RIP Lou Marks

Thanks to Paul Castiglia for pointing this out to me as I had never even heard of the team of Fisher and Marks, "Philadelphia's own Abbott and Costello". Lou Marks, who died Saturday at the age of 87, and Al Fisher, died 1986, were a nightclub team that formed in 1948 at Frank Palumbo's South Philadelphia entertainment complex, reportedly Sinatra's favorite Philly haunt. The story of their teaming as related in Marks' obituary indicates that they were either well aware of Martin and Lewis's origins in Atlantic City or that the old phony-busboy-heckling-the-featured-performer bit was how a number of comedy teams began. Their film career as a team spanned 1957 to 1958 resulting in Mister Rock and Roll and Country Music Holiday for Aurora Productions, both featuring Ferlin Husky and whichever acts happened to be touring Philadelphia at the time. An unfilmed biopic of Abbott and Costello that was to have starred Fisher and Marks is also mentioned in the obituary, and although the idea sounds dubious, the results couldn't have possibly been more dubious than Bud and Lou, the 1978 TV movie starring Harvey Korman and Buddy Hackett (that Fisher and Marks were apparently eager to play Bud and Lou suggests that they weren't overly concerned with being perceived as originals). Have any of you had the good fortune to see Fisher and Marks in action? Let me know!