On this day, a century ago, a wonderfully funny, delightfully off-kilter comedian and satirist was born who would forever change how we think about American history, advertising, and, well, dragons.
Yes, I’m talking about the one, the only, the inimitable Stan Freberg.
Many of us in the audio fiction world wear many hats and Freberg did so admirably, writing, producing, and acting in the various media he did, so if you’re one of my fellow audio fiction folks, you owe it to yourself to re-acquaint yourself with his brand of silliness and satire. Yes, with voice actors like Paul Frees, Daws Butler, and June Foray in his various projects, he can make it seem easy, but check out his eponymous and sadly short-lived radio show. It has dozens of wonderful bits that could only be done on radio at the time… and even with CGI now, wouldn’t be nearly as funny as the images you will conjure.
And, since I didn’t have a chance to do a remembrance post back when he passed, I’ll share a host of memories and anecdotes shared at that time:
- There’s a great article from pop culture blog A Shroud of Thoughts that gives a good overview of his career.
- Sean Daniels explains how he learned comedy from Stan Freberg the same way many of us get introduced to pop culture: as something of a family tradition… and then something else happens.
- There’s a great recounting on He Said She Said about “My Dinner with Freberg.”
- And for you voice actors, check your envy as you learn about one voice actor’s experience sitting in on a Garfield recording session with many incredible voice talents including one Stan Freberg.
- And finally, since writer and de facto pop culture historian Mark Evanier is mentioned in the link above, enjoy his recounting of Stan Freberg and his opportunity to be involved with “The Middle Years” of the History of the United States: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three.
So go ahead: break out a classic Freberg comedy album or two, keep your ears peeled for the French horns, and enjoy the silliness.
