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"While they yammered away I went quietly off to a corner of the casino and stood on my head. When a dame spotted me upside down in the corner she pointed my way and screamed louder than ever. Two officials rushed over to me. They hesitated. They weren't sure whether to address my feet or bend down and yell at me face-to-face. They compromised and yelled at each other. I didn't like the sound of their voices. I swore I heard words like police and suretè (trans: "security"). But I was d-mned if I'd stop standing on my head until they calmed down. Thank goodness an English gentlemen who could speak French came into the casino. He got the story from the guys with the beards then knelt down on the floor like he was looking under the bed for a lost collar button, and said to me, "Old boy, it seems you've broken a rule of the game, and you're being asked to pay this lady a hundred francs." I came down off my head, gave the dame her hundred francs, tipped everybody in sight -- including the dame -- a stick of Juicy Fruit and blew the joint." - Harpo ("Harpo Speaks")

Marx Quote of the Day:

"I was never too good at imitating Harpo, though I could make big eyes and roll them around, and I could flub my lips. But there was something about him I couldn't imitate. Now I know what it was. It was the simplicity of the man, the beauty inside, the thing that G-d gives to maybe one in every 50 million of us: the ability to see and to laugh and to give joy to others in a way so special that you can't imitate it.

"Harpo was a child who never grew up. He was the best part of a human being, the innocent part that sees things with wonder. He could see where the reality is, inside all of us, where there is a warm place, bubbling with fancy and laughter and music and playfulness and love.

"Most of us get so scared, so civilized, that we invent a disguise for ourselves, and we walk around looking serious and acting self-important, and we call it Grown Up. So here we all are in our Grown Up suits, busy doing our Grown Up jobs, rushing our children to get Grown Up as fast as possible; and where has all the fun gone to, and why does the music sound so far away?

"Well, Harpo Marx had the good sense and the great gift never to Grow Up, and that was the soul of his comedy. Harpo made eyes at the pretty girls the way we all wish we had the nerve to do; and he invented harps out of broken pianos, and piccolos out of strands of spaghetti; and wherever he was, there was music for everyone, and laughter. And when he was sad, he was so terribly sad that we could see that there is even something funny in that, and so we laughed and forgot some of the things that made us sad. Comedy makes you feel good, and that is what Harpo Marx did." -Allan Sherman ("A Gift Of Laughter")

"You didn't have to speak--each gesture is sheer elocution. Your very presence proved "Silence is Golden." We are proud to have been a small atom in your life, our appearance on television will be my most memorable hour. How we displayed every trick in the clown's bag--romping our way through a harlequinade of farcical buffoonery--You may not hear it but there is thunderous applause for you every day. You are beloved."

-Red Skelton (a letter to Harpo shortly after his second retirement and appearance on the Red Skelton Show; quote from Filmfax magazine)

JUNE 20: Sorry for such a belated update, the only excuse I can give is that recently "discovered" Buster Keaton for myself, so alot of my time has been taken up by him. I have added more artwork to the painting library of other vaudeville-related art. I could not think of what else to add, so I have created a poll which will now be in the "site-related" area at the bottom of this page. 

MAR 27: The guestbook is updated with photos and such, please feel free to sign it to show that people do indeed visit this site. Also I have posted a letter from the author of the N.Y. Daily News who tells us a story about the name of Harpo's famous "gookie", which you can find under "Harpo Speaks Project" or click here. If you are Mr. MacIntyre, my email couldn't get through to you, so I posted a little 'thank you' beneath your letter.

Marx Brothers Nuts Unite Net Ring

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