Show #17 of the OTR Express - "The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show" and "Lights Out!"

One might think being a ventriloquist on radio was an added skill for a comedian to have - not only could you tell jokes, but you had a prop there with you, a built-in counterpart for witty banter.  In fact, as Edgar Bergen found, ventriloquism was seen by many producers and evaluators of talent as something to be overcome. 

Well, Bergen successfully overcame this deficiency, if one could call it that, for 20 years on radio.  Charlie McCarthy was (and is) one of the best-loved figures on radio. 

I, like I'm sure many other children on hearing Bergen & McCarthy, checked out a book on ventriloquism from the library and tried to learn the tricks of the trade.  As I quickly learned (and didn't have the patience to overcome), speaking without moving your mouth isn't that hard until you get to the "B", "M" and "P".  Those are a bit trickier.  Poor Bergen... everytime Charlie called his name, he had do the "B" sound. 

Anyway, enjoy the wit of Bergen and McCarthy here from November 2, 1947.

Lights Out! was another early favorite of mine, and an introduction to the world of sound effects on radio.  There are no decapitations or such on this show, but if there were, you could picture the sound effects man splitting a cabbage head in half with a cleaver for the effect.  Horror shows are truly a great classroom for otr sound effects.

The main effects in the show "Alley Cat" aka "Cat Wife" from January 19, 1943 come from the lead actress in the form of meowing.  A classic show whose effect has probably diminished somewhat with the test of time, "Alley Cat" is still a great example of what Lights Out! was all about - the strange, fantastic, horrifying, insane and often, other-wordly.