Centenary Celebration: Ish Kabibble
By Jim Linz
Born Merwyn Boque, Ish Kabibble (January 19, 1908-June 5, 1994) is best remembered as the comedic foil on Kay Kyser’s College of Musical Knowledge in the 1940s.
Bogue joined Kyser’s band in 1931 as a trumpeter and occasional singer of novelty songs. It is said that his performance of a Yiddish song “Isch Ka Bibble” was so popular that the audience began to call Bogue by the song title and soon he changed his stage name to Ish Kabibble.
Ish Kabibble’s dim-witted character was a hit and he stayed with Kyser’s band until Kyser’s retirement in 1950. Kabibble started a solo act, backed by his own Dixieland band, the Shy Guys, but when it failed, Kabibble left show business and became a real estate agent.
Ish Kabibble’s distinctive bowl cut is often suggested as the inspiration for Jim Carrey’s role in Dumb and Dumber and even for Jerry Lewis’ look and persona.Far from being the dimwit he portrayed, Ish Kabibble was actually the manager of Kyser’s orchestra for nearly 20 years.
I didn’t find Ish Kabibble on YouTube other than this Kay Kyser clip with Kabibble sitting in the orchestra: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz3_V5Vx4EQ
This article originally appeared in Trans-Lux volume 26, number 2, Spring 2008.
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Created Thursday, November 27, 2008; Modified Thursday, November 27, 2008.
