Letters From Camp

When I was about 12, my parents sent me to a Ukrainian camp in the Catskills. The camp was part of a resort called Soyuzivka, which is still operating to this day. It's really a pretty resort.

My parents were quite wise in not telling me that the camp was going to take three weeks out of my glorious summer. I had important things lined up, like following around my town's road department as they paved and repaired our streets.  Like my stint with helping collect the garbage in my town (see my blog post entitled I Was a Child Garbageman) I was obsessed with what was called the Streets and Sewers department in my hometown of Hillside. I would drive my bike to their central garage in the morning, and then depending on my mood, follow and watch one of the crews doing their thing for the whole day. Riding along with Fred , who drove the street sweeper seemed to me to be a great way to spend the whole day. 

I realized quickly that somehow I was not fitting in at camp with my fellow campers. They were all 13 or 14 years old, and here I was only 12! I was quickly shunned with a tag of being a little kid. My parents friends send their kid to the camp as well. Unlike me, he was able to convince his parents that the camp was pretty horrible, and after the first week, they picked him up and took him home.  My letters written to my parents from camp begging to be pardoned from my three week  incarceration were ignored.  Despite my verbal protests when my parents came to visit after the first week, I was informed by them that I was doomed to stay the entire three weeks.

The director of the camp was a female ,who we had to address as Mrs. Commandant. I'm translating it from the Ukrainian version we used. As her title implied, she was a cross between a female Adolph Hitler and Cruella Deville. She led us in military style marches around the resort and one day caught me badmouthing her in front of my fellow campers. Needless to say, I was not one of her favorites

Before eating any meal. we had to say in unison, "Mrs. Commandant, Smatchnoho", which very loosely translated means we trust we will find this meal to be delicious.

After the first week passed and I realized I was going to serve my three week camp sentence, things did improve slowly. I did make somewhat of a friend and really liked several of the male camp counselors who acted like nice older brothers to me. We did go on some nice scenic hikes and cooled off in the big pool.

Like Allen Sherman's classic song about his experiences at the fictional Camp Grenada, 

I had  to agree that things were getting bettah, so like Allan Sherman:  Mom and Dad, kindly disregard this lettah.

Uncle Floyd

Sometime in 1974 when I was still in college and television was a lot different, I ran across this tv show on Channel 68, called The Uncle Floyd Show. It kinda looked like a throwback to those kiddie shows I had watched when I was little kid, but it was quite apparent the cast was playing to an adult audience. All I know is I became hooked to this half hour show, which was on 5 nights a week . The times varied thru the years, but it was always on late afternoon or early evening.

Uncle Floyd, real name Floyd Vivino, was the star of the show. He used hand puppets, from his sidekick Oogie, pictured here, to several others, including really funny stick puppets like Mrs. Brillohead, Bones Boy and Sammy DeSoul, to other creatures made out of rubber like the incredibly funny Mr. Jones.
He played a plethora of characters as well using the non existent budget he had to gently satirize famous people and familiar stereotypes. Dear Blabby, Julia Stepchild, Brother Billy Bobby Booper, Flojo the TV Clown, Ricardo Romantico, Mr, Spooky, Cowboy Charlie The Dull Family, Joe Frankfutter, and more than 100 other characters were all created and played by Floyd. There were no scripts, no rehearsals, no sets, no budget, but plenty of LOL moments.
He surrounded himself with an equally demented cast who acted in the skits Floyd created, or starred in their own creations.  The show always ended with Floyd at the piano, belting out a tune that was written well before he was born.
Those of you who know me are aware that if I become a fan of something, I rarely do it halfway.
I subscribed to Uncle Floyd's gazette, which came out monthly. I started to attend personal appearances he made, from everywhere to local record shops to Macy's, the department store. The people at Macy's  miscalculated Floyd's audience and had him trying on clothes, which almost led to a near riot. The show held a convention at a Masonic Temple, which was awesome, as they had some of the now famous props used in the show. I got interviewed by a camera crew where I stated that Uncle Floyd could be compared to Ernie Kovacs. It aired on the Uncle Floyd Show.

I bought tee shirts, his 45 RPM records, his full album,bumper stickers (Don't Avoid-Watch Uncle Floyd) 8x10 glossies, the whole bit. I entered his TV contests and actually won free tickets to Wild West City, a western themed amusement park that was a sponsor of the show. Eventually Floyd started to know his very loyal fans by name, and I'm proud to say that he knew mine.

The penultimate Uncle Floyd moment though, was when he and the cast performed a series of live shows at The Bottom Line, a famous night club in New York City. I attended the show with my brother Dave who was also a big fan. It was sold out! Sitting right next to me was David Bowie, another big Uncle Floyd fan. I could have cared less about Bowie, because I was there to see The Uncle Floyd Show! To start of the show, they played the theme music of the show that preceded Floyd's on Channel 68.. a cartoon called Speed Racer. What followed was one of the greatest live events I've ever witnessed. Backed by his brother's band, Uncle
Floyd and his cast put on a show that was brilliantly funny ,familiar,  and frenetic. I've never laughed so much, nor enjoyed a performance more. It was truly the apex of his career in my mind. Some have said that it was at this point that Floyd began to understand what a fanatical and loving fan base he had. This was before the days of the internet or any social media which makes Floyd's success all the more impressive. I know I felt I was part of a special family and it was a great feeling.

The show did return to The Bottom Line for several more appearances, but they never lived up to the magic of the first show.

Eventually, Floyd's show  landed on NJ Public television. What was even cooler, was that the show was now taped in front of a live audience. Of course I was there with my wife and son for the first tapings. I even got to be the first contestant on a new segment called "Ridiculous But Real"  and successfully answered Floyd's  query and won a tee shirt!  (What's the only state in the union who's name is one syllable long? Answer: Maine!)
I had truly come full circle with an appearance on my favorite tv show.
The show did try a run at national syndication at one point around this time, but it was unsuccessful.  About 1998, the show could no longer be found on the airwaves.

I did see Uncle Floyd perform his standup comedy act, a few times, at a street fair, a nightclub, and at a record store in the years that followed, but without  Oogie and the rest of his cast, the shows were not as compelling. While there a few DVDs around with some bits from his old shows, Floyd has resisted putting out the old shows en mass.
And maybe it's better that way. You had to watch 5 nights a week, 52 weeks a year, just like a soap opera, to get all of the inside jokes and references. But man, it was worth it!