Be a Laugh! Make 'Em Clown!

In the past couple of weeks, several abortive ideas have entered the head, but none has come to fruition except the last, which popped into the old noggin yesterday during a fag-break outside the orifice building, where, for some reason, I was speculating on the secret of Quentin Tarantino’s charm.

The lyric fits Be a Clown, sung by Judy Garland and Gene Kelly in Cole Porter’s charming-but-forgotten little flick, The Pirate; but the tagline is based on Nacio Herb Brown’s Make ‘Em Laugh, sung by Donald O’Connor in Singin’ in the Rain.  A confused conflation that Arthur Freed must have known would arise now and then.  I see no point in trying to fix this glitch; let the thing stand as is.

Make 'em gag, make 'em gag,
And the thing’s in the bag;
Show 'em blood, show 'em guts,
And the hoi polloi will go nuts.
If the scene makes ‘em barf,
Then it should be good for a larf.
If you are shooting Socrates, complete with his cup,
Then go in for the close-up as he samples a sup;
If you can’t make ‘em upchuck, better chuck it all up.
Make 'em gag, make 'em gag, make ‘em gag.

Lyric © Nathaniel DesH. Petrikov