Maggie's Farm

I once read that one of Groucho's wives complained that he was always on, always performing. Perhaps that could be restated to say that the Groucho on stage, on set or on television was the real Groucho. That was no put-on. That's who he was.

His ability to come up with ad-libbed one-liners on his TV show indicates that he didn't need scriptwriters. He could do it on his own.

Back in the day I purchased a Groucho T-shirt from the Orson Welles Cinema in Cambridge.

I had never thought of that, but I see your point. For example, there is a similarity underlying the rhythm and music behind the phrases, "I am the Captain of the Pinafore" and "Hurray for Captain Spaulding."

Consider the lyrics. From Pinafore: From Captain Spaulding:
In both songs, the protagonist is good-but-not-quite-so-good. [Yes, 'swear a big big D' could have been used for an example from Pinafore.]

I am a long-time fan of both Gilbert & Sullivan and the Marx brothers, which makes me feel somewhat dense that I had never seen the connection. A neighbor from my childhood days was a big fan of both G&S and the Marx brothers, so I am not the only such person. I developed my tastes independently of the neighbor, but wouldn't you know it, we both liked puns, though he was better at it. "Juneau where we've been? Alaska 'nother one."