"You go through life, you try to resist the urge to punch people in the face, and for what? For some pimply little puke to treat you like dirt! Well, I'm better than dirt! Well... most kinds of dirt."
Moe is one of my favorite characters from the Simpsons. When he first appeared in the early episodes, he was just only the receipient of Bart’s prank phone calls. Eventually, he evolved into a fully realized character.
What I hadn’t realized is that Moe is based on a real person — Louis “Red” Deutsch.
Born in 1895, Deutsch opened the “Tube Bar” in New Jersey in 1933 after the end of Prohibition. He ran the bar well into his eighties, selling it in 1980. Deutsch was well-known in his area as being a bit of an eccentric. According to his Wikipedia entry:
…there were no barstools, women were forbidden to enter until the 1970s, and anyone caught not drinking was subject to be beaten by Red and ejected by force.
The memory of Deutsch might have greatly faded since his death in 1983 if it hadn’t been for a series of prank calls he began receiving in the mid-70s. Now known as the “Tube Bar prank calls,” the original calls (and their recordings) were made by John Elmo and Jim Davidson.
These two young men would call the Tube Bar and ask for nonexistent individuals. When Deutsch would call out the name, the gag would be revealed. For example, “Al Coholic.”
Sound familiar?
Most of the time, Deutsch would call out the names, unaware that he was being subjected to a prank. Sometimes, however, Deutsch would catch on to the prank, and when he did, he responded with extreme hostility, shouting at the caller with profanity, obscene sexual references, usually involving the caller’s mother, and threats of physical harm. (Wikipedia)
Elmo and Davidson began circulating the tapes to their friends. Over time, these recordings became an underground sensation, with Simpson’s creator Matt Groening being one of those who had obtained a copy.
Thus was the beginning of television comedy gold: “You little SOB! If I ever find out who you are, I’m going to shove a sausage down your throat and stick starving dogs up your butt! ”
The official website for the Tube Bar prank calls can be found here.
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