John Sigvard "Ole" Olsen (November 6, 1892 – January 26, 1963) and Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson (March 5, 1891 – February 26, 1962) were American comedians of vaudeville, radio, the Broadway stage, motion pictures and television.

However, Olsen and Johnson both took on the comic role, goodnaturedly chuckling their way through the steady barrage of gunshots, explosions, props plummeting to earth, intrusions from other performers, and input from the audience.

[1] The show had its start in a revue called Monkey Business wherein the team began developing their signature style of observing and commenting on the lunacy taking place around them.

The gags and comic premises were borrowed from classic variety entertainment, but Olsen and Johnson put an original spin on the material through their inspired improvisation in live performance.

Stylistically, the show consistently broke the fourth wall, using cast members planted in the audience or in the aisles, and zany audience-participation gags.

It also made heavy use of prop comedy, including rubber snakes, breakaway pants and skirts, clotheslines filled with laundry, and even electric buzzers hidden inside some of the theater seats.

In 1941, Universal Pictures decided to commit Hellzapoppin' to film (unlike the musical, including an apostrophe in the title), with plenty of crazy and sometimes innovative gags.

A serious song by Robert Paige and Jane Frazee is interrupted when a title card crashes on the screen, advising one Stinky Miller to go home.

Man-chasing Martha Raye pursues Mischa Auer, who finds himself suddenly stripped down to his underwear and running a mock track meet.

Copyright issues involving the original stage production have forced the film version out of general circulation in the United States, although a European DVD has been released.

The film version treated the show as a work in progress: Olsen and Johnson step out of the picture, stop the action to interact with the audience, and sabotage their own show-within-the-movie by using optical movie effects.

The cast of Crazy House includes many of Universal's stars and featured players: Allan Jones, Shemp Howard, Robert Paige, Franklin Pangborn, and Martha O'Driscoll, among others.

[5] In Ghost Catchers (1944), Ole and Chic help singer Gloria Jean make her Carnegie Hall debut despite strange happenings in a spooky old house.

However, Olsen and Johnson continued to perform in tours and revivals, including a 1959 production at Flushing Meadows in Queens, NY, called "Hellz-a-Splashin': An Aqua-cade.

Cohen had been impressed by Lynn Redgrave in the TV special, and signed her to appear opposite Jerry Lewis in a Broadway revival, scheduled for Sunday night, February 13, 1977.

There was turmoil behind the scenes, however, as comedy star Lewis dominated the production and had serious arguments with producer Cohen, co-star Redgrave, and writer-adaptor Abe Burrows.

[11] Cohen abruptly closed the show after its out-of-town tryouts, and canceled both the Broadway engagement and an opening-night TV spectacular, forfeiting a million-dollar payment from NBC.