Milt Britton

Milt Britton was the stage name of Milton Levy, born on January 3, 1894, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He relocated to New York as a child and began playing in vaudeville bands in 1914. In 1917, he formed a duo with New York-born Frank Louis Wenzel, who performed under the stage name Frank Britton. The two performed on trombone and cornet, respectively, and over time expanded their ensemble by adding other musicians, among them accordion player Tito Guidotti, trombonist Walter Powell, drummer Tiny Kahn, and trumpeter Norman Faye. The act operated under several names, including The Britton Band, and became widely known by the billing "America's Craziest Orchestra" as well as "The Mad Musical Maniacs."

The band built its reputation on a performance style that blended musicianship with slapstick comedy. Routines typically began with the ensemble playing a tune in a straightforward, serious manner before a staged mishap — such as one musician colliding with another — triggered a cascade of comic chaos, including musicians striking one another with prop instruments and spraying water. Critic Kevin Whitehead characterized the group as "musical Dadaists of the first order" and identified them as precursors to Spike Jones, noting that their level of staged interpersonal violence surpassed even that of the Three Stooges.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Britton and his band toured extensively, including engagements in Europe and South America. In 1931, the band appeared on Broadway in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931. Their work extended into film as well, with appearances in Moonlight and Pretzels in 1933 and Sweet Music in 1935, in addition to performances in short films. Frank Britton retired from the act in 1938, but Milt Britton continued performing and brought the band to the screen again in the 1943 film Riding High, also released under the title Melody Inn.

Milt Britton died on April 29, 1948, at the age of 54, from a heart attack suffered shortly after performing at a social function for radio executives in New York.