HARPO SPEAKS

Harpo Marx was known as the silent Marx Brother. In the foreword of this audiobook Johnny Heller describes the voice he uses to narrate the pantomime comedian's fascinating recollections of his life from childhood to stardom, first published in 1961. Heller refers to the voice he created as "1930s East Side" and resembling that of Harpo's brother Groucho. As for tone, Heller sounds self-effacing since Harpo says he was rarely recognized without his stage-and-screen wig. A nostalgic fondness creeps into Heller's voice as Harpo recalls how his act grew out of pranks. Heller skillfully re-creates the famous "Alphabet" sketch as Harpo recalls his road days. The production is mostly clean, but Harpo shares two carefully worded sexual anecdotes about brothels. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2025]