A Sample of Joe Howard and Big-Time Vaudeville

Chicago’s theater industry was at its apex during the decade that Joe Howard was here. He was a performer, composer, producer and manager. When his Chicago theater failed and the era of “Chicago-made musical comedy” had passed, he spent the rest of his career on the Big time Vaudeville circuits and after they were engulfed into a movie conglomerate, he performed in the nightclubs.

In 1949, Howard was part of a television broadcast as a fund-raiser for the Salvation Army. In his last years, Howard was always generous helping organizations raise money. The video captures a bit of Howard’ style but also reprises a typical Vaudeville show. In this case, Howard is both a performer and the emcee. Not all Vaudeville theaters used an emcee. In many venues, the act was announced simply by placing a placard with the act’s name on a stand to the side of the stage just before the act appeared. If an emcee was used, he was usually a comedian or a singer. The acts on this bill are a little long in the tooth, but in their heyday, they were all headliners.