"Slowly I Turned" is a popular vaudeville sketch wherein a character is relating a story and is triggered into violent outbursts when the listener inadvertently utters a triggering word or phrase. Versions have also been performed in movies and on television. Comedians Harry Steppe, Joey Faye,[1] and Samuel Goldman[2] each laid claim to this routine, also referred to as "The Stranger with a Kind Face" by clowns, "Niagara Falls" by fans of The Three Stooges[3] and Abbott and Costello, "Martha" by fans of I Love Lucy,[4] "Pokomoko", and "Bagel Street".
Goldman wrote hundreds of pieces, from short bits [including the famous "Slowly I Turned," re-enacted on I Love Lucy] to full multi-act dramas.