Laughs On Parade

By STEVE KORNACKI The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 10, 2007

MADEIRA BEACH - Something funny's going on here.

The National Comedy Hall of Fame opens Saturday in the new Hubbard Enterprises building on John's Pass Village & Boardwalk.

The "micromuseum," as Vice President Dean Doulou calls it, crams 435 displays and a gift shop into about 1,700 square feet at 159 129th Ave. W.

Plaques depicting the hall's 23 inductees - such as Bill Cosby, Red Skelton and Charlie Chaplin - greet visitors. The history of comedy and those who have made people laugh since ancient Greece are told with videos, photos, memorabilia including one of the three original Howdy Doody marionettes and displays of the costumes, props and stories of comics such as Phyllis Diller.

"It's edutainment," said Tony Belmont, Comedy Hall of Fame president. "That's my own word and it's perfect for what we are doing here. It's education and laughs."

They estimate that in the next year 150,000 to 300,000 people will visit the nonprofit museum, which has a $6.50 admission for adults and takes about one hour to tour.

"This is the only museum along the Gulf beaches," Belmont said, standing on the balcony outside the entrance. "I look forward to the day when we can close this street for the inductions of, say, Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore."

Former President Bush attended Minnie Pearl's Nashville induction in 1994, and Nelson Mandela was at George Kirby's 1995 Las Vegas induction.

"I'm so pleased that Tony finally is opening the Comedy Hall of Fame," said ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson, 78, of Cape Coral, whose acts with Farfel the dog and Danny O'Day puppets landed him on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and Milton Berle's "Texaco Star Theater."

"I don't know of any other comedy hall of fame, and we really need one. Now we have a hall of fame where people can enjoy comedy."

Attraction A Plus For Area

Doulou said that since St. Pete Beach museums such as Madame Tussaud's wax museum have long since disappeared, the comedy hall and museum will provide a needed attraction. Lee Daniel, assistant director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, called the Comedy Hall of Fame a big plus for the area.

Doulou said they discussed the museum with representatives of possible sites in Orlando, St. Augustine, Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Buffalo, N.Y., and Louisville, Ky.

Belmont and Doulou settled on Madeira Beach because it supplied ample tourist foot traffic, affordable leasing and is close to their Pinellas County homes. Doulou said start-up costs will be about $500,000.

Belmont is a member of the Friars Club in New York and has been a rock concert promoter for decades. He has been able to rub elbows with show business movers and shakers and many famous comedians to obtain their memorabilia and stories.

He said Milton Berle, a hall of fame inductee in 1993, agreed to be interviewed for the museum's history of comedy video after prodding from the late George Sidney, a friend of Belmont and the Hollywood movie director of musicals "Kiss Me Kate" and "Annie Get Your Gun."

He Got Uncle Miltie To Open Up

"Milton Berle was tough to talk to at first," Belmont said. "He was suspicious and asked me, 'What can you do for me?' I said, 'Something nobody else can. I can give you perpetuity. I can put your work where it will be viewed forever.' And he opened his door up for me."

An old film clip of "Uncle Miltie," one of the first stars of television, ad-libbing a comedy skit with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis is included.

Belmont began pondering creating a hall of fame after a 1989 conversation with Morey Amsterdam, one of the co-stars on the popular "Dick Van Dyke Show."

"Morey said there was no official museum for comedians and helped get some people together on the project from the Friars Club," Belmont said. The National Comedy Hall of Fame resulted, with the Friars Club and others voting annually. Abbott and Costello (1991) and Laurel and Hardy (1992) became the first inductees.

Belmont met Doulou, also the hall of fame's comptroller and a local real estate broker, while beginning a search for operations. They accumulated items for the hall for 15 years before finally securing the Madeira Beach location, and have been building the displays themselves with volunteers such as research director Josh Sullivan.

Collecting Memorabilia

Relatives of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello donated items, and the Rodin statue "The Thinker" from "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" TV show was given by the show's star, Dwayne Hickman. "Buffalo" Bob Smith willed one of the Howdy Doody marionettes to the Comedy Hall of Fame when he died in 1998.

Howdy is placed in the museum's Puppet Corner, next to an extensive display featuring the "Our Gang" comedy stars. Other highlights include the Comedy Kiosk with computerized comedy history and one of Skelton's original Freddie the Freeloader jackets.

The stories of Skelton, Buffalo Bob and 14 others are detailed on videos at their displays.

GO FOR THE LAUGH

National Comedy

Hall of Fame

WHERE: 159 129th Ave. W., Madeira Beach (Johns Pass)

WHEN: Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily beginning Saturday

HOW MUCH: Admission $6.50, with $6 for 65 and over and students, and under 6 free. Call (727) 398-5761 for information.

National Comedy Hall of Fame inductees are Bud Abbott, Gracie Allen, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, George Burns, Sid Caesar, Charlie Chaplin, Bill Cosby, Lou Costello, Jimmy Durante, W.C. Fields, Jackie Gleason, Oliver Hardy, George Kirby, Ernie Kovacs, Stan Laurel, Moms Mabley, Minnie Pearl, Richard Pryor, Timmie Rogers, Red Skelton and Flip Wilson.

Reporter Steve Kornacki can be reached at (727) 451-2331 or skornacki@tampatrib.com.