Of all the people who have become legends of American television, Ed Sullivan was surely among the least likely. During a run on CBS that lasted from 1948 to 1971, The Ed Sullivan Show offered millions of viewers the curious spectacle of a variety show hosted by a man who looked every bit the conservative newspaper columnist he once was.
Toronto-based voice actor Jeff Brown will be summoning the spirit of the late emcee as he takes the stage for “The Ed Sullivan Caravan of Stars,” coming to the Maryhill Commercial Tavern on Sunday. Practically everyone – from comedians to schoolchildren to your drunken uncle at the Christmas party – has attempted an Ed Sullivan impression, usually when promising some kind of “really beeg sheeeew.” So what is the secret to a good Ed Sullivan impersonation?
“Ed was almost a caricature in real life. You have to come up to that level without going too far over it,” explained Brown.
![Jeff Giles will don Buddy Holly’s coke-bottle glasses for the Commercial Tavern performance, which features several of Ed Sullivan’s most beloved musical guests.[submitted]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/arts3.jpg)
“What typically ends up happening when people do Ed Sullivan is, they either don’t quite take it quite far enough, or they take it wa-a-ay too far. The trick is to be somewhere in between.”
During its long run, The Ed Sullivan Show offered many Americans their first exposure to The Beatles and Elvis Presley, played host to many of the great entertainers of the time, and even taught multiple generations of children to be frightened by a foam puppet mouse that called itself “Topo Gigio.” And of course, Sullivan also welcomed seemingly hundreds of jugglers, tumblers, ventriloquists, stuntmen, crooners, and acrobats who could have easily been booted off The Gong Show.
At the Commercial Tavern, nostalgic audiences will be offered an all-killer-no-filler lineup of Ed Sullivan Show favourites. Jeff Giles, who starred in The Buddy Holly Story in a North American tour, will reprise what the Hamilton Spectator called “the sexiest Buddy Holly ever.” Then, Jim Yoifido will walk the line through a series of Johnny Cash’s most beloved songs.
And what Ed Sullivan tribute would be complete without Elvis Presley, here portrayed by Edward Butski? If nothing else, Maryhill audiences will surely be able to see this Elvis performance from the waist down.
“Ed Sullivan had all these great artists – anybody who was anybody was on Sullivan. The fun part is, we can put together the Sullivan shows that never were,” said Brown.
One of the reasons that Sullivan remains a popular subject for impersonators a full 39 years after his death is the fundamental incongruity of his show. Week after week, the most charismatic entertainers of their time were introduced by a man who was hilariously square. Few who have heard it will forget his awkward declaration, “Ladies and gentlemen – the Beet-ulls!”
“He had that everyman feel,” said Brown. “Coming out of the newspaper and being on television, I think he was probably nervous … with the closed body and the stiff presentation, he seemed self-conscious, even when he became really famous.”
But that’s not to say Sullivan wasn’t a savvy media presence. “I think in the end, he started to realize, ‘I’ve got something going here,’ and I think he almost started to parody himself as he went along,” said Brown. “He got the joke … He would camp it up with the best of them.”
So: will Jeff Brown, while in character as Sullivan, utter a few immortal words?
“You cannot do Ed Sullivan without saying, ‘It’s gonna be a really beeg sheeeew!’” assured Brown. “It can’t be done. It can’t be done.”
“The Ed Sullivan Caravan of Stars” takes to the stage at the Commercial Tavern Sunday (March 24) at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15, available at the venue, 1303 Maryhill Rd., or by calling 519-648-3644.
