Aside from his new act, Benny was given the lead in a comedy skit called "Izzy There, the Admiral's Disorderly." Following his discharge Benny returned to vaudeville as a single act, "Ben K. Benny--Fiddle Funology." He now considered himself a comedian and the violin became merely a prop. It was also at this time that he changed his name to Jack Benny so that audiences would not confuse him with another vaudevillian, Ben Bernie.
Throughout the 1920s Benny honed his comic skills, perfecting his timing and developing a suave stage personna. Unlike the zany comedians of the day he dressed in dapper street clothes and presented himself as a vain sophisticate. Benny's urbane brand of humor quickly established him as a star attraction at the large vaudeville houses, where he earned $750 per week. While a headliner at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles in 1927 Benny courted and married Sayde Marks, who worked in the hosiery department in a store across the street. She was later to change her name to Mary Livingston, a popular character she played in the Benny radio show. In the year following his marriage Benny gained a national reputation as the witty master of ceremonies at the Palace Theatre in New York.
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