Soupy Sales, comedian, TV personality

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on October 23rd, 2009

Soupy Sales died today at the age of 83.

When the comedy business went into hyper-drive in the 80s, Sales quite a few personal appearances. (Although it’s not mentioned in his Wikipedia entry.)

We recall (perhaps incorrectly) that framed clippings of a Sales appearance hang on the wall at the Comedy Club at Shooters in Saginaw, MI. And we further recall that Sales may have been the headliner on that club’s opening weekend. (We regret that we never got to share a bill with Soupy Sales!)

Many comics worked with him during that period. And he was a fixture at the Friars Club in NYC.

The Male Half recalls fondly (and faintly) watching one episode of the late-night version of The Soupy Sales Show. According to Wikipedia, “ABC dropped the show from the network schedule in March 1961, but it continued as a local program until January 1962. The show briefly went back on the ABC network as a late night fill-in for the Steve Allen Show but was canceled after three months.”

The Male Half says:

I think it must have been during the period where he was subbing for Allen that I was allowed to stay up late and watch Soupy Sales. I was probably approaching my fourth birthday. I recall that it was late and I recall laughing hysterically. (And I recall being filled with that giddiness that comes with being allowed to stay up late… a rare treat.)

I don’t remember much, but that White Fang gimmick stayed with me for a long time. And the general surreal nature of the show made an impression on me. It was simultaneously creepy, mysterious… and hysterical!

It was a bizarre show for its time. And, in a lot of ways, it was innovative. And it just might have influenced a lot of people who are producing and writing television today. Sales interacted with the crew (there was no live audience) and cracked up a lot. And he interacted with other guests, off-camera, through a door in the back of the set. Often viewers would see only a portion of the guest. Very offbeat, very Ernie Kovacs.

See here for an interesting take on the show. It’s a recollection from writer Don Brockway with some pics from his visit to the set of the show. The crew, though never seen, Brockway says, were an integral part of the show.

And here’s the brilliance of it all: this made it funnier, and hipper, to the kids that were watching. Many children’s shows had live, on-stage audiences… of children. And so, naturally, the host worked to the kid audience. Because Soupy worked to other adults while doing a children’s show, Soupy’s viewers felt that they were given access to the adult world. We weren’t laughing at things other children were laughing at; we were laughing at things grown-ups were laughing at, and that made us feel pretty good.

Sounds like The Soup!

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