Wyoming History: How The Three Stooges Got Their Last Laugh At Yellowstone

For one weekend in September 1969, Yellowstone National Park’s legendary Old Faithful geyser was upstaged by a trio of iconic comedians known for their explosive talent: Larry, Moe and Curly Joe.

Yellowstone seems like the perfect place for The Three Stooges to get into more of the uproarious mishaps that placed Moe Howard, Larry Fine and several iconic No. 3s like Curly Joe DeRita among the most famous comedians in modern history. It doesn’t take much to imagine how they could turn a simple vacation to the nation's first national park into comedy gold.

But there’s a poignant story behind the photos of the Stooges in Yellowstone. They’re a bittersweet memento for the performers and the last laugh from the classic era of one of cinema’s greatest comedy groups.

Stooge Ambassador

Andy Pagana is head of marketing and Social Media at C3 Entertainment, the production company founded by Moe Howard in 1959. He’s earned the title of “Stooge Ambassador,” and it’d be hard to find someone better qualified for the role.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I used to shave my head and go to school as Curly,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I made little Three Stooges movies and wore Three Stooges T-shirts when other kids were Michael Jackson and Knight Rider. I've just always been a big Three Stooges fan.”

Pagana keeps the legacy of the Stooges alive in many ways. He regularly appears on StoogeTalk Live on YouTube and performs in skits and live shows with Brad Server, grandson of the legendary Jerome “Curly” Howard.

Pagana was eager to discuss the time Larry, Moe and Curly Joe visited Yellowstone. For him, it captures a sadly forgotten moment when the classic Three Stooges reached the end of their story at the height of their popularity.

“It's been sadly forgotten, and I think it's really entertaining, really weird and interesting,” he said.

Kook’s Tour

In the 1960s, The Three Stooges were at the apex of their pop-culture popularity. Pagana said several factors combined to create a resurgence of The Three Stooges brand. Much of this was thanks to the charisma of Larry, Moe and Curly Joe, but they had help from their earlier work with Curly Howard, Shemp Howard and Joe Besser.

“They were at the peak of their popularity,” Pagana said. “All their early stuff got put onto TV. They started doing live shows. (These were) their biggest merchandising years. They made a bunch of features that were popular, and they did a ton of state fairs and live appearances. Their popularity just kept growing.”

While most things Three Stooges were thriving, their film production had “stagnated” by 1969, he said. Their last movie, “The Outlaws Is Coming!,” was released in 1965, while their last appearance in a theatrical short was 1968’s “Star Spangled Salesman.”

That’s when Howard’s son-in-law, Norman Maurer, created Kook’s Tour, a return-to-form for Howard, Fine and DeRita on the small screen. The 38-episode syndicated series would feature the actors and their antics as they traveled the world.

Pagana said the show's concept was featuring the legendary comedians as themselves outside a stage or theater. Howard, Fine and DeRita would interact as friends and peers while throwing knowing winks at the audience who knew them for their stoogish antics.

“It's like they're playing themselves, which is what Larry David does, right?” he said. “It's like their version of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ And you haven't seen too many people do that before this.”

The trio was let loose in the wilderness of Wyoming and Idaho for the pilot episode of Kook’s Tour. The first stop was Yellowstone National Park.

Stooges In Yellowstone

When Yellowstone visitors learned that The Three Stooges were staying at the Old Faithful Inn, the place “got mobbed.” Pagana said the plan was to film the pilot episode of Kook’s Tour in September as the tourist season was waning.

In classic Three Stooges fashion, the plan was thwarted from the moment the trio was spotted.

“They kept trying to sneak out of the hotel,” he said. “And of course, they always signed every autograph they could, and they would carry photographs around to give out to the fans.”

Pagana said the Stooges’ trip to Yellowstone was unusual in many ways. For one, they were stepping outside their usual world by visiting Wyoming.

“This is the first time they really went on location, which is funny enough,” he said. “Usually, they shot in the studios or a couple of locations on the film ranches. But this is the first time they ventured outside Hollywood to shoot something.”

The Stooges spent two days filming at Old Faithful, sticking around the Old Faithful Geyser Basin to collect footage. While their previous shorts and movies were scripted and meticulously staged, Pagana said much of the context for Kook’s Tour was created in the moment.

“A ton of it was improvised as they were there,” he said. “They throw out ideas of what they would try to do while in pre-production, but they just kind of went out and improvised it.”

However, putting the Three Stooges in Yellowstone and having them completely behave themselves seems like a wasted opportunity. So naturally, there was room for an appropriately Stooge-esque gag starring Old Faithful.

“They pull out a giant water release valve, stick it in the ground and pretend to turn it on,” Pagana said. “And the geyser would come off, then they turn it off and the geyser goes up, they turn on the geyser. It goes up, and it goes down.”

The Last Laugh

When they finished in Yellowstone, filming for Kook’s Tour continued in Idaho and Wisconsin in the latter half of 1969. Unfortunately, the project ended with the same tragedy that ended the classic era of The Three Stooges.

In January 1970, Fine suffered a debilitating stroke that paralyzed the left side of his body. Kook’s Tour was put on hiatus and ultimately abandoned when Fine’s recovery looked unlikely.

Maurer compiled the Yellowstone footage into a feature film called “Kook’s Tour.” Howard and DeRita filmed additional scenes, occasionally speaking to an offscreen Fine (and, in one instance, putting something into Fine’s hands, which were actually Maurer’s).

The movie “Kook’s Tour” had a limited theatrical release in 1975. Larry Fine and Moe Howard died the same year.

Since then, “Kook’s Tour” has fallen into obscurity. There isn’t a restored copy of the feature film, and no additional footage filmed for the TV show has been released.

Pagana said there’s an undeniable poignancy to The Three Stooges’ visit to Yellowstone. After 40 years onstage and onscreen, this was the last time Howard, Fine and DeRita worked together.

“There's so little about it out there,” he said. “It's really the last time the boys were ever together in production, and I think we very sadly lost out on the opportunity to see what they would have done with it.”

Oh, A Wise Guy, Eh?

“Kook’s Tour” may be a mostly forgotten entry in the extensive filmography of The Three Stooges, but it’s definitely the exception to a hilarious norm. Pagana’s work has shown the appetite for The Three Stooges endures, which can’t necessarily be said for other famous comedians of their era.

“I'm a huge Laurel and Hardy fan,” he said. “And Abbott and Costello, Chaplin the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields. All the classic comedians. And I've noticed over the past 20 to 30 years, the popularity of all those comedians has fallen off. Then I look at The Three Stooges and they are extremely popular still with the younger generation.”

Pagana has a TikTok channel devoted to the Stooges, which includes his work with “Curly G” Brad Server, which has nearly 43,000 followers. Given the average age of a TikTok user, he sees it as a sign of how strongly the Stooges endure.

When asked why The Three Stooges have such an appeal after so much time, Pagana said he’s asked his audiences the same question, hoping to find the answer.

“I think people just enjoy this kind of comedy,” he said. “Slapstick is just always funny. And you can feel they're always the underdog. Sometimes it works out for them, and sometimes it doesn't. That’s life.

“And for kids, you just feel smarter than them. As an 8-year-old watching The Three Stooges, you’re superior to them. There’s something so funny about watching these men finding trouble and trying to get themselves out of it. And I think we secretly somehow all identify with this.”

Even the violence of The Three Stooges, a persistent point of criticism from their inception, has a unique appeal, at least for a Stooge like Pagana.

“And, you know, we all wish we could hit our buddies in the face and not hurt them,” he said.

The Yellowstone picture of Howard, Fine and DeRita is proof of that appeal. Pagana sees it in the faces of the three rangers standing behind them (identified by the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center as R. Schultz, Stewart Orgill and S. Connelly).

“They must’ve wanted to take those pictures. They’re like, ‘Oh, my God, The Three Stooges are here. Come to take pictures with them.’ I'm sure that was the case,” he said. “I'm sure they were fans and wanted to be there with the Stooges, even at that age.”

Yellowstone National Park was the backdrop for the last act in the classic Three Stooges era. Howard, Fine and DeRita could’ve easily tumbled and pratfalled themselves into the horizon, but kept finding new ways to keep their fans laughing.

Yellowstone will forever be associated with a bittersweet moment in The Three Stooges saga. But many, especially Pagana, are happy the legacy didn’t end there.

“They span generations, and they bridge generations,” he said. “I'm really glad that their legacy just keeps going.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at: ARossi@CowboyStateDaily.com

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.