[Dixielandjazz] Ish Kabibble

Mon Nov 21 12:01:49 PST 2005

Hi Dan,

I'm sure you'll get tons of response to this one.

Ish Kabibble was a musician (trumpet, I believe) in the Kay Kayser orchestra 
- Remember "Kay Kayser and his College of Musical Knowledge"?  It was a 
popular radio program back in the '40s.

Ish portrayed a silly character in some of the scripts who was sorta dumb 
but quite funny, as the court fool or jester often is. He had a kind of 
nasal twang in his speech.

I remember the following exchange on one of the programs. It was broadcast 
from an aircraft carrier during WW2 when the band was out entertaining the 
servicemen.

ISH KABIBBLE: I've seen a bunch of signs posted all over the ship with a 
guy's name on it. Must be an admiral or something I guess . . . do you know 
who Nosmo King is? Could he be related to Admiral King?

KAY KAYSER: What? . . . You idiot! That sign says "No Smoking!"

AUDIENCE: (large gales of laughter all around) "hahahaha"

It was one of radio's finer moments.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill "Nosmo" Gunter
jazzboard at hotmail.com

>From: Dan Augustine <ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu>
>To: DJML <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Ish Kabibble
>Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 11:52:49 -0600
>
>DJML and others--
>     Don Ingle's post on his 50th wedding-anniversary (congratulations, 
>Don!) triggered a forgotten synapse in my noggin when he mentioned the name 
>"Ish Kabibble", and this in turn got me trolling around on the web for info 
>on him (Ish, not Don).
>     See, the connection is that, back in about 1958, in Carson City, 
>Nevada, my parents were interested in (and finally bought) a house on Elm 
>Street.  I was 16 and knew nothing about entertainers from the 1930's.  
>After we bought the house, my father said that one of the people looking at 
>the house was--Ish Kabibble.  Since my father had had false teeth since he 
>was 18 (got 'em all pulled one fine icy day in western Pennsylvania and 
>then rode 50 miles home on his Pennsylvania State Highway Police 
>motorcycle, grinning grimly), i attributed this pronouncement to a sudden 
>slippage in his dentures, but later discovered my error.  (I was born and 
>lived in Washington PA until 1952.)
>     Anyhow, now i'm curious about Ish Kabibble, and i found out some 
>interesting stuff about him, which of course i have to tell you folks or 
>bust:
>-------------------------
>"Everyone's heard the name, but from where? Ish (Merwyn Bogue) got it from 
>his comedy version of an old Yiddish song, "Isch Ga Bibble" (loosely 
>translated, it means "I should worry?"), which he performed after joining 
>Kay in 1931. The public (and band) began calling HIM Ish and the name 
>stuck. Raised in Erie, Penn., the fine cornetist developed the rural "Ish" 
>character with pudding bowl hair, who constantly interrupted the show to 
>recite nonsensical poems to a frustrated Kay, becoming his onstage comedy 
>foil. But he was no dummy offstage- he handled the payroll! Ish stayed with 
>the band 'til Kay's retirement. He then went on to a solo career, sold real 
>estate, and played Vegas with his fine Dixieland outfit, The Shy Guys. LSU 
>Press published his autobiography written w/ his sister in 1989. No book 
>has been published on Kay himself. Ish died shortly after Ginny in 1994." 
>(http://www.kaykyser.net/band.html)
>---------------------------
>"In his autobiography, entitled "Ish Kabibble" (written with his sister 
>Gladys Bogue Riley), published by Louisiana State University Press in 1989, 
>he states the name derived from a song he performed with the band and had 
>become identified with. The song was titled "Isch Gabibble (I Should 
>Worry)," words by Sam M. Lewis, music by George W. Meyer, copyright 1913. 
>Bogue says he changed the spelling to make it easier to say. A sample of 
>the lyrics:
>
>I never care or worry...Ish Kabibble...Ish Kabibble
>I never tear or hurry...Ish Kabibble...Ish Kabibble
>
>When a friend says he's feelin' blue
>When a friend says his room rent's due
>Just tell him in a friendly way
>      Get used to it
>      Get used to it
>
>When I owe people money...Ish Kabibble...Ish Kabibble
>
>If they befriend or lend me...that's their lookout
>They shouldn't yell or shout
>I should worry if they steal my wife
>And let a pimple grow on my young life
>
>Ish Kabibble...I should worry? No! Not me!
>
>What, me worry? (to quote a modern variant)
>
>Lawrence Rungren Bedford Fre Public Library, MA lrungren at mln.lib.ma.us"
>(http://listserv.dom.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9403&L=stumpers-l&O=D&F=&S=&P=24969)
>------------------------
>     So there you go.  You now know some more useless information about 
>someone you probably never heard of before, but on the other hand, maybe 
>(like me) you'll get intrigued by him and his performances (he also 
>appeared in eight films), and you'll get some pleasure out of knowing about 
>him.  Would that someone in the future will do the same about us, eh?
>
>      Dan
>--
>**--------------------------------------------------------------------**
>**  Dan Augustine  --  Austin, Texas  --  ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu
>**    "I don't jog.  If I die I want to be sick."  --  Abe Lemons
>**--------------------------------------------------------------------**
>
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