Variety Show

"Money doesn't make you happy. "But it sure buys you a better class of misery. " That joke, and thousands more, came from the mouths of top-drawer comics. But they were hatched in the overactive, irrepressibly silly, charmingly warped, and unfailingly funny mind of Sol Weinstein. A once-destitute Jersey boy who honed his gift for gags while banging out obituaries at the Trentonian, he rode a wave of laughs all the way to Hollywood. From the late 1950s into the '80s, he spun shtick for such legendary comedians as Joe E. Lewis and Bob Hope; wrote for The Love Boat , The Jeffersons , Three's Company , and Maude ; composed a signature song for Bobby Darin; and fathered James Bonds' Yiddish alter ego, Israel Bond, filling four popular books with the exploits of Agent Oy-Oy-7.

NOT TO take anything away from the quality of entertainment offered in Atlantic City, but there's no denying the casinos there mostly deal in the same-old same-old when it comes to show business. From well-worn, albeit popular, musical revues (the "Legends in Concert" mimic-fest) to frequently booked headliners (it only seems like comedian Lewis Black is at Borgata every three weeks), AyCee is the capital of performance déjà vu. Which is why "The Accused: Nightlife on Trial" stands out like a million-dollar winner at a slot machine pit. "The Accused," which runs every Saturday at the Providence disco at The Quarter inside Tropicana Atlantic City, is unlike anything the town has ever seen.

Bianca DiMaio of Avondale stood on the stage at Avon Grove Intermediate School, holding three small orange balls. As she waited for her cue, she took a deep breath and then smiled. Moments later, the 19-year-old brunette was juggling not only balls, but also giant rings and clubs to the music of "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles. When a club hit the floor, she flipped it back into the air with her foot and finished the routine like a pro. "I just love to juggle . . . and I'm a bit of a show-off," said DiMaio, a Temple student who has been juggling since she was 14. Hers was one of more than 20 acts Friday night at the annual community variety show and fund-raiser for A.C.T.

Toothless and wearing men's slippers on the wrong feet, America's bawdy matriarch of comedy, Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was the antithesis of genteel Anna Huxtable, Bill Cosby's "Mom. " But actress Clarice Taylor has played them both. Sunday at 8 p.m., it's "Moms" she'll interpret on the Merriam Theater stage, in a fund-raising performance for North Philly's Freedom Theatre, the city's oldest owned and run by African Americans. Taylor is taking part in one of theater's revered traditions.

Safia Stevenson of Mount Airy takes the spotlight yesterday at the Uptown Theatre for the Africamericas Festival's Talent Express variety show. Hyman's ballet was one of 18 acts by young, up-and-coming performers from the Philadelphia area.

Friday through Sunday at Lincoln High, the "Stars of Tomorrow" variety show helped raise money for the Sunshine Foundation, which tries to fulfill the dreams of terminally and chronically ill children. At top, Rockettes aged 11 through 22 opened Friday's show. At bottom, stage manager Sam Nicolardi gave Regina Wulko (center), 7, and Courtney Jones, 6, last-second pointers before the curtain opened for their tap dance.

Frank C. Maurone, 67, a Center City fund-raiser and promoter whose hobby was to help others, died Thursday of a heart attack at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He was a resident of Center City. Mr. Maurone, a 1945 graduate of John Bartram High School, attended Temple University for two years, then began raising money for nonprofit organizations. He eventually established Frank C. Maurone & Co., which sells the equipment used by organizations to raise money, such as games, popcorn machines and other items.

It's not much, as trends go, but the variety show has made a slight effort at a comeback recently. The Smothers Brothers made a typically wry attempt at updating the genre over the summer, and did well enough in the ratings that they will return later this season with new episodes of sibling rivalry and yo-yo tricks. More immediately, however, there's Live! Dick Clark Presents (Channel 10, at 8 p.m. Wednesdays), a new variety show overseen by the well-known producer and teeny-bopper expert.

Anthony DeVuono, 97, a tap dancer who dazzled audiences with acrobatic moves in the 1940s and 1950s and operated a dance school in South Philadelphia for 50 years, died Sunday, March 31, at his home in Columbia, Md. In the 1940s, Mr. DeVuono and a friend, Sam Perna, were known as the Vanderbilt Boys, a dance duo. The pair performed in theaters and nightclubs from coast to coast, combining precision tap dancing, acrobatics, and comedy skits....

Forget about dazzle and glitz. Eliminate all thoughts of grandeur. Skip even the most basic of frills. The "Good Times Variety Show," which was recently installed at the Showboat Hotel & Casino, is a variety show, plain and simple. The idea is not new in Atlantic City. Casino-hotel people began kicking the idea around a long time ago when someone first noted that headliner talent - even performers who were flirting with has-been status - had decided that they were entitled to some of the abundant coin being raked in by the gambling establishments.

Anthony DeVuono, 97, a tap dancer who dazzled audiences with acrobatic moves in the 1940s and 1950s and operated a dance school in South Philadelphia for 50 years, died Sunday, March 31, at his home in Columbia, Md. In the 1940s, Mr. DeVuono and a friend, Sam Perna, were known as the Vanderbilt Boys, a dance duo. The pair performed in theaters and nightclubs from coast to coast, combining precision tap dancing, acrobatics, and comedy skits....

"Money doesn't make you happy. "But it sure buys you a better class of misery. " That joke, and thousands more, came from the mouths of top-drawer comics. But they were hatched in the overactive, irrepressibly silly, charmingly warped, and unfailingly funny mind of Sol Weinstein. A once-destitute Jersey boy who honed his gift for gags while banging out obituaries at the Trentonian, he rode a wave of laughs all the way to Hollywood. From the late 1950s into the '80s, he spun shtick for such legendary comedians as Joe E. Lewis and Bob Hope; wrote for The Love Boat , The Jeffersons , Three's Company , and Maude ; composed a signature song for Bobby Darin; and fathered James Bonds' Yiddish alter ego, Israel Bond, filling four popular books with the exploits of Agent Oy-Oy-7.

IN 1967, TV variety show host Ed Sullivan wanted the Rolling Stones to sing their hit as "Let's Spend Some Time Together," rather than make it a one "Night" stand. But who'd have guessed that we'd still be spending lots of days and nights with the band, as they make yet another sweep of audio and video releases to mark 50 years as a unit. Among the "new" stuff is the just-out, 50-track "Grrr!," boasting two fresh and decent songs, plus a small (or so they claim) batch of performances to celebrate "50 Years and Counting" at the rock 'n' roll game.

IT'S NOT BILLED as such, but Donny and Marie Osmond's gig this week at Caesars Atlantic City is a journey into the past. And not just back to the 1970s, when the impossibly adorable singing, dancing and wise-cracking siblings solidified their place in the show-biz firmament with their fondly remembered ABC-TV variety show. Instead the program, which runs Tuesday through Sunday, offers a bridge back to the time when the phrase, "The show must go on!" was the mantra of the entertainment industry.

Not a single public opinion survey would have hinted at it in the mid-1970s, but it turns out that stories about Norwegian bachelor farmers, mock ads for the American Duct Tape Council, and musical sets mashing together bluegrass and bossa nova have a bit of staying power. Writer and radio host Garrison Keillor has proved, once again, that people don't know what they want until you give it to them. He has serenaded public radio audiences with his vaguely plaintive, bemused voice and idiosyncratic variety show since Gerald Ford sat in the White House.

Friday Forever in green clover Andy Cooney will bring his Forever Irish show to Upper Darby Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Friday for the start of St. Patrick's Day weekend. Cooney's repertoire includes the crowd favorites, "Danny Boy" and "Galway Bay. " He will be accompanied by the Irish Sopranos, plus Irish dancers, and his own "World-Famous Irish Band" for this variety show at the center, 601 N. Lansdowne Ave., Drexel Hill. Tickets: $20 to $25 (Arts Center members receive a $2 discount)

When we were growing up as teens in the 1970's, Saturday mornings filled my sister and me with funky anticipation. We'd race downstairs, flip on the Magnavox, and settle in to experience "the hippest trip in America" - Soul Train . See, Soul Train wasn't just any television dance show. Soul Train belonged to us. Soul Train showcased our R&B music, our artists, our dances, heck, even our black hair-care products. It was our cultural touchstone at a time when we were learning that, yes, black was beautiful - even if we weren't quite sure if we believed it yet. But Don Cornelius, Soul Train's pinstripe-suited, haystack-afro'ed, deep silken-voiced creator and host, affirmed it for us. That's why it's so ironically sad that news yesterday of Cornelius' death at 75, from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home outside of Los Angeles, came on the first day of Black History Month.

Tony Braithwaite is committed to Johnny Carson. Younger talk-show hosts may come and go - and by younger, I mean anyone post-Letterman, including Letterman - but in Laughing All the Way , his family-friendly variety show at Act II Playhouse, Braithwaite once again pays homage to his hero with a variety show that even includes a segment featuring Carnac the Magnificent. If you're too young to remember Carnac (Carson in a turban), a medium who divined jokey answers to a series of questions presented to him in sealed envelopes, you probably also won't recall Art Linkletter or Bill Cosby's Kids Say the Darndest Things . No matter.

NOT TO take anything away from the quality of entertainment offered in Atlantic City, but there's no denying the casinos there mostly deal in the same-old same-old when it comes to show business. From well-worn, albeit popular, musical revues (the "Legends in Concert" mimic-fest) to frequently booked headliners (it only seems like comedian Lewis Black is at Borgata every three weeks), AyCee is the capital of performance déjà vu. Which is why "The Accused: Nightlife on Trial" stands out like a million-dollar winner at a slot machine pit. "The Accused," which runs every Saturday at the Providence disco at The Quarter inside Tropicana Atlantic City, is unlike anything the town has ever seen.

If one aspect of this fall season stands out, it's that Philadelphia's art community not only has survived tough times, it also has become increasingly cosmopolitan. On any day of gallery-going in the region, you're likely to encounter all the major trends in contemporary art, and then some. The scale and internationalism of Philagrafika 2010 made all things seem possible a mere year ago, but younger galleries and collectives in particular have been a force behind the new spirit of openness, turning over their spaces to artists and curators from across the country and abroad.