Through the years 1894-1895 and earlier, the Edison company had a variety of film genres which they used to cash in on the popularity of popular performers at the time. Often, to promote said performers and get in on the profits to boot, they would simply have vaudeville sensations and famous actors come down to the Black Maria, have their acts filmed, and release them to the public where those who could not view the act in person could get a brief 20-second or so sneak-peek. There were a variety of acts: you had the comedy pair Phil Doretto and Robetta and their Chinese Laundry Scene skit, you had Eugen Sandow and his jaw-dropping muscles, and you had dancers like such as Annabelle Moore, Amy Muller and Carmencita who became big hits. And then there was the boxing. Never forget the boxing. Popular boxers like James Corbett, Michael Leonard, and Billy Edwards were also hired, in this same fashion, to come down to the studio and perform a boxing championship before the camera, to be filmed in five or six rounds (tops). The biggest reason these were hits also was mainly because of the censorship and indecency surrounding the sport during the period.
Thomas and William Glenroy's vaudeville act was similar in many ways to the actual matches filmed in the Black Maria at the time, only different. Instead of an actual championship, the Glenroy Brothers' form of boxing was comedic, acrobatic and intentionally full of slapstick. The act was called "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp and the Athlete" and from watching this short performance excerpt, it's easy to see who's who. The one brother, dressed in white, plays the role of the athlete; the bearded brother in the overalls is the tramp. Furthermore, the stunts are pretty much nothing like the authentic championships shot at this time. At the beginning, you see the tramp turn a somersault before landing on his feet and boxing with the athlete, who throws punches at his head only for them to be ducked by his opponent. None of that may not sound funny nor comical today, but at the time audiences were probably both amused and entertained by this type of performance. It just goes to show how gradually the world has gone from slapstick to crass humor in just a hundred short years.
If you don't believe my claim that this kind of thing was considered hilarious at the time, I suggest you just look at the title. The 'No. 2' in the title actually signifies that this short Glenroy Brothers movie was one of two such films, released the same year around the same time. It was actually very common with the Edison company to do several versions of one performance, due to the eventual wearing out of the camera negatives after it was copied too many times. (Such was the case with Phil Doretto and Robetta, Eugen Sandow and Annabelle Moore). If the original (which was titled "The Glenroy Brothers (Comic Boxing)") had to be remade again, it no doubt already states how much of a demand for prints there was during 1894 to where the film was remade. I wouldn't argue that the original movie (now a lost film) was probably quite similar to this, featuring the same excerpt and the same studio location, which would thus show how much the company strived to continue production of the same act in the same way as before.
Thomas and William Glenroy's vaudeville act was similar in many ways to the actual matches filmed in the Black Maria at the time, only different. Instead of an actual championship, the Glenroy Brothers' form of boxing was comedic, acrobatic and intentionally full of slapstick. The act was called "The Comic View of Boxing: The Tramp and the Athlete" and from watching this short performance excerpt, it's easy to see who's who. The one brother, dressed in white, plays the role of the athlete; the bearded brother in the overalls is the tramp. Furthermore, the stunts are pretty much nothing like the authentic championships shot at this time. At the beginning, you see the tramp turn a somersault before landing on his feet and boxing with the athlete, who throws punches at his head only for them to be ducked by his opponent. None of that may not sound funny nor comical today, but at the time audiences were probably both amused and entertained by this type of performance. It just goes to show how gradually the world has gone from slapstick to crass humor in just a hundred short years.
If you don't believe my claim that this kind of thing was considered hilarious at the time, I suggest you just look at the title. The 'No. 2' in the title actually signifies that this short Glenroy Brothers movie was one of two such films, released the same year around the same time. It was actually very common with the Edison company to do several versions of one performance, due to the eventual wearing out of the camera negatives after it was copied too many times. (Such was the case with Phil Doretto and Robetta, Eugen Sandow and Annabelle Moore). If the original (which was titled "The Glenroy Brothers (Comic Boxing)") had to be remade again, it no doubt already states how much of a demand for prints there was during 1894 to where the film was remade. I wouldn't argue that the original movie (now a lost film) was probably quite similar to this, featuring the same excerpt and the same studio location, which would thus show how much the company strived to continue production of the same act in the same way as before.