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How 10 Famous Comedians Got Their Goofy Stage Names

An examination of some of the stranger pseudonyms in comedy history

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Entertainers across the board have been given funny nicknames, and comedians, of course, are no exception. Some are pretty on-the-nose and don’t require any explanation; you don’t need to think too hard, for example, to figure out where Carrot Top came from. Others are fairly unique and can be downright weird at times, and that’s what we wanted to look into today. Without further ado, here’s how 10 famous comics got their unusual stage names.

Born Richard Anthony Marin, the comedian known the world over as Cheech got his famous nickname right after birth. As Marin explained in a 2006 interview, his uncle took one look at him in his crib and said, “Oh, he looks like a little chicharrón,” which, as Marin clarified, is a type of fried pork rind.

During a 2006 interview with The New York Times, Whoopi Goldberg was asked about the origins of her stage name. She responded as follows: “When you’re performing on stage, you never really have time to go into the bathroom and close the door. So if you get a little gassy, you’ve got to let it go. So people used to say to me, ‘You are like a whoopee cushion.’ And that’s where the name came from.”

When Bobcat Goldthwait started doing comedy, he met a fellow comedian named Barry Crimmins, who went by the nickname “Bear Cat.” As a joke, Goldthwait referred to himself as Bobcat, and he’s been stuck with the name ever since. 

Milton Supman, better known as Soupy Sales, had his last name mispronounced as “Soupman” so many times that it developed into a nickname. Before long, people were calling him Soupbone, which was eventually shortened to Soupy.

When he was 16 years old, Flip Wilson lied about his age in order to join the Air Force. When he was stationed overseas, he would entertain his buddies with wild stories, earning himself a reputation for “flipping out” in the process. 

Roughly half of the Marx Brothers have nicknames that are pretty straightforward: Harpo, for example, played the harp, and Chico liked to chase “chicks.” On the surface, Groucho seems like an obvious one as well, but it’s been suggested over the years that his name was derived from the “grouch bag” he used to wear around his neck (a small pouch for storing money).

Original Three Stooges member Shemp Howard acquired his future stage name as a child. When his mother would call for the young Sam Horwitz in her thick Lithuanian accent, it came out sounding more like Shemp.

3. RODNEY DANGERFIELD

Jacob Cohen changed his name to Jack Roy as a teenager before a nightclub owner gave him the name Rodney Dangerfield. The moniker was reportedly inspired by a cowboy character Jack Benny played on TV.

John Elroy Sanford started calling himself Redd Foxx in the 1940s. The name was a combination of two nicknames from his youth: He was called “Red” due to his complexion, and later became known as “Foxy” because he was a sharp dresser and a ladies’ man.

Cornelius Chase doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as Chevy Chase, which is probably why Chase’s grandmother gave him the nickname. And if you’re wondering why it isn’t pronounced like the car company, it’s because his grandmother borrowed it from a community in Maryland of the same name. 

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