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Funny Lady

There was a time when black comedians were the hottest ticket in town. A comedic renaissance bloomed in the 60s, where a variety of different funny men and women tickled the fancy of American audiences. Let’s see, there was George Kirby (Kirby was also a master vocal impersonator), Nipsey Russell, Flip Wilson, Redd Foxx, Moms Mabley, Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Pigmeat Markham, Dick Gregory, Paul Mooney (also wrote for several other comics, like Richard Pryor), Scoey Mitchell, among others.

Female comics I recall watching on The Ed Sullivan Show included Totie Fields, Joan Rivers, Moms Mabley, Anne Meara, of Stiller and Meara (Ben Stiller’s mom), Phyllis Diller, and Carole Burnett.  And of course CBS had the number one female comedian, Lucille Ball (who had other sit-coms after I Love Lucy, which co-starred her then real life husband Desi Arnaz).

I must also mention Jackie Gleason, Frank Gorshin (a wonderful impressionist) and especially the late, great George Carlin, talented funny men who were also popular back in the day.

The Queen of Comedy is the tale of a fictional black comedian, from her youth in the 1920’s, until she’s older and recalls the highs and lows of her career. One such highlight is her time at The Moulin Rouge, a real establishment that broke barriers. I’ve included links on The Moulin Rouge that are below the GIF:

Honi-Hawkins-promo
It’s Her Time – The Queen of Comedy will be released shortly

The Vegas Hotspot That Broke All the Rules

America’s first interracial casino helped end segregation on the Strip and proved that the only color that mattered was green

Smithsonian Magazine | Subscribe

 . . . Then came the Moulin Rouge, in 1955, a neon cathedral dedicated to the proposition that the only color that mattered in Vegas was green.

Link: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-vegas-hotspot-that-broke-all-the-rules-165807434/

Moulin Rouge showgirls_June 1955

 

A copy of this mag can be purchased here: https://www.oldlifemagazines.com/june-20-1955-life-magazine.html

 

Chorus girl from the Moulin Rouge in 1955
Dancers from the Moulin Rouge during rehearsals in 1955

 

Opening of the Moulin Rouge Interracial Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada June 1955 by vieilles_annonces

Showgirl by pool at the Moulin Rouge hotel and casino in Las Vegas, 1955
Showgirl by pool at the Moulin Rouge hotel and casino in Las Vegas, 1955

 

The above photo can be found here: http://digital.library.unlv.edu/objects/ohr/57

 

From Jet Magazine Dec 1955 uploaded by vieilles_annonces on Flicker
From Jet Magazine Dec 1955
uploaded by vieilles_annonces on Flicker

 

 

Moulin Rouge_1955

 

 

Just look at all these well dressed, attractive people from back in the day:

A 1955 photo taken at the Moulin Rouge Hotel & Casino in between shows. Pictures: Anna Bailey, Dianh Washington, Bob Bailey, Norma de la Cerna, Barbar and Dee Dee Jasmin.
A 1955 photo taken at the Moulin Rouge Hotel & Casino in between shows. Pictures: Anna Bailey, Dinah Washington, Bob Bailey, Norma de la Cerna, Barbar and Dee Dee Jasmin.

 

From Black Image magazine: http://lasvegasblackimage.com/2012/02/in-the-community-with-charles-tureaud-%E2%80%93-tribute-to-historic-black-vegas/

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