Kraft Music Hall 471204

[DavidinBerkeley]

Oscar Levant is going to New York to do a concert and invites Al Jolson to go.  Jolson declines.

OL: Well is there anything you’d like me to bring back from New York?
AJ:  No, but I sure wish you were going New Year’s Day instead.  Then I could ride with you as far as Salt Lake City!
OL:  What are you going to be doing in Salt Lake City on New Year’s Day?
AJ:  That’s where my Rose Bowl tickets are.

I know that the Rose Bowl happens on New Year’s Day, but I don’t understand why this is a joke.

Anybody understand this?

[BMJ2K (Barry)]

Sure. Seems to me that Jolson was looking for a free ride to Salt Lake City!

[DavidinBerkeley]

Sure. Seems to me that Jolson was looking for a free ride to Salt Lake City!

But the Rose Bowl happens in Pasadena, California, and on the self-same day. 

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Wish I could help, but half the jokes go wasted on me because of transcultural probems...   

[skinner]

Hmmm.

Possible clue?

From the wikipedia 1948 Rose Bowl article:

The 1948 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 1948. It was the 34th Rose Bowl Game, and the second since the Big Nine Conference and the Pacific Coast Conference reached an exclusive agreement to match their champions in the game each year.

[BMJ2K (Barry)]

Sure. Seems to me that Jolson was looking for a free ride to Salt Lake City!

But the Rose Bowl happens in Pasadena, California, and on the self-same day.

"I wish you were going New Year's Day instead."
The ride being offered is not on New Year's Day. If it were, Jolson would ride as far as Salt Lake City.

No clue why his tickets would be in Salt Lake.

[Mac of BIOnighT]

This reminds me of an Italian singer-songwriter who unfortunately died young in a car crash. His lyrics were extremely intelligent and he harshly criticized politicians and the stupidity of modern society in general. He wasn't afraid of anything and anybody.  That and his tragic death turned him into a bit of an icon for all rebellious people and for those with a brain and eyes to see.
Just a couple of tracks just in case you were curious - this is Aida, the story of Italy in the previous 50 years seen thru the eyes of a woman
 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fILyG010Kas" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fILyG010Kas</a>

This is called "my brother is an only child" and is my favorite song by him
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgaGPuLDBG4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgaGPuLDBG4</a>

Anyway, the reason why I thought of him is that he inserted a lot of quotes from commercials (to expose their stupidity and the absurdity of people who believed them) and mentioned a lot of politicians and facts from those years (He was active in the late 70's).  The result is that a lot of younger people listen to him, but only those from my generation or the previous one can still understand what he was referring to and therefore fully appreciate the depth of what he was saying.
Comedy apparently suffers from the same problem...

[BMJ2K (Barry)]

That is the problem with anything topical.
Do young kids understand a rotary phone joke?
Watch Laugh-In, generally considered a television classic. How many hippie jokes do you get?
Or read Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns. The Reagan-era setting (which is central to both tales) goes right over the heads of modern readers.

[Mac of BIOnighT]

Do young kids understand a rotary phone joke?

I'm not a young kid, but probably I'm too old (read senile) already, as it took me a while to understand what you wrote, too... when I read "rotary phone" I thought of the Rotary club and couldn't figure out what their phone had to do with anything...      I need a vacation. Or a doctor.  A good one.