How lucky we are as Americans to have such a treasure chest of comedy. Many of these geniuses are way before our time but just as significant as they day they were put onto the silver screen.  It is a class of genius that most likely will never be matched. Before our time but way ahead of theirs...... Americans have an uncanny ability to find a sense of humor in the most awkward and unlikely moments. Americans know how to laugh, we know how to have fun.....
This distinguished looking gentleman is W.C. Fields. ( William Claude Dukenfield) At age eighteen he entered Vaudeville and at age twenty one was already headlining shows. W.C. Fields would break into the big time with his juggling acts and right on time comedy. He would become a silent film star (He had a mustache then.) and then onto some of the most memorable early "talkies" and one liners American comedy has ever known. Here are a couple of clips, one is a "talkie", and the other is one of W.C.'s silent treasures. He was a multi-talented comedy pioneer. One of the things I love most about this man is his little comic subtleties  which are proof positive of his genius. He would often carry around a guitar case, but no one had ever seen W.C. play guitar. When the guitar case was finally opened by a curious friend, it only revealed a bottle of Whiskey... comfortably nestled in the velvet case....... I love W.C. Fields. He was an American Comedy Genius.  
 
 Watch these clips. Say what you will about a man and his whiskey, but the time W.C. Fields and his whiskey spent together, was not time wasted..... pure talent. His talent will never be duplicated.

W.C.'s Unmatchable Juggling Act.......

Genius Billiards. Silent Picture (Pool Sharks) 1915  

More to come on American Comedy Genius....    

Thx LT