between the acts of the play. A comedy or comedy drama divided into two or three acts. Between the acts of the play various specialties were featured, magicians, song and dance teams, ventriloquists or jugglers. after the main show a concert or after show was presented. This consisted of a musical opening with bits, black outs, and specialties. There was an extra charge for the concert." The concerts was the part of the tent show that was a little more risqué and suggestive but even here as Toby said before every performance, "Here nothing is did or said to hurt the most fastidious." One night in the opening number by the chorus line of four or five ladies tap dancing in tights and halter tops, one ladies tights unzipped much to the titillation of the males in the audience, especially the young teen boys, who kept hoping for them to fall around her ankles, but alas, it never occurred. "The most important feature of the tent shoe was the play. The plots, predictable enough, reflected small town values and tastes in every detail. The farmer, for example, is an important fixture in many shows. He is portrayed as the ideal man---simple, honest, independent, industrious, healthy and happy. Many of the undesirable characters--the gossips the hypocritical deacons, and the ruthless bankers are, for one reason or another, out to ruin him. Yet he never loses his integrity, and circumstances always turn out well for him in the end. Another feature of the many plays is the contrast between the country and city, a contrast that is as old as the theater itself. The country life always represents the ideal; the city life always represents corruption and deceit. In addition the plot, the dress or the characters often makes this point. The city characters often are unusually elaborately dressed, but their dress is a little too elaborate, or too "high falooting" as the country characters might say. It seems to say the city folks need a fancy outside to cover up a not so fancy inside. The country characters, on the other hand, are plainly dressed, often sporting a straw hat, and boots---typical "hayseed" as the city folk might say. But this plainness seems to represent an innocence and a simplicity that is to be admired. In fact, it is surprising to note how little the cast changes from one show to another. All the plays are characterized by clearly defied character. The good characters are always rewarded in the end; the bad characters are always punished. The villain, referred to as the "heavy" in ordinarily patterned after the black-coated scoundrels of the old melodramas, possessing the same vengeful, sneaking, self centered qualities. Yet, unlike the melodramas, he is frequently good looking and cannot always be recognized for the scamp he is. The hero and heroine, known as the "leads" are, on the other hand, nearly perfect, possessing all the rugged individualism, flag waving, patriotism and moral scrupulousness that any small town audience could ask for. The main plot usually focuses upon the heavy's attempts to undermine the financial stability of virtuous reputation of one or both of the leading characters. The character man and woman were the Dad and Mom, of the leading man or the leading woman. Some of the best parts were written for these characters. Supplementing the nucleus of the cast are the younger characters---the juvenile and the ingénue (an actress who plays the part of an artless, innocent, unworldly girl). The juvenile is a young male character. The ingénue is the attractive young lady with whom he is in love. They remain relatively minor characters whose flirtations merely add a little extra spice to the main plot. The other character type that should be mentioned here is the general business actor which varies from play to play more than any other type. The performers should not be underestimated, for they were often required to display more versatility than anyone else in the cast. They were just as apt to be playing a doctor or a hillbilly or, in case of females, a maid or a socialite. Finally, there was Toby, the red-haired, freckle faced, country bumpkin, who became in the course of time, not only a nightly feature , but a feature attraction. Toby usually has a lot to do with foiling the plots of the villain. Sometimes he even accomplishes the feat single-handedly. But the villain of these shows are not fools, they are shrewd and cunning. Consequently, in order for Toby to be a believable character, he too must have a good deal of wit. The tent shows came to need a feature attraction. They needed something that would assure the audience of a good deal of comedy every night...Toby came to fill this need very well." "The late Joe Creason, long time Louisville, Kentucky, Courier Journal staff writer said in one on his many stories of the Bisbee show and Toby, "The show had been playing for four or five minutes when a loud voice that twanged like a lost guitar string was heard off stage." The audience came to life as the owner of the voice, a freckled faced party wearing a red wig and clothes that fit like they wanted nothing to do with him, bounded in front of the footlights. "My name is Toby T. Ticklebush.," he announced to no one and all. "and I'm on my was to Chicago to sell a load of hawgs." The crowd howled in wild abandon as Toby followed that announcement immediately by letting the villain have it with one of the oldest gags known to man. "I didn't sleep a wink last night," he reported, "the window shade was up." "Why" the heavy bit, "didn't you pull it down?" "Because," he replied, looking out over the crowd with a look that had "vacancy" stamped all over it, "I couldn't reach across the street." As far as the audience was concerned, the show started at that moment. "During the 1950 season we were playing Morgantown, KY. It was Thursday , opening day, wife was in the audience that evening. Late that afternoon I went up to Fleenor's cafe to eat. I had some of their delicious country ham, which they were famous for, and after I had dinner, went to see my good friends, A.C. and Opaline Hocker, Close relatives of my wife. I had met A.C. before the war when Bisbee's had played Morgantown during the 1941 and 1942 seasons when I was on the show. We had become very good friends. We discussed Vera and I told them the baby was due anytime. Finally, A.C. said, "The humidity is terrible. I hope it doesn't storm." "well," I replied. "If it is going to storm I hope it does it and gets it over with before the show tonight" Opaline said,"it isn't going to storm." How wrong she was. When I left Hocker's Insurance office it was so hot and humid that it was hard to breath. By 6:30 people were lining up waiting for the doors to open. I walked in the dressing room and remarked to no one in particular, "Well what do you think? Boob Brassfield answered, "I think something has got to bust loose. It s just too hot." Boob had been it the repertoire business long enough to know when a storm was coming, We just didn't know when it was going to hit. As was usual every year in Morgantown, Kentucky on opening night the tent was packed and jammed with fifteen hundred men, women and children. Jess came back just before the orchestra went out and told Boob, I want everything that can be cut, cut. I want these people out of the tent before the storm hits." Boob said, "We can cut a couple of the specialties." "Do it and rush everything else." I walked out back and sure enough it was lightning in the southwest. Every time it flashed I could see ominous clouds. During the second act it hit. I was on the stage. At first, it was a gentle breeze, then fierce wind. Looking over the foot lights I could see the tent bellowing and the quarter poles jumping. I could also see men hanging onto the quarter poles to keep them on the ground. The wind was terrible, the lightning was cracking all around the thunder roaring. And the lights went out. The curtain had been dropped before the lights went out and everyone had cleared the stage. I was busy along with others in keeping the side poles up when all of a sudden it started to rain. The wind stopped blowing and the lights came on. There was tremendous applause from the audience and, I imagine, many prayers of thanks. Roy Garnett, the boss canvas man, came back with his raincoat and old rain hat and I asked him if there was any damage out front. he said, "Well, the marquee went down but I don't think it is hurt." He continues, "I'll tell you something, those men hanging onto those poles saved us. Did you see them? Another thing being new canvas sure didn't hurt. Did you know a big tree went down on the front edge of the lot? We sure are lucky," he said as he walked away..... Boob yelled, "Places." The curtain went up and the show went on. It always does. In the late forties, we played Hopkinsville, Kentucky and we had an uptown lot in a small park (Mercer Park). The show did a bang up business and that was about this time I met Dink Embry. Dink was an announcer or radio station WHOP. We hit it off and became fast friends down through the years. One night after the show was over, Dink said, "Billy why don't you go to the station with me in the morning. We can talk and at the same time plug Bisbee's. I have quite a few regular listeners so it would be some good publicity for the show and you might have some fun and enjoy it ." "Sounds great to me." "OK," he replied, "I'll pick you up at 4:30, we will have breakfast and then go on out to the station." I thought I had misunderstood him, "What time did you say?" "4:30, that isn't too early for is it?" "Oh no." I didn't tell him I never got up until 10:00 or 10:30 and anyway, Jess would reimburse me so it was worth the extra money even if I did have to get up at the allotted time and we had breakfast at a little cafe uptown that I believe was called Ferrells. We had breakfast and then opened the station and went on the air at 6:00 a.m. Later Dink would tell the story and say I went to sleep right in the middle of the program. I didn't but will admit getting up at 4:00 a.m. is not my cup of tea. A number of years later while we were playing Hopkinsville and I had taken over operation of the show, Boob asked me if I would be interested in having Brenda Lee work with us one night. He and Neva had worked with her while doing Uncle Cyp and Aunt Sap on Red Foleys Ozark Jubilee TV show at Springfield, Missouri. He knew her mother and manager and said, "Billy I think I could get her for a Sunday night, if you are interested?" "Of course I am interested, unless she wants to much money." Boob replied, "I'll see what I can do. " He contacted them and they agreed to have Brenda perform with us the following Sunday night in Hopkinsville at what I thought was a reasonable price. We seldom played on a Sunday night but when we did it was all gravy. All the people on the show were on a seven day contract so there was very little expense. This is why I could bring a star like Brenda Lee in to work for us on a Sunday . Some of the Northern shows played every Sunday night and Neil Shaffner told me Sunday was his best nigh of the week, Not so in the Bisbee territory . In fact, there were many towns that had blue laws and the show was not permitted on Sunday. Also, Grandpa Choate never played on Sunday and always said, "Whatever you make on Sunday, you will lose on Monday." For some reason it seemed to work out that way. But I was looking forward to showing this Sunday night because I had dollar signs in my eyes and visions of making a lot of money. Brenda was hot She had a couple of hit records and had recently been on a number of top rated TV shows including The Steve Allen Show. There was no way we could help but pack then in. We did a good business in Hopkinsville without Brenda and with her there was no doubt in my mind we would turn them away. All I had to do was get the word out and this I did. We went all out on an advertising blitz. At the time, Jimmie Wilkins was working for the Kentucky New Era which was the daily newspaper. Jimmie worked up some readers and displayed ads that were very good. We also ran a number of commercials on both radio stations and we had 8X10 pictures of Brenda, around two hundred of them. I had a caption printed which glued to the bottom of the picture about her appearance with Bisbee's Comedians Sunday night. We put these on the juke boxes and in the stores around town, We had done a good job with the publicity and I could hardly wait till Sunday night. Saturday afternoon I went by to see Paige Ooton, my good friend who ran the shoe shop. I asked him for his reaction to the show Sunday night. He said, "Billy I don't think you will have enough seats to take care of the crowd." I knew he couldn't guarantee that but it was good to hear his opinion. It must have been around 3:00 p.m. when Brenda her mother, manager and four musicians they brought from Nashville to back up Brenda, pulled up on the fairgrounds where we were set up . After introductions we went to the motel where Boob and Neva were staying, picked them up and went to a restaurant for dinner. After dinner and a nice visit they followed Vera and me back to the lot. Brenda and the band went up on the stage and tried out our sound system. We had an excellent system and they were satisfied with it. Everything was set for that turn away crowd we were all expecting, The doors opened at 7:00. At 10 minutes to 7:00, I walked around to the front of the tent and there were just a few people lined up to get tickets. When the curtain went up at 8:00 there was just a little over 200 people in the audience It was a beautiful night, I had spent a good deal of money on advertising and we had been playing to big crowds all week. I just could not understand why there wasn't a full house. The show went over great. Brenda laid them in the aisle. It was just a shame we had such a small crowd. After the show was over Brenda's mother and manager came to me and she said, "Billy we know you have taken a beating financially so we have decided not to hold you to our agreement. You pay us for the musicians we have and we will forget about the rest, is that satisfactory?" "Well yes, but Vera is over in the trailer now getting you the money I agreed to pay you." She turned to go and said, "If you don't mind I will go to your trailer and settle with Vera." Which she did. After the hugs and goodbyes, they drove off. I told Boob what they did about the money. He said, "That was nightly nice of them, wasn't it?" "I'll say it was, it saved me bunch of money and I appreciate them." By 1964, Bisbee's Comedians was one of only two remaining tent shows. Bisbee's last played the summer of 1966 when they attempted to play the entire season at the Park Mammoth Resort, Park City, KY. It was a financial disaster for the show which permanently closed the next year. Billy Choate, the last owner said;" We closed the show for good at Park Mammoth Resort, Labor Day week, 1966. Boob's (Brassfield) and Dad's passing seemed to represent the end of an era. The Choate family had been involved in the tent show business from its beginning in the late nineteenth century until it's end in the mid-twentieth. It seemed oddly appropriate, therefore, that Boob and Dad's passing and the closing of Bisbee's Comedians occurred almost exactly at the same time."