I remember the Vaughn Meader comedy album about the first family. Can’t remember any details but it was funny and very kind to the Kennedy family. I’m sure it would make me barf now.
The controversial late comedian Lenny Bruce was scheduled to appear at a major comedy venue in December, 1963. When Kennedy was assassinated, whether or not to cancel the engagement became an issue. Bruce opted to go on; the issue then became whether to mention the assassination, or not, knowing he risked his career either way.
Bruce walked on stage, and stood there for several minutes, saying nothing while the packed audience waited, tittering nervously.
His opening line: “Man, oh man. Poor Vaughn Meador.”
The story goes Meador was on a flight to Las Vegas at the time Kennedy was shot and, after he landed, someone asked him “Do you Kennedy’s been shot?”
To which he put on his Kennedy voice and replied “No, but if you hum a few bars, I’ll try to fake it.”
The look he received after that told him his career was finished.
I have that Vaughn Meader album, “The First Family”. It was recorded on October 22, 1962, at the high noon moment of the Cuban Missile Crisis, but that’s a small detail.
To listen to it now is to hear a wistful snapshot in time when life seemed simpler (though it wasn’t, as we later learned). The entire album is lighthearted joshing of a beloved President and his even more beloved family.
I was 14 then & remember those times.
Most tracks had only one punch line. The funniest for me was “White House Summit Lunch” where JFK orders sandwiches rather than host a formal dinner, to save time. The reactions of the heads of state are hilarious, especially Khrushchev, Castro, & Nasser.
Needless to day, Vaughn Meader’s career mostly ended after the assassination.