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Vaudeville and bowling are about as far apart as the poles, but Earle Gaudet made the connection.
"In my view, they're both a lot of fun. People laugh and dance around, and everyone seems to enjoy the entertainment," said Gaudet, 72.
At age 3, Gaudet was tripping the light fantastic with his parents, Ann and Earle, on Boston's busy vaudeville circuit.
"Our song-and-dance team was pretty popular for about five years, then I decided to strike out on my own. I started playing the bass fiddle," Gaudet said jokingly.
Early in his 22-year gig at South Pasadena's Ten Pin Lanes, Gaudet was in the footlights again.
"I was always a ham, and I thought, "Why not combine bowling with my God-given talent and try something new,"' he said.
With a microphone in hand, Gaudet began dancing around the lanes on Saturday nights, cajoling, jabbing and joking with the bowlers, nary a cuss word uttered. He called it "Strike it Rich," but folks really don't.
"I'll give a quarter for a strike on Lane 11. ... I'll bet you can't make that 7-10-pin split, Mike. ... You don't look like a bowler to me, lady; more like an elephant on a flagpole. ..."
... On and on he went.
"We fill the house on Saturday nights and, surprisingly, many kids show up," Ten Pin owner Bobbie Stealy said. "Obviously, they like Earle's style."
Gaudet's quick wit and jovial sarcasm disturb bowlers enough to trigger some funny circumstances.
"I recall one time, I was jabbing at a guy so badly, he fired the ball into the gutter three straight times," Gaudet said.
"I also recall once I ticked off a guy so much, he picked up his ball and left. That was the only time that happened in all my years of entertaining," Gaudet said.
Gaudet's show guarantees a ticket for Saturday fun.
IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE: Lisa Beck of Palm Harbor fired a 300-802 at Seminole Lanes earlier this month.
"I've been bowling since 1967, averaging more than 200 the past four years and carrying a 213 average," Beck noted in an e-mail. "Up until that day, my high game-series was 289-772."
Beck is about the 30th woman to roll a perfect game in Pinellas County. Linda Peak was the first, in May of 1968 at Sunshine Bowl. The latest, according to my count, were Odeen Walker and Pat Berwick.
HUGE TURNOUT: The NABI 570 Club's Memorial weekend tournament attracted a record 75 players to Seminole Lanes. Laszlo Gyori won $1,030. Gyori led a Sarasota sweep of the top five finishers, defeating Sandor Farkas 241-191 in the final. Sandor Szerely was third, Zoltan Nadpor fourth and Ron Brown fifth. Players from clubs in Ocala, Plant City, Winter Haven and elsewhere competed in the three-day event. Club 570 will have a handicap tournament today at Sunshine Bowl.
HOSKINS ELECTED: Steve Hoskins, a 10-time tour winner from Tarpon Springs, was elected PBA player president, succeeding Ocala's Walter Ray Williams Jr.
AROUND THE LANES: High scorers - Dick Correa, 800, at Seminole. Jeff Peterson, 300-753, AMF Kenneth City. Lance Lonsdale, 826, Keith Glasgow, 826, Bob Smolka, 813, Jerry Robinson, 812, Brent Dewar, 800, Walt Coddington, 804 and 825, Liberty. The center also saw 300 games from Charlie Stuart, Ken Puchowski, Sam Buck Jr., Mark Burke, Rich Melnyk, Chris Trauner, Mitch Brooker, Lansdale and Dewar.
- Phil Gulick can be reached at xerxes8@msn.com