Wayne and Shuster

Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster which was active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s.

Wayne (born Louis Weingarten, May 28, 1918 – July 18, 1990) and Shuster (September 5, 1916 – January 13, 2002) were well known in Canada, and were two of Ed Sullivan's recurring guests.

Beginnings

Wayne and Shuster met as high school students at Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1930. They both studied at the University of Toronto, where they wrote and performed for the theatre there, and in 1941 they made their radio debut on CFRB in their own show, "The Wife Preservers" in which they dispensed household hints in a humorous fashion. This exposure resulted in the pair being given their own comedy show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Trans-Canada Network as "Shuster & Wayne".

They enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1942, and performed for the troops in Europe during World War II as part of the "Army Show" (they would also later perform for the army in the Korean War). They returned to Canada to create the "Wayne and Shuster Show" for CBC Radio in 1946. They first performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in the United States in 1958, and set a record there by appearing 67 times over the next 11 years.

Wayne and Shuster turned down many offers to go to the U.S. permanently, preferring to remain in Toronto. (They did co-star in a CBS-TV sitcom, "Holiday Lodge", which aired as a summer replacement for Jack Benny in 1961.)

After having a weekly television series in the 1950s, they began a series of long running, monthly "Wayne & Shuster" comedy specials on CBC Television in the early 1960s which continued into the 1980s by which time their comedy was regarded as old-fashioned. However, they were an influence for later Canadian comedians, such as Lorne Michaels (Shuster's son-in-law), the "Royal Canadian Air Farce" and "The Kids in the Hall". In the late 1980s, many of their comedy skits were repackaged in half-hour chunks and syndicated around the world under the title "Wayne & Shuster"; the comedians filmed new introductions for the series.

The humour of Wayne and Shuster

They performed "literate" comedy, combined with slapstick. They often used classical or Shakespearean settings and characters; on their first Ed Sullivan appearance, for example, they performed a modern murder investigation using Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in a sketch called "Rinse the Blood off My Toga", which spawned the popular catch phrase, "Julie, don't go!" After the opening of the Stratford Festival of Canada in 1958 they created a baseball-themed skit involving characters from Hamlet and Macbeth. The duo treated these sketches the way singers treat their most popular songs by performing new renditions many times over the years.

In an interview, Wayne and Shuster recalled how they once debated the wisdom of the baseball sketch, saying it might not be the best material for a mass audience. Wayne was hesitant, Shuster was confident that the baseball sketch would go over well on the Sullivan Show. They were in a Toronto diner discussing the matter when the dishwasher introduced himself, and asked if he thought most people 'got' the baseball sketch.

Some of Wayne's characters were scientific in nature, and used Waynegartner, a derivation of his birth name. The duo often based their sketches on contemporary events, trends and television programs.

They spoofed "All in the Family" as "All in the Royal Family", with the king calling Hamlet, "Meathead", and his queen "Dingbat". As Paramount was about to release "", the duo spoofed it with "Star Schtick". When "The Equalizer" went on the air, they responded with "The Tranquilizer", dealing with mysterious deaths on a game show that was a cross between "The Price Is Right" and the "$64,000 Question". When "Dallas" was popular, it was spoofed with a character determined to corner the fertilizer market, and featured a cameo by Barbara Frum. "Fantasy Island" was spoofed with "Fantasy Motel".

The duo spoofed the commercials "we love to hate" with their own versions: Crazar TVs spoofed the "Quasar" TV brand with the high pitched overture; Oil of Oyvay spoofed the de-aging "Oil of Olay"; Macedonian Formula spoofed "Grecian Formula", and questioned why a man would say he used it and thus reveal he has grey hair; Russian Express spoofed "American Express", with a muscular KGB agent saying "Don't leave home!"

They spoofed accents and dialogue. After Wayne brought down an escaping felon with a gunshot (off screen), Shuster would say, "You got him in the rotunda/cloisters/etc.", with Wayne looking wryly at Shuster. "Srightry ahead of Panasonic!" "Srightry?" (Later...) "I go plug it in." "Don't you mean, 'prug it in'?" "No. One ethnic joke per sketch is plenty... or prenty if that's the way you like it." In another sketch, Shuster was calling on the phone for "Inspector Slattery." Wayne said, "Slattery will get you nowhere."

Late-career and postumous awards

Wayne died in 1990. After his death the group received a special Gemini Award for their outstanding contribution to Canadian television. In 1996 Frank accepted the Margaret Collier Award for the duo comedy writing and was later named to the Order of Canada. Shuster, who died in 2002, attempted some solo work after Wayne died, but was mostly seen during his last decade hosting Wayne and Shuster retrospectives, including "Wayne and Shuster in Black and White", a CBC series that aired in prime time during the early-1990s.

Shuster was a cousin of comic book artist Joe Shuster, who co-created Superman with writer Jerry Siegel, and in this context is referenced in one of the Government of Canada-sponsored Heritage Minute short films broadcast on television in the 1990s.

As of 2005, the only Wayne and Shuster material available on DVD is the 1991 special "Wayne and Shuster: 50 Years of Comedy" which Shuster hosted.

Trivia and parodies

In a bit on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" called "National Act Like Canada Matters Day", guitarist Jimmy Vivino remarks to O'Brien, "Wow, Conan, you're a regular Wayne and Shuster."

In 1965 "The Wayne & Shuster Hour" won the Silver Rose at the Rose d'Or Television Festival.

Wayne and Schuster's comedy album "Frontier Psychiatrist" is sampled by Australian band The Avalanches in their album "Since I Left You". Samples from Wayne and Schuster are found on tracks "Frontier Psychiatrist" and "Radio".

External links

* [http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wayneandshu/wayneandshu.htm Wayne and Shuster] Museum of Broadcast Communications biography
* [http://www.runstop.de/bennysplace/wands/index.html Wayne and Shuster Tribute] A Tribute to Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster
* [http://www.canadianshakespeares.ca/a_baseball.cfm "The Shakespearian Baseball Game". 1958] Text and video.
* [http://www.scenarioproductions.com/ws/index.html Wayne and Shuster Radio Show] Radio Show including sketches Shakespearean Baseball, I was a T.V. Addict, Rinse the Blood off My Toga, and Frontier Psychiatrist.