i’m currently working my way through the entire back catalog of the bowery boys podcasts. 

my two favourite things i’ve learned recently are:

-at the algonquin round table, they played a word game in which you were given a word and had to immediately come up with a sentence which used the word, preferably a clever sentence.  for example, when presented with the word “horticulture,” dorothy parker gave the sentence, “you can lead a horticulture, but you can’t make her think.”  [say it out loud, if the joke is not immediately giggle-inducing.]

-in the ziegfeld follies, in the early 20th century, a frequent act was a tableau vivant—basically people posed on-stage presenting a scene from art, mythology, literature, whatever.  not terribly exciting, yeah?  except it was full of naked ladies.  which was totally legal at the time as long as they didn’t move.  hahaha.  that is right.  it was legal to be naked on the stage as long as you were standing totally still.  because obviously, naked ladies in motion are completely obscene.  obviously.

check out the bowery boys, if you are not a listener already.  it is a charming and fun podcast.  and unlike many podcasts, you can listen to 86 [and counting] in a row without getting bored of these guys.