Who is Ish Kabibble?

Question

...and the College of Musical Knowledge

Answer 1

Ish Kabibble was a Jewish comedian and trumpet player. Born Merwyn Bogue in Erie, Pennsylvania, he took the name Ish Kabibble from the lyrics of one of his comedic songs, "Isch ga-bibble".

He often performed with Kay Kyser's Orchestra (a.k.a. the Kollege of Musical Knowledge) in the 1940s and is featured doing some of his comedy during the band's performance in the film, "Thousands Cheer."

It was in his autobiography that he explained the meaning of his stage name. It is derived from a Yiddish expression, "Ische ga bibble?", which roughly means "What, me worry?". (This was later also the motto of Mad Magazine's mascot, Alfred E. Newman.)

Kabibble's distinctive straight-black hair, usually arranged in a "bowl cut", is said to have been an inspiration for the hairstyle worn by Jim Carrey's character in Dumb and Dumber. Some critics maintain that Jerry Lewis lifted his entire comedic persona and look directly from Ish Kabibble, simply making an otherwise identical character more manic than Ish Kabibble's earlier presentation.

Although Bogue's stage persona was that of a dimwitted person, in fact he was a notable trumpet player in his own right and also was the business manager for Kyser's group for a time.