Buddy Doyle is a bit much in Lalapaloosa (1930)

Is it worth a watch?

If you've got ten minutes and an interest in how people used to tell jokes before the internet, yes.

If you find old-timey singing and constant mugging for the camera annoying, you will probably hate this with a passion.

Lalapaloosa is basically just a camera pointed at Buddy Doyle while he tries to explode.

He's a vaudeville guy, which means he doesn't just tell a joke; he performs it with his entire skeleton.

It feels like he’s trying to reach out of the screen and shake you by the shoulders.

The whole thing is very loud even when the volume is down low.

I watched this right after Alice's Medicine Show and the energy shift was enough to give me whiplash.

Buddy Doyle is mostly famous for being the guy who played Eddie Cantor, and he does the Cantor bit here too.

The eye-rolling is actually kind of impressive if you don't think about how much his head must have ached afterward.

There is a specific moment where he switches voices and his face just... changes shape.

It’s a bit creepy, honestly.

The set is just a stage, and you can tell the director, Jean Yarbrough, basically just told him to go nuts.

There isn't any real "cinematography" to speak of.

It’s more like a recorded document of a man who cannot sit still.

Some of the impressions are of people nobody remembers anymore, which makes the jokes land like lead bricks.

But then he does a bit that is actually genuinely funny because of how absurd his body language gets.

It reminds me of the weird pacing in The Madcap Musician where the music just starts and stops for no reason.

The sound quality is pretty rough, like it was recorded inside a tin can.

But that adds to the charm, I guess?

It feels like you found a dusty reel in someone’s attic and decided to see if it still worked.

I noticed a stray hair on the lens during one of the close-ups that stayed there for way too long.

It’s these little things that make these old shorts feel more real than the polished stuff we get now.

Buddy Doyle’s tie is also slightly crooked the whole time, which drove me crazy.

• The Cantor Bit: High energy, lots of clapping.
• The Impressions: Some hit, some are just weird noises.
• The Ending: It just sort of stops.

If you enjoy seeing the roots of stand-up comedy, you’ll find something to like here.

It’s not a masterpiece, and it’s definitely not "profound."

It’s just a guy doing his best to make a 1930s audience forget their lives for a few minutes.

I think we need more of that kind of unfiltered weirdness today.

Check out Wasei Kingu Kongu if you want more bizarre early 30s energy, though that's a different kind of trip.

Anyway, Lalapaloosa is a decent way to spend a coffee break. ☕

Just don't expect it to make much sense.

Didja notice?

The way he looks at the camera at the end like he's waiting for a paycheck.

The floorboards creak louder than some of his lines.

He definitely trips over one of his own feet during the dance break but keeps going like a pro.