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A coupletist (kupletist) is a poet, singer, or actor who specializes in couplets – wittily ambiguous, political, or satirical songs, usually in cabaret settings, usually with refrains, generally used as a transition between two cabaret numbers. With sarcasm and humor, coupletists take on political dignitaries, the prevailing zeitgeist and lifestyle, in short, "all of the world's madness." Friedrich Wolf called the couplet "the direct involvement of the audience in the game."
"In the cinemas, besides films there would also appear the touring so-called kupletists (singers of topical, satirical songs) – Vasily Pravdin, Gregory Marmeladov and others. Kolya and I enjoyed the kupletists very much and, buying their librettos, zealously studied their soliloquies in order to recite them with feeling to our ladies. ... It was supper time and all of us children sat at the table, mama pouring tea from the samovar boiling on the table. ... I, holding in my hand the libretto of a kupletist, was reciting one of his soliloquies at the top of my voice. Unable to stand my noise, mama entreated me to quiet down and when this did not help, she tore the libretto from my hands and stuck it into the pipe of the samovar, where the fire consumed it.
The Wiener Couplet is a little song found in the farces and comedies of Viennese popular theater. The couplet interrupts the action on stage, is directly addressed to the audience and has reflections on various subjects often unrelated to the plot. While the couplet is sung, "dramatic time" stands still. The actor leaves his role to act as the writer's accomplice, interacting directly with the audience. The actor uses a send-up of his personal problems to make general comments on social and political grievances or human character flaws.
Michael Tilson Thomas Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy based in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of ...
was "... amused by the sheer amount of improvised satirical and topical couplets reated by his grandparents Boris and Bessie Thomashevsky... the modernity of the Thomashefsky improvisations a century ago in the Yiddish theater was remarkably reminiscent of those on
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...
."
In Yiddish theater, the ''kuplét'' was "the comedian's almost obligatory comic patter song." It duplicates vaudeville's intense rapport between performer and audience.Nahma Sandrow, ''Vagabond Stars'', p. 126
"For a contemporary example, one verse of the naughty ''kuplét'' of ''Money, Love and Shame'', sung by a clever comedian in Tel Aviv in 1975, makes fun of Brezhnev, to the delight of an audience of recent immigrants from Russia ... Jacob Jacobs eansover to the audience, in the course of a ''kuplét'', to commiserate with someone in the first row on his Galician accent – always good for a laugh. Another of his perennial routines is to sing a verse about a man who is cuckolded or impotent, peer out into the audience, and ask someone why his wife is laughing so hard.


Some artists who identified themselves as ''kupletists''

*
Pesach Burstein Pesach "Peishachke" Burstein (April 15, 1896 – April 6, 1986) was a Polish-born American comedian, singer, coupletist, and director of Yiddish vaudeville/theater. He was honored with the Itzik Manger Prize in 1986. His wife Lillian Lux, and ...
(1896–1986) * Ben-Zion Witler (1907–1961) *
Boris Thomashevsky Boris Thomashefsky (russian: Борис Пинхасович Томашевский, sometimes written Thomashevsky, Thomaschevsky, etc.; yi, באָריס טאָמאשעבסקי) (1868–1939), born Boruch-Aharon Thomashefsky, was a Ukrainian- ...
*
Shloyme Prizament Shloyme Prizament (1889-1973) (also Shlomo or Szlojme Prizament or Szlomo Prizment), Jewish composer, actor in the Yiddish theater, and ''badkhn'', son of Moyshe Prizament (a famous badkhn known as Moyshe Hibiner / Hibnever). Early years Born in U ...
*
Leo Fuchs Leo Fuchs (May 15, 1911 – December 31, 1994) was a Polish-born American actor.Mendelovitch, Bernard (January 18, 1995).Leo Fuchs (obituary). ''The Independent''. independent.co.uk. Retrieved November 10, 2018. According to YIVO, he was bo ...
* Otto Reutter (1870–1931) * Nellie Casman (1896–1984) (one of the few female coupletists)Nahma Sandrow, ''Vagabond Stars'', p. 391 *
Maria Conesa Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...
(1892–1978)http://www.imdb.es/name/nm0174536/ IMDB entry * Constantin Tănase (1880–1945) *
estrada Estrada is a Spanish surname and Portuguese term. Notable people with the surname include: *Armando Estrada, actually Hazem Ali, professional wrestler *Arturo Estrada Hernández, Mexican painter *Carla Estrada, Mexican producer * Chuck Estrada, Ame ...
duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...
of Pavel Rudakov (1915–1993) & Veniamin Nechayev (1915–1987), which was popular in the times of the
Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw ( rus, хрущёвская о́ттепель, r=khrushchovskaya ottepel, p=xrʊˈɕːɵfskəjə ˈotʲ:ɪpʲɪlʲ or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period ...
.


References

{{reflist Yiddish theatre