Animal Acts, Part Two.

I'm going to talk about the funniest animal act 1 ever saw.
In the fifties and sixties there was a very funny man named Bob Williams.
In the 50's, he trained a dog named Red Dust.
He showed up on many variety shows.
Red Dust was and old, big floppy -eared mutt, who was trained to do absolutely nothing.
I don't mean that he wasn't trained.
I mean he was deliberately trained to do absolutely nothing.
They would bring out a big table, and Red Dust would be requested to jump on to it.
The dog would just stand there.
And not just stand there.
He would appear to not be able to move.
Bob apparently tried to get him to sit.
He had his legs positioned so that the front and back legs were inverted towards each other.
Bob would try to push him down, but couldn't get him to budge.
In the mid-to-late 60's Red Dust re-emerged as "Louie".
It would appear to be the same dog, but simple math would dictate that this was a second generation
of Red Dust. 
Red Dust must have been dead by then.
I mainly remember the act as "Bob Williams and Louie".
The joke was whatever Bob would ask Louie to do, Louie would just stand there.
Or sit there.
Or lie there.
But Williams drove the act.  He was hilarious.
Half of why it was funny were the things he asked Louie to do, and the manic desperation he would display when Louie would do none of it:

"he's thinking about it"
"he sees me now"
"don't get excited boy"
"you can do it boy"
"a little higher boy"
"you got your breath back, boy"
"a year ago, he couldn't do a thing."

Maybe it doesn't sound like much on paper, but in context it's hilarious.
And to think of how hard it must have been to train a dog to do absolutely nothing.
And Bob Williams did it twice.
It was amazing.
There are several clips of Bob Williams  and Louie on YouTube.
I recommend the approximately 9 minute clip of them appearing on "The Hollywood Palace Christmas show, hosted by Bing Crosby.  Just type in Bob Williams and Louie.
I don't know what became of  Bob Williams and Louie.
I'm pretty sure they are both long since gone.
Bob was no spring chicken then.
And dogs don't live all that long.
But I don't want to end on a downer.
So don't let anything dissuade you from checking out Bob Williams and Louie on YouTube.
You'll thank me.

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My books, "Show Runner" and it's sequel, "Show Runner Two", can be found at the Amazon Kindle Store.
Along with the newer ones, "The Man Is Dead", and "Report Cards".
They are all compilations of blog entries that have since been removed from the blog.
So this is the only way you can find them.,
You can search by typing in my name, Cindy Williams, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, or Happy Days.
Check them out.
You don't need a Kindle machine to download them.
Just get the free app from Kindle, and they can be downloaded to an IPhone, IPad, or Blackberry.
The paperbacks, "Mark Rothman's Essays" and my new novel, "I'm Not Garbo" are not e-books.
But they are available for people without Kindle.
I have many readings and signings lined up for those, and the thing about Kindle is you can't sign one.
If you'd like one of the paperbacks, personally autographed, contact me at macchus999@comcast.net
And now, we've got my reading of my "Laverne and Shirley Movie" screenplay on YouTube.

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