They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s, first as a live act, then on radio, then as part of The Army Show that entertained troops in Europe during World War II, and then on both Canadian and American television.

Wayne (born Louis Weingarten; May 28, 1918 – July 18, 1990) and Shuster (September 5, 1916 – January 13, 2002) were well known in Canada, and were Ed Sullivan's most frequently recurring guests, appearing a record 67 times on his show.

[4] In 1941, they made their radio debut on CFRB in their own show, The Javex Wife Preservers,[5] for which they were each paid $12.50 per week to dispense household hints in a humorous fashion.

[3]: 143  Their popularity on CFRB, at the time a top-rated Toronto radio station, soon landed the pair on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) Trans-Canada Network as part of the Buckingham Cigarette "Blended Rhythm Show".

[6][3]: 144  Shuster and Wayne wrote most of the music, lyrics and skits, and were part of a cast that featured the singers Jimmie Shields and Raymonde Maranda.

Time Magazine called it "a high-spirited, always likeable, often lavish soldier show... Two Toronto sergeants, 26-year-old Frank Shuster and 24-year-old Johnny Wayne, had authored a peppy book, some perky tunes and lyrics.

"[7] The revue travelled across Canada in 1943 to entertain troops and help with the sale of Victory Bonds, and included a stop at the Quebec Conference.

[3]: 143 After demobilization, Shuster and Wayne returned to Toronto and started The RCA Victor Show on CBC Radio.

)[4] Their popularity rapidly grew and CBC changed the name of their radio programme to The Wayne & Shuster Show.

[2]: 20  A literary mashup of William Shakespeare and Mickey Spillane, the sketch features a hard-boiled Roman private eye hired by Brutus to investigate the murder of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March.

As with many of their scripts, "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" assumed the audience had a working knowledge of history, Shakespeare, and sometimes even Latin.

In later years, Shuster often told the story of one agent who tried to get them to move to Hollywood, insisting, "You know, Frank, there's more to life than happiness.

"[3]: 152 Regardless of their home address, in 1962, and again in 1963, they were ranked as the best comedy routine in America by Motion Picture Daily and Television Today,[11] and co-starred in a CBS-TV sitcom, Holiday Lodge, which aired as a summer replacement for (and was produced by) Jack Benny in 1961.

[2]: 135 Wayne and Shuster's skits often employed large casts of characters, and supporting players included Canadian actors Don Cullen, Jack Duffy, Tom Harvey, Bill Kemp, Paul Kligman, Ben Lennick, Sylvia Lennick, Pegi Loder, Les Rubie, Eric Christmas, Joe Austin, Larry Mann, Paul Soles, Marilyn Stuart, Roy Wordsworth, John Davies, Carol Robinson, Lou Pitoscia, Peggy Mahon, Don Ewer, Howard Swinson and Keith Hampshire.

Shortly after their CBC radio show became popular, Wayne told Shuster that he was organizing a party, but that he wasn't going to invite his partner "because we're always together and we'll start in about the business.

[4] By the late 1970s, critics were calling their comedy irrelevant and out of date, but their Canadian TV ratings remained strong.

[17] (Audio clips of two other Wayne and Shuster sketches were also used in creating the track, along with samples of dozens of pieces of music.