Two Black Crows
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
The Two Black Crows was a blackface comedy act popular in the 1920s and 30s. The duo appeared on stage, comedy records, in film shorts, and even on Broadway.
The act, also known as Moran and Mack, was started by Charles Mack (1888-1934). He had two partners, John Swor, and George Moran (1881-1949). Swor left the act, at that time called Moran and Swor and was replaced by Mack and the name of the act changed. Later, after a business dispute with Moran, Mack left and was replaced by Swor, who took the name Mack. The duo's best era was with the "real" Moran.
Their greatest success was on phonograph records. Although their gags were mostly corny and the characters slow-witted, the relationship depicted and their laconic delivery made them one of the most successful of comedy teams.
Even a watermelon joke, the essence of racial stereotyping, took on a certain surrealist air in their hands:
- "Wish I had an ice-cold watermelon."
- "Oh lawdy," says Moran, "Me too."
- "Wish I had a thousand ice-cold watermelons."
- "Glory be. I bet if you had a thousand ice cold watermelons you'd give me one."
- "No, no siree! If you are too lazy to wish for your own watermelons, you ain't gonna get none of mine."
Once Mack played a blast on his kazoo. "Even if that was good, I wouldn't like it," Moran commented dourly.
The duo appeared frequently with W.C. Fields and played Broadway in Earl Carrol's Vanities in 1926 and the Ziegfeld Follies in 1920.
External link
- Moran and Mack (http://www.comedystars.com/Bios/moran-mack.shtml) at www.comedystars.com
