The Great Comedy Teams Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Three Stooges

They were better known as Larry, Moe and Curly to movie audiences, until a stroke disabled Jerome (Curly) in 1946. They were then rejoined by Samuel (Shemp) and continued making movie shorts for Columbia until 1957. Their style could best be described as mayhem.

In all, some 190 hilarious shorts were produced beginning in the early 30s. In later years, they also worked with Joe Besser and Curly Joe DeRita.

Answer: Abbott and Costello

William 'Bud' Abbott played the shifty straight man; Costello the almost childish funny man. They met during their burlesque days, and honed their routines to a razor sharpness, including "Who's on First?" which is a hilarious conversation about baseball nicknames. Their movies were immensely successful, and were followed by stretches in radio and t.v.

Answer: Wheeler and Woolsey

Bert Wheeler (b. 1895) and Robert Woolsey (b. 1888) were seasoned performers before joining together to form a team. They were noted for double entendre jokes until the Hays code forced them to abandon such humor. Woolsey is nearly always seen with a cigar; Wheeler nearly always sang whether the plot called for it or not. Dorothy Lee appeared in many of their films.

They supposedly provided inspiration for the British comedy team of Morcombe and Wise.

Answer: The Marx Brothers

Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo appeared in their early films as a team, until Zeppo decided to guide his brothers' affairs as their agent. "Animal Crackers"(1930), "Monkey Business"(1931), and "Duck Soup" are the best remembered and most critically acclaimed.

Their mother, Minnie, pushed the boys into show business at an early age. A fifth brother, Gummo, although part of their vaudeville act, never appeared in any of their movies.

Answer: Monty Python

Michael Palin, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Eric Idle were the core and substance of the group from beginning to end. Their humor was sometimes surreal, sometimes black, but transplanted to America just splendidly, thank you!

Answer: Martin and Lewis

Martin was primarily the straight man, Lewis was the comedy foil. They both attributed their success to the fact that they basically ignored the audience and had fun. The breakup was a bitter one and happened for a variety of reasons, but later in life a reconciliation was affected.

Answer: Laurel and Hardy

Arthur Stanley Jefferson and Oliver Norville Hardy were brought together by producer Hal Roach, who had noticed their work as singles. They went on to make such classic movies as "Way Out West", "Pardon Us", "The Music Box", for which they won an Academy Award, and the movie for which they may be best remembered, "Sons of the Desert". All these movies were made in the 1930s.

Answer: Smothers Brothers

Dick, who played the bass fiddle, was the normal half and Tom, with the guitar, was the slow foil. The catch line was usually "Mom always liked you best". Their tv show was so heavily censored that they agreed to walk away from it at the height of their popularity. One of the most remembered moments was the appearance of folk singer Pete Seeger, who had been blacklisted from tv in the early 50s.

Answer: Burns and Allen

George Burns and Gracie Allen were mainstays in vaudeville, radio and tv until the 1960s. Her scatter-brained, rambling responses to such questions as "How's your Uncle?" were classics. Gracie passed away in 1964, but George continued working in night clubs and movies until age 100.

Answer: The Crazy Gang

The group was actually three two-man teams who had honed their comedic skills in early music halls and theatres. Brought together, they were highly successful in theatre work through the war years. Their most remembered movie was "Gas Bags" (1940).