Dr. Rev. Bob Holmes, was a remarkable man. He was also my Dad! The only reason my siblings and I exist is because he had such a beautiful speaking voice. My mom was writing film scripts for the Methodist publishing world when she hired him to narrate a film, and then another. One thing lead to etc. and soon they were married!
While in seminary, Dad exposed a particular love for comedy and music. He played jazz piano and for a while was leader of a big band. In the early 40's he started a string of comedy musical groups that did a lot of goofy stuff that was quite popular. Here one can see someting like the early genetics of the Montana Logging and Ballet Co. (MLBC). He also pulled my mom (kicking) into that business. Those two got quite a reputation performing old record pantomimes for church events and the like when we were growing up. Such that––at 8 and 10–– my brother Steve and I would copy in our room numbers that we watched them pantomime.
One such number changed my life quite abruptly one day in 9th grade when, with a single performance, I was instantly launched from the bottom to the top of the social order! At a school talent show I presented a pantomime called Preacher and the Bear. Where I'd one day been the runt of the class and the butt of jokes, the next I was a star and everyone wanted to be my friend, because suddenly I was funny. (Maybe football isn't the way to impress girls!)
In high school Steve and I performed some of these comedy bits for one show and another, and were soon known as a comedy team. Years later when the MLBC got going, this was one of the threads that survived in our repertoire for many years until all our material was replaced with original work. (It was one of these pantomimes that nearly got us shot in Philly. I'll get to that, hang on.)
The last I recall Mom and Dad performing was at their 50th wedding anniversary when so many of their friends gathered to watch them act goofy at nearly 80 years old! It was a real treasure. I suppose I will continue to perform comedy, as I always have. If I last until age 85, that will mark 100 years of goofy comedy in my family, an intellectual and spiritual place where––seriously––it really has no place being!
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| My folks kept comedy alive with Spike Jones numbers. |
One such number changed my life quite abruptly one day in 9th grade when, with a single performance, I was instantly launched from the bottom to the top of the social order! At a school talent show I presented a pantomime called Preacher and the Bear. Where I'd one day been the runt of the class and the butt of jokes, the next I was a star and everyone wanted to be my friend, because suddenly I was funny. (Maybe football isn't the way to impress girls!)
In high school Steve and I performed some of these comedy bits for one show and another, and were soon known as a comedy team. Years later when the MLBC got going, this was one of the threads that survived in our repertoire for many years until all our material was replaced with original work. (It was one of these pantomimes that nearly got us shot in Philly. I'll get to that, hang on.)
The last I recall Mom and Dad performing was at their 50th wedding anniversary when so many of their friends gathered to watch them act goofy at nearly 80 years old! It was a real treasure. I suppose I will continue to perform comedy, as I always have. If I last until age 85, that will mark 100 years of goofy comedy in my family, an intellectual and spiritual place where––seriously––it really has no place being!
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