Episode 78: What is Your Opinion of Art? (featuring Pat McCaughey)
Even the stuff we think we know, we don’t always know.
One story we Marxmaniacs repeat with confidence is the tale of How the Marx Brothers Got Their Names. We’ve devoted entire meals, entire days to the savory details: the Gus Mager comic strip which sparked a national obsession with O-names; the Galesburg (or maybe Peoria or Aurora), Illinois poker game at which a vaudevillian named Art Fisher dubbed our knights; the sometimes multiple and conflicting explanations for each Brother’s nickname; and the retroactive naming of Herbert/Zeppo — who in the standard telling is the only Marx Brother not present at that May 1914 poker game. Details have emerged over the years, particularly regarding the true etymology of Zeppo’s nickname (see Four of the Three Musketeers and Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother). But for the most part, How the Marx Brothers Got Their Names is a story that’s essentially stood unchallenged.
And now, all of a sudden, here’s Pat McCaughey — perhaps known to you for his contributions to Matthew’s Mr. Crippen, Cora, and the Body in the Basement and my There’s Nothing Like Liberty: The Marx Brothers and America — with some pretty compelling evidence that does challenge accepted aspects of the story, including when the poker game took place and who was present.
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Gentlemen, wear your glasses: Diamond, Gassel, McCaughey, and Coniam wrap their minds around Episode 78.
Official description: “By all accounts, the Brothers acquired their iconic names in 1914 while playing cards with a performer named Art Fisher… but does this story hold water, or even milk? To get to the bottom of this, we welcome master Marx researcher Pat McCaughey... and without spoiling anything, let’s just say, it’s complicated.
“We then reflect on the importance of the stage names, and whether the Brothers would have been successful without them. Later, Bob joins in for some manicurist talk, and he and Pat detail obstacles they’ve encountered while searching for her identity.”
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Footnotes:
Some of Pat McCaughey’s Marxian findings, including about Art Fisher, can be found at his site, From the Marxives.
Check out Operation Manicurist, a noble McCaughey/Gassel effort to find the Night at the Opera manicurist in other MGM films of the period — and join the effort!
