Episode:  The Many Skeltons in Las Vegas
Original Air Date; 1962/01/30
Guest Stars:  George Appleby, Freedie the Freeloader, Clem Kaddidlehopper, and Willie Lump Lump

The Red Skelton Show from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Nice, all four Red Skelton characters are getting off the plane in Vegas at different times. And, of course, Freddie came out through the luggage compartment.

Oooh, at the Sands. And the dancers are starting, but of course the regular dancers are only singing off screen while Vegas show girls promenade. Aww, go fig, the guy dancers come out to sing with the show girls. Classic Vegas sound. A lot of smoke in the spotlights. Times a’changed.

Now I’m confused. Maybe it was the blonde wigs - if they’re wigs…. Not sure if the girls are the regulars…oh well.

The song is parodied from -”Grey skies are gonna clear up /put on a happy face…”

“It got so cold here last night that the girls had to put on their long beads,” I miss the temperature spikes and dips of the Las Vegas Valley. Classic Vegas jokes including pantomime skits…

“I made $20 last night; I rented my room.”

Classic Red Skelton joke. I’ve seen others use this joke:

“We’ve got a nudger down here. You know what a nudger is? I tell a joke, she explains it to him and he goes, ‘yeaaaaaah!!’.”

George Appleby’s turn in the casino.

Freddie the Freeloader’s turn

Here comes Freddie, sneaking in on the back of a golf cart.

Going in mime.

Ahh, 3 card monty Here comes the law.

Whoa, how’d he do the horizontal dance over the water?

Clem’s Turn as a busboy.

“About the mess at your table? She’s not bad. Not good, but not bad.”

Only Clem could make it so entertaining.

Whoa, Willie Lump Lump showed up in the back during Red’s act.

Willie n Red are going back n forth. Willie paid for a seat up front but can’t stay on his feat…there he goes. Classic drunk humor… (the laugh track is disproportionate the audience’s reaction, oh well).

Red’s got nothing after Willie’s appearance, “Good night.”

Red Skelton thanks the crowd for real this time. That smoke is thick in the crowd. And I’ll make sure I watch Dennis the Menace Sunday night, Red.

Final Thoughts on The Many Skeltons in Las Vegas

This episode is truly entertaining. I especially enjoyed the interaction between Willie n Red at the end. It was kind of unique to see Red play the straight man to himself. And, having worked in the gaming industry a few years, Red’s jokes brought back many personal memories for me.

In the first few episodes I saw how Red kept everyone laughing:  crowd, cast, crew, himself… Lately, I’m starting to see how he kept the shows fresh. Sometimes the jokes are based on one-liners, zingers and the like. Other times, like in The Many Skeltons in Las Vegas, Red uses visual, physical comedy to stir laughs. By appealing to the different senses, he keeps his entertainment fresh. No one got burned out hearing him too much because he could be physically funny, but then no one got tired of the slapstick because of the one-liners and classic humor.

Still looking forward to the next show.

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