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Professor Lamberti (born Basil Garwood Lambert, January 9, 1892 – March 13, 1950) was an American
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
and
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
performer active during the early part of the 20th century. He was billed as "the world's daffiest
xylophonist The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African and ...
". He was born in
Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History The site of present-day Valparaiso ...
. At age seven he appeared in minstrel shows, at nine he was a boy juggler. By his teens he was appearing with the Henderson Stock Company and at 17 he joined the Adam Forepaugh circus as a wire artist and juggler. He later became a theatre musician playing drums and xylophone. Lamberti's musical skills were good enough to get him work with the
Cleveland Symphony Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...
. But as he once said "You can't make a living out of the xylophone if you play it right." After fighting in
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he began appearing in vaudeville, honing a comic xylophone act that he used successfully for many years. According to Lamberti, he was playing on a vaudeville bill in
Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...
when a magician's ducks escaped and wandered on the stage behind him. The audience went wild, and Lamberti decided that he would do well adding some comedy to his act. Generally, his act would begin with Lamberti striding onstage pushing a xylophone proclaiming, "If you folks have been waiting for something lousy, here it is." Wearing an ill-fitting tuxedo, Lamberti would launch into a piece of music replete with mistakes, which were echoed on his face. As he got further into the piece, a young woman would appear behind and begin a striptease. As the audience encouraged the woman, Lamberti would mistake their excitement for encouragement of his playing. After realizing the presence of the stripper, Lamberti would chase her offstage with a seltzer bottle, thus ending the act. Throughout the 1940s Lamberti appeared in nightclubs, and in 1942, he appeared in Michael Todd's production of ''
Star and Garter ''Star and Garter'' is a 1942 American musical revue starring comedian Bobby Clark and produced by Mike Todd. The show, which opened at Broadway's Music Box Theatre on 24 June 1942, was a smash hit, closing on 4 December 1943 after 609 perform ...
'' with Bobby Clark and
Gypsy Rose Lee Gypsy Rose Lee (born Rose Louise Hovick, January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970) was an American burlesque entertainer, stripper, actress, author, playwright and vedette, famous for her striptease act. Her 1957 memoir, '' Gypsy: A Memoir'', was a ...
. In 1945 he performed his xylophone act in the musical ''
Tonight and Every Night Tonight may refer to: Television * Tonight (1957 TV programme), ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * Tonight (1975 TV programme), ''Tonigh ...
'' starring
Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer, and Pin-up model, pin-up girl. She achieved fame in the 1940s as one of the top stars of the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of ...
. He died at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in 1950, two months after his 58th birthday. His wife Millie was at his side.Eugene Register-Guard March 16, 1950.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamberti, Professor Xylophonists American vaudeville performers 1892 births 1950 deaths Musicians from Indiana Jugglers American military personnel of World War I 20th-century American musicians