Shemp Howard | The Underrated Stooge | A Docu-Mini 

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"Thems fightin words in my country!" "Lets fight." "Well, we ain't in my country."

People never believe me when I tell them Shemp was actually an original stooge.

Shemp was my man! He was the funniest by far IMO. Moe holding one end of a measuring tape “How many feet you got?” Shemp ignores the tape & points down to his own feet and counts “two!”-priceless!!

it really sucks how badly the studios treated the talent back then. they were so mistreated and underpaid.

There will never be another act as great as " The Three Stooges."

I love Shemp. Obviously Curly is great but there is something extremely interesting and loveable about Shemp.

I remember as a kid being all about Curly, it was as an adult I learned to appreciate Shemp Howard's talent. Hollywood realized this why he went solo. But he showed his loyalty to the family to returned to the trio after Curly's illness.

Shemp's comedic timing was just amazing!! That cannot be taught. Had there been no Curley in the first place, the three stooges with Shemp would still be a famous act....but everybody realizes Curley was just impossible to follow.

As a child the Stooges were huge to me, but I only loved Curly and hated when it was a Shemp episode. As an adult I have wised up a great deal, and Shemp is now very close to my heart as well. The scene above at 5:38 where he fights Vernon Dent is brilliant... he moves with grace as well as humor and it is all him. Curly would not and could not have done it. He also had a running gag whenever the mention of food (or breakfast) came up (like at 7:08) and he goes into a little dance while he says "love it... love it..." and I often think of that at meal times and laugh. God bless all of these men. We will never see their like again. Can you imagine them all in the same house as kids?

Shrimp is, has been, and always will be my favorite. I love how he vacillates between confidence and fear. One great physical comic of our day Michael Richards, better known as Kramer from Seinfeld, uses a lot of shrimp technique when you really look at it. Not only does he have the physical characteristics of Shemp but he also uses his hair like a prop just as Shemp did. Shemp is grossly underestimated and is in my opinion one of the finest comedians of all time. Long live team Shemp!!

One of Shemps best roles was when he needed married before the days out. He went into the wrong room where she believed Shemp was her lost uncle. She was kissing on him but found out and began slapping him. When Moe said listen, the kisses are getting louder. Shemp just had to be there with his hair to make this work. Pure Genius

It’s great to see Shemp get some love here. He’s a great stooge abs very underrated in my opinion. I’ve always enjoyed the shorts with him in them. Thanks for this great tribute to Shemp 👍

Even as a kid in the 60s, Shemp was always my favorite :) And still is today ;)

I remember asking my three-year-old daughter--Kelli--who her favorite stooge was . . . she replied, "Skrimp." Yep, that's the way she pronounced it. Well, Skrimp has always been my favorite Stooge as well.

The one of Shemp shaving with a straight razor still kills me.

shemp is my fave. classic lines-- "have another sniff?" "no thanks, i gotta drive" "why that old tight wad, he'd steal flies from a blind spider" brideless groom makes me laugh like no stooges episode. when the ring goes in the piano...LMAO.

It’s been a long time since I saw it, so I don’t remember the title, but my favorite Shemp episode was one where they were fighting gangsters. They were in a room with several bad guys and someone either cut off or shot out the lights. All you could hear was a bunch of punches hitting in a general melee when out of the blue Shemp strikes a match and holds it close to his face and announces “Here I am Moe!” and of course numerous fists connect with his face and extinguish the match! As far as I’m concerned, if that wouldn’t make someone laugh, something’s not right.

Shemp is definitely underrated -- not only as a Stooge, but as a comedian in general. As much as I like Curly I have to say Shemp is just as funny, in fact more consistently so. Curly's deteriorating health showed in his later Stooge shorts whereas Shemp stayed the same. There are times where Shemp makes me laugh more than Curly does.

Shemp has always been my favorite stooge(much love to all of them though) and its mainly cause my style of comedy when I tell jokes and the timing and delivery is so much like his. Definitely inspired me as with all of them tbh.

Nice tribute. I appreciated Shemp. He was funny and a good actor in his own right. Thanks

So many people dislike Shemp, but I love him because he didn't try to imitate Curly, he instead did his own brand of comedy. And it worked. I love Moe, Larry, Curly AND Shemp for the comedic geniuses they were.

Shemp was hilarious, and he was my Pop’s favorite. We would watch the stooges before church. It was some of the best times of my childhood.

Shemp is my favorite third stooge. He always had his unique style instead of trying to copy his brother. It’s sad because as Moe said in the 2000 movie that as talented as he was he could never get out of Curly’s shadow.

"Did you come from behind that rock or under it?" 😂😂😂😂😂 I love all these boys

Shemp=George Harrison. Underrated, surrounded by greatness and can still hold his own. Bravo good sir for this video

Shemp is my favorite stooge, I am glad people are finally starting to see how great he really is.

Shemp is and always will be my favorite of the trio. Yeah, Curly is great in what he does, but Shemp brings so much to the dynamic that makes his overconfident facade mix with his cowardly side so well and in many hilarious ways. I remember a short where he's geared to take someone on, but Moe asks what's keeping him from doing just that. Shemp then responds with, "Me".

About time Shemp gets his due. In my youth, was always disappointed when Shemp episodes were shown. Audible groans from me and my Stooge watching cohorts in fact. But funny thing, as I got older, I began to appreciate Shemp for much of what the OP described. But the conclusion I’ve come up with is this…Shemp vs Curly? Not a fair fight. Two entirely different animals. Each has their place. I’ve learned to appreciate each like I appreciate other great art forms from painting, to cuisine to music. For example, Curly: fantastic rock or pop. Shemp: be bop jazz. Think of it like putting early Beatles side by side to Charlie Parker respectively. Curly: the immediate sweet satisfaction of a chilled Coca Cola or Chocolate Malt. Shemp: the contemplative complexity of a full-bodied mid-70s Bordaeux or perfectly mixed Manhattan. Curly one of the great Norman Rockwell holiday depictions. Shemp: a Rothko or Kandinsky perhaps. Curly: Peter Pan or Cinderlla. Shemp: Candide. Curly: Sean Connery’s James Bond to Shemp’s Roger Moore follow up. You get the idea. Either brother, very different interpretations. Both tops in their class.

Curly and Shemp were both great, just different in approach. I loved Shemp's work in the Stooges. I loved all the Stooges but Shemp and Larry were my favorites. Shemp had quite the solo career as well as he worked steadily in films throughout the times he was not in the Stooges, both in shorts and features. There is some great stuff out there on youtube featuring Shemp solo.

Your opening scene with Shemp as the vocal instructor is one of my favorites. The lady was really awesome and played her part really well. As many times as I've seen this short, that sequence still makes me roar. In my book, Shemp and Curly both were of equal quality. I can't picture the Stooges without either one of them. After Shemp, it pretty much went downhill . I can remember social morality groups raising a fuss about how violent the Stooges were. I think the studio had them tone it down. Curly-Joe and Joe De Rita just didn't do it for me.

I loved all the boys, but Shemp was my favorite.R.I.P. boys,and thank you for your timeless comedy.👏👏👏👏

Imagine if it had been all four of them throughout the entire history of the act. The Four Stooges.

Shemp was THE BEST for me; hands down. My favorite of all of them; he could have had his own show honestly

Sleeping Stooges: Moe: *_"HWWWWAAAK"_* Larry: *_"PEEEEWWWW"_* Shemp: *_"BEBEBEBEBE"_* Me: LMAO!

Shemp was a tremendous talent !

excellent study of Shemp's style verses Curly's. You have to respect Shemp for never attempting to copy Curly but rather developing his own style. And when you really look at Shemp's work without other context in Malice in the Palace, Brideless Groom and so many others, he really was a comedic genius.

I remember as a kid watching these on Nick at Night and always really enjoy the Shemp episodes, glad to see him getting some love still.

I actually visited "Curly Joe" Durita's grave when I was in Highschool. My school was located across the road from a cemetery. It even had a memorial for the crew of the Voyager space shuttle. But seeing Curly Joe's grave, (as someone who grew up watching the "The Three Stooges short), was absolutely a marvelous experience for me.

The 3 Stooges were a staple of my childhood. And they are still watched with joy to this day! My brothers and i even modeled our goofy sense of humor on those wonderful performances

Shemp and the ironing board will always be my favorite stooge bit

The first few Stooges re-runs I saw starred Moe, Larry & Shemp. That’s my favourite lineup.

Shemp and Larry were always my two favorites!! Larry's facial expressions were absolutely hilarious!

Shemp was always and forever will be my favorite Stooge! ❤️😊

Been a fan of the 3 Stooges from early childhood, when Shemp was still making shorts with the team--saw them new in the local movie theater. Really enjoyed your entertaining, informative video essay on Shemp, complete with well-chosen, laugh-out-loud clips!

When I was younger, I always skipped the shorts with Shemp because i always thought that that was Curly's place. Now that I'm older and after learning the story of The Three Stooges; I have a deeper appreciation for Shemp

I can watch Shemp Stooges all day long! He was great.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Shemp. By far my favorite “Stooge.” He was nothing like Curley (and vice versa Curley was nothing like big brother Shemp.) There was just something special about Shemp and I think “The Stooges” were the best with him. I’m sure that hardly anyone in the world agrees with me on this, but you don’t have to. This is my post not yours.😁

Moe, Larry, Shemp, and Curly are the most funniest comedians ever because they’re crazy and they like wreck everything

I love all of the Stooges, but Shemp was my favourite. Very underappreciated, I think.

I agree that Shemp deserves more credit. While Curly will always be my favorite of the third role, I've really come to appreciate Shemp. Since I own all 190 shorts from Columbia Pictures, I find the Shemp era has a lot of highlights including All Gummed Up, The Hot Scots, Heavenly Daze, Dunked In The Deep, A Snitch In Time, Three Arabian Nuts, Dopey Dicks, Goof On The Roof, and others. Honestly, the only real downside to that era is the rehashing. While the shorts use stock footage and new footage are a mixed bag, the remakes are the low point of the Columbia shorts, since they're so inferior to the originals. But one of the nice things about having the complete collection is being able to see just how much happened within the long run of the act.

Shemp's 2nd last (I think) film, where he and Moe go at it in a phone booth, is one of his very best. I love these men for the joy they have given me.

Thanks for that short! I have watched the 3 stooges for over 40 years! It's ALWAYS ALWAYS hilarious!!

I've heard some say that Shemp's dance was the original Moonwalk. : ) (MJ was a big stooge fan.)

Shemp is a wonderful stooge especially when he made solo comedy shorts for Vitaphone and Columbia not only that he’s the only stooge who developed the double eye poke

Shemp is actually my favorite stooge. His reactions and facial expressions are perfect comedic gold

Couldn't agree more with your message about Shemp. I appreciate him even more as an oldie than when I watched as kid. Shemp is hilarious and I borrow his style to get laughs from my grandkids

Moe, Shemp, and Curly. The true three stooges, all caring brothers.

My dad and I are major three stooges fans, and we used to not like shemp or the shemp episodes. But as we got older/over time, we started to appreciate and like shemp. He is very underrated

Mo, Curly and Larry were so great together but growing up my favorite was Shemp. I would get so excited if I saw the episode had him in it

Shemp was a star in his own right his solo stuff is hysterical and helped his bros becoming a stooge.

As a kid I watched a ton of 3 Stooges with my gramma. She didn't have any DVDs but she did have a TV channel that showed all their skits and in no particular order. This meant that I got a MIX of stuff from all over their career, some episodes even getting mixed with the Curly and Shemp era. SO being the little brat I was, I got mad. I would say things like "where's Curly?! I don't like that guy!" or "No no! Not another one without Curly, I hate it!" Gramma would always tell me when a Curly episode came on, putting up with my bullshit. I really need to rewatch these now, not just cause adulthood has taught me how closed minded I used to be, but also to appreciate what this video has taught me about the old bits. Hats off to you, Hats off Entertainment.

I prefer to see it that Shemp didn't come in to fill Curly's shoes, he obviously brought his own different pair of shoes, as unique as Curly's, Larry's and Moe's individual pairs. He had his own unique style and one that fit just as well with the "Stooges" as the other's.

5:47 If I was on set, I would've broke character and had been in tears

when I was a kid I thought Curly was the funniest then I got older& started to like Shemp

Shemp made being a stooge believable. He by far put more laughs in each show.

Actually, Shemp was the third Stooge when I first saw their shorts in the movie theater. I liked him equally with Curly.

Shemp is my favorite stooge He always had lightning quick Adlibs The boxing footwork he did for bits And he always knew how to make a slap or fall look convincing with his hair going from slick to messed up.

Of ALL six Stooges, - Shemp was number one ! What's More, Shemp was the only one of the six to Star alone among the 6 !

Shemp is the Best and always will be the Best stooge. never did like his brother Gerome aka Curley. Shemp sleeping noise cracks me up epepepeppppp-epepepepppppp

I am loving your videos. I want to commend you for your skill. You are one of the rare few with professionally executed videos. Your expertise is consistent from your narration to your editing and use of clips. There are so many poorly done videos on RU-vid. It is refreshing and reassuring to see someone else making an effort to hold high standards. I greatly appreciate your work.

Shemp was my all time favourite Stooge

Love Shemp! And his real brother was Curley! Amazing! We love them both! 👍😀

Shemp was always great. In his own bits and with Larry and Moe. Jerome "Curly" Howard was simply just one tough act to follow for anyone.

My dad was a huge three stooges fan, and for the prominent part of my childhood we had three stooges short we’d watch over and over and over again bizarrely on cd-rom. Two featured shemp, while only one featured curly so for me it was more normal to see shemp then curly until I got older.

Love shemp!

What always impressed me about Shemp is that when I first saw him I was shocked and prepared to hate him. But the act still worked and that says a lot.

Shemp and Curly are both hilarious and completely unique third stooges. All four men are comedic geniuses. Joe and Curly Joe you can have.

Shemp always my favorite

Just a couple of slight corrections…Curly suffered his debilitating stroke in May of 1946, his last short, Half Wits Holiday, was released in 1947. Curly appeared in three feature films with the Stooges, not one. The first “Time Out For Rhythm, 1941, the second, Rockin’ In The Rockies, 1945, and Swing Parade 1946.

This was excellent! Shemp was my favorite stooge.

i loved Shemp----he was so underrated

"I'll take the two socks!" "You got 'em!" **punch!**

Shemp is my favorite stoogie, he resembled my grandfather, he was so funny and talented !

I love Shemp so much. Thanks for making this wonderful tribute!!

This Is The Best Video Of The Year! on Earth. I applaud you, and my Hat is indeed Off.

The 40s and 50s era stooges are fascinating. Little time capsules. I also loved the gorgeous actresses paired with them.

Joe Palma was temporarily Shemp's stand in in refurbished Shemp shorts.

Shemp's perennially greasy locks added a certain element to his character .

Shemp and Curly both have these little nuances in their physical comedy that's just... hard to find nowadays. Not because comedians are worse, more that Vaudeville let them perfect their slapstick and see plenty of other slapstick acts to do their own spin on their gags. It definitely was the best place to develop my choice for the best physical comedians ever.

Good job, Joe. Well presented and very touching. You may know "Shemp" wasn't his real name. That was "Samuel." "Shemp" came from his mother's pronunciation of "Sam" through her thick accent. (source: Wikipedia)

Shemp was always my favorite i do love all the three stooges but Shemp was my absolute favorite

I LOVE the Stooges, and my favorite short of all-time features Shemp! It took place in the old west and involved an outlaw trying to force a wedding and some guitar playing with one especially bad note played!!!

This brought a tear to my eye. They were the greatest comedy team to exist. Shemp was a great stooge. What a life they led.

The “two socks of fives” joke gave me a much needed laugh 😂.

The Curly and Shemp eras are my favourite

I have always loved Shemp, and thought he was the perfect stand in for Curly, But I will always find Curly just that small bit funnier, Didn't care at all for that useless Joe Besser, Or Joe Derita, waste of time and space in my opinion...

You'll probably never see this but I just found your channel and am already completely drawn in. Thank you for doing this.

2:00 !! That lady screaming and the slap n slap sound had me laughing so hard! That is so funny, replayed it so many times lol

Shemp was never the underrated stooge in my book; he stood on his own, made his unique mark in this classic trio. He more than stood out as Curly's perfect replacement .. With what was revealed in this video, Shemp was the MVP of the stooges, selflessly deciding to leave a promising solo comedy career to return to the 3 stooges as well as providing financial support for his baby brother Curly, that was very altruistic, compassionate and honorable on his part. Although the act was solidly to be only 3 stooges, I often wonder if the fates would have allowed at least just one longer movie short with all 4 stooges that would accommodate equal screen time for all 4 stooges with the fates included in the skit as s form of timeline manipulation of sorts ... Who knows, with today's CGI advancement, some die heart 3 Stooges fan with a ton of money can make this idea come to reality for all 4 stooges fans ...