Link: Variety.com - Reviews - No Applause -- Just Throw Money; Vaudeville Wars.
Vaudeville acts ran the gamut, from the knockabout comedy of Buster Keaton and his parents to staid monologists on the Chautauqua circuit. Appropriately, two new books on the topic are likewise diverse, with "No Applause" a wise-cracking overview and "Vaudeville Wars" a scholarly take on rivalries during a 40-year period. Even when the scribes cover the same ground, they serve up wildly different takes. "No Applause -- Just Throw Money" starts with a romp through entertainment history, from the Greek revels of Dionysus through the men's-only saloon shows of the 19th century to vaudeville's influence on TV variety shows and sketch comedy. Never dull, Trav S.D. includes enlightening tidbits that put vaudeville's history into context for a 21st-century audience. Five decades of vaudeville are condensed into punchy summaries that may or may not be wholly accurate -- but as circuit magnate E.F. Albee said, "Vaudeville demands speed." "Vaudeville Wars," subtitled "How the Keith-Albee and Orpheum Circuits Controlled the Big Time and Its Performers," covers the four decades leading up to Joseph Kennedy's takeover of the major circuits in 1928.
