Slowly I Turned

"Slowly I Turned" is the most common name associated with a popular vaudeville sketch that has also been performed in cinema and on television. Comedians Harry Steppe, Joey Faye (1909-1997), and Samuel Goldman each laid claim to this timeless classic of show business, also commonly referred to as, variously "The Stranger with a Kind Face" (by clowns and clowning aficionados), "Niagara Falls" (by fans of The Three Stooges) or even "Pokomoko" (by Abbott and Costello lovers) and "Martha" (by fans of I Love Lucy).

Routine

The routine has two performers pretending to meet for the first time, with one of them becoming highly agitated over the utterance of particular words. Names and cities (such as Niagara Falls) have been used as the trigger, which then send the unbalanced person into a state of mania; the implication is that the words have an unpleasant association in the character's past. While the other performer merely acts bewildered, the crazed actor relives the incident, uttering the words, "Slowly I turned...step by step...inch by inch...," as he approaches the stunned onlooker. Reacting as if this stranger is the object of his rage, the angry actor begins hitting or strangling him, until the screams of the victim shake him out of his delusion. The actor then apologizes, admitting his irrational reaction to the mention of those certain words. This follows with the victim innocently repeating the words, sparking the insane reaction all over again. This pattern is repeated in various forms, sometimes with the entrance of a third actor, uninformed as to the situation. This third person predictably ends up mentioning the words and setting off the manic performer, but with the twist that the second actor, not this new third person, is still the recipient of the violence. (However in the Three Stooges episode "Gents Without Cents", the newcomer "may" be the attacked party.)

Abbott and Costello did a version for their television show which ended with Costello’s troublesome lawyer entering the scene. Costello asks for the lawyer to take the case of the storytelling stranger, and the lawyer says, "Help him out? I don’t know anything about him! What’s his name? Where is he from?" Costello whispers in the lawyer’s ear, to which the lawyer says aloud, "Niagara Falls?" Then he, of course, is immediately attacked.

Notable appearances

* "Gents Without Cents", 1944 short film starring The Three Stooges (trigger word: "Niagara Falls")
* "In Society", 1944 film starring Abbott and Costello (trigger word: "Susquehana Hat Company")
* "Lost in a Harem", 1944 film starring Abbott and Costello (trigger word: "Pokomoko")
* "The Abbott and Costello Show", 1952 episode "Jail" (trigger word: "Niagara Falls")
* "I Love Lucy", 1952 episode "The Ballet," [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0609342/] (trigger word: "Martha")
* "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", 1982 film starring Steve Martin (trigger word: "cleaning woman")
* "Buffalo!", 1956 song by Milton Berle (trigger word: "Buffalo")
* A pirate in a sketch on The Donny & Marie Show (trigger word: "Nantucket"). He meets a man named Dan Tucket at the end of the sketch; declaring it to be "close enough," the pirate begins to strangle him.
* "Don't Call Me Dude," 1990 song by Scatterbrain (trigger word: "dude")
* Referenced in "Godspell" by Victor Garber
* Referenced in the "M*A*S*H" episode "Dr. Pierce and Mr. Hyde".
*"Dinosaucers" episode "Allo & Cos-Stego Meet The Abominable Snowman" (trigger word: "Himalayas")
*"Talespin" episode "The Bigger They Are the Louder They Oink" (trigger word: "bacon")
*"The Price Is Right" host Drew Carey will say "Slowly I turned ..." whenever a contestant mentions he/she is from Rancho Cucamonga, California (trigger word: "Cucamonga"))

External links

* [http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/slowly.html "Slowly I Turned": A Piece of America's Pop Culture] - credits Joey Faye as originator
* [http://www.louandbud.com/FAQ.htm Russell Dodd's Abbott and Costello Forever] - credits Harry Steppe as originator
* [http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/film.html Film Studies at the University of Chicago] - credits Samuel Goldman as originator

See also

* Burlesque