TEN MINUTES OF MIRTH: Allen Curtis And His Joker Comedies, 1913-1917
Joker Comedies: They were Universal’s answer to the stunning popularity of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Comedies, introduced in late 1912 to enthusiastic audience acceptance. Universal found the right man to develop and nurture its new Joker brand, the versatile and extremely talented fellow named Allen Curtis.
The Joker Comedies were good – really good – and it didn’t take long before Sennett noticed. Louise Fazenda, Bobby Vernon, and Harry McCoy, three of Joker’s most popular comedians, were all lured away within a year of Joker’s inception. Unfazed by this loss, Curtis regrouped and formed a talented new stock company every bit as good as their predecessors. Headlined by Gale Henry and Billy Franey, with support from Milburn Morante, Lillian Peacock, and Charles “Heinie” Conklin, the new Jokers would soldier on with their delightfully unhinged antics right up until the company closed its doors at the end of 1917.
Allen Curtis, the creative entity behind the Jokers, was ringmaster of this zany assemblage of comedians. A veteran of more than a decade of non-stop performances throughout the Midwest and West, his Allen Curtis Musical Comedy troupe enjoyed widespread popularity. During Joker’s four-year run, the indefatigable Curtis would (co-)write and direct more than 250 single-reel shorts, an output of well over a film per week, the quality of his films surprisingly consistent.
Thomas Reeder’s TEN MINUTES OF MIRTH provides an entertaining account of the Joker Comedies and the multi-talented man behind them, along with a detailed Filmography of the brand’s entire output. Lavishly illustrated with more than 200 rare photos.
Published 2025. 7x10, 539 pages, hardcover.