Rusty Warren's "Knockers Up!": Symbol of Liberated Female Sexuality in In On the Joke

What Is the "Knockers Up!" Catchphrase?

"Knockers Up!" is a bawdy marching chant that Ruby Warren (born Ilene Goldman) improvised during her nightclub act in the early 1960s. The phrase commands women to throw back their shoulders and lift their breasts, accompanied by a piano march she would pound out onstage. It evolved from a spontaneous bit into the centerpiece of her performances, a rallying cry that encouraged female audience members to parade around the room, celebrating their bodies and sexual self-awareness. The catchphrase became so iconic that it named her best-selling album Knockers Up! (1960) and spawned a merchandise line of certificates, pins, bar towels, mugs, and shot glasses.

Origin and Recurrence in the Narrative

According to Shawn Levy's account, the catchphrase was born in Dayton, Ohio, at Mike Longo's Supper Club. Rusty Warren noticed that while men enjoyed her frank talk about sex, the women in her audiences seemed especially energized—as if hearing another woman speak openly about pleasure gave them permission to acknowledge their own desires. During one set, she began pounding a march and called out: "Come on there, girls! Throw those shoulders back, and get your knockers up!" The crowd's enthusiastic response turned the moment into a regular set piece. Warren then created a "Knockers Up Club," selling official memberships that included certificates and pins. Soon busloads of housewives from small towns traveled to big-city clubs to participate.

The phrase recurs throughout the chapter as a symbol of Warren's commercial and cultural impact. Her album Knockers Up! debuted on Billboard's LP chart at number thirty in November 1960 and remained there for 181 consecutive weeks, selling over two million copies. At a time when her material was banned from radio and television—Variety called the record something that "should be kept beyond the reach of the young and the sensitive"—the catchphrase proved that a woman could achieve massive popularity through word of mouth alone. She eventually used "Knockers Up!" as her personal autograph, signing it for fans long after her career peaked.

How the Symbol's Meaning Changes Over the Book

Early 1960s: Liberation and Empowerment

In its first iteration, "Knockers Up!" stood for a specific kind of female liberation. Warren described her act as "clean-dirty"—she said "knockers" but never used four-letter words. She aimed to empower women by bringing taboo subjects into the open with humor. Levy notes that Warren filled a need for "frank talk about sex and romance and marriage from the point of view of an unabashed woman." The audience's response transformed the phrase into a badge of solidarity, a way for middle-class housewives to briefly escape social restrictions.

Mid-1960s: Notoriety and Backlash

As the album sold millions, the catchphrase attracted fierce criticism. Time magazine published a scathing unsigned article titled "Barnyard Girl" that called Warren "a squarely constructed redheaded woman in her middle 30s, with the hoarse voice and hearty manner of a call-house madam." The piece described her audiences as barnyard animals that "sit there and roar happily." Warren initially felt devastated but later realized the attack was not on her personally but on "the liberty and consciousness represented by her act." The symbol thus became a lightning rod for debates about censorship and double standards—a woman speaking openly about sex was deemed obscene, while male comedians doing the same earned acclaim.

Late 1960s–1970s: Retrogressive in a Changing Culture

By the mid-to-late 1960s, the cultural revolution and second-wave feminism were transforming public attitudes. Levy writes that "Knockers Up!" and similar numbers "may have been a hoot if you were a middle-aged housewife of the Kennedy era; if you were a bra-burning feminist of just a few years later, they seemed haplessly retrogressive." The phrase now carried an unappealing scent of daintiness or lechery. Warren herself felt she was becoming "a nun in my business" compared to the explicit nudity of shows like Hair. The symbol's meaning shifted from cutting-edge liberation to outmoded naughtiness.

Later Life: Nostalgic Autograph

Decades later, after retiring in 1990, Warren continued to sign autographs with the catchphrase. Levy describes how she was "still the life of the party long after the party had ended." The phrase became a nostalgic marker of her past success, a personal trademark that evoked the era when she was "America's top comedy star" (as named by the National Association of Record Merchandisers in 1962). It also hints at the persistence and resilience she needed to survive industry rejection, a Time attack, and a career plateau.

Connections to Themes

Gender Discrimination in Comedy: Warren was denied radio and television exposure because her material was considered too risqué for women to perform. Yet male comics with similarly bawdy acts faced fewer restrictions. The success of "Knockers Up!" proves that audiences were hungry for female comic voices—even when the industry refused to accommodate them. See gender discrimination in comedy.
Censorship and Double Standards: The phrase's very existence confronted the era's sexual double standard. Warren's records were seized in a Los Angeles warehouse raid over alleged obscenity, and she could not appear on prime-time TV. Yet the album's sustained sales show that censorship could not suppress demand. This connects to the theme of censorship and double standards.
Self-Invention and Persona: Rusty Warren carefully crafted her persona as a "clean-dirty" performer who "didn't talk dirty" but said "knockers." She built the "Knockers Up!" brand deliberately, even negotiating ownership of her master recordings to control her intellectual property. This aligns with self-invention and persona.
Persistence and Resilience: Despite the Time article, the warehouse raid, and later cultural shifts that made her act seem dated, Warren continued touring and selling records for decades. Her resilience is emblematic of the persistence and resilience theme.
Trailblazing Legacy: Warren viewed her role as opening doors for later female comedians. She mentored Totie Fields and inspired impressions on SCTV. The phrase "Knockers Up!" stands as a symbol of the first cracks in the glass ceiling that later women like Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller widened. This connects to trailblazing legacy.

Character Connections

The catchphrase is most closely tied to Rusty Warren herself, but Levy also situates her within a community of women comedians. She learned from Sophie Tucker, who advised her to build advance audiences through postcards. She developed friendships with Phyllis Diller (who let her use her house) and Totie Fields (who asked Warren to mentor her daughter in horseback riding). Joan Rivers was among the peers who visited her Vegas shows. These relationships show that "Knockers Up!" was not just a product of one woman's ambition but part of a larger network of women supporting each other in a male-dominated field. More on these characters: Jackie "Moms" Mabley, Jean Carroll, Minnie Pearl, Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, Elaine May.

Study Questions and Answers

How did the "Knockers Up!" catchphrase originate, and what did it represent for the women in the audience?
It originated spontaneously at Mike Longo's Supper Club when Warren noticed that women responded more strongly than men to her sexual candor. She began a march and called them to stand and parade, creating an atmosphere of collective release. For the women, it represented permission to acknowledge their own desires in a culture that discouraged female sexuality.
In what ways did the catchphrase and album challenge censorship and double standards?
Despite being banned from radio and television, and having records confiscated in a police raid, Knockers Up! sold over two million copies. This proved that audience demand could bypass official gatekeepers, exposing the hypocrisy of a system that allowed male comics to be explicit while punishing women for the same content.
How did the meaning of "Knockers Up!" shift from the early 1960s to the late 1960s, and why?
Initially seen as liberating, it later appeared retrogressive to second-wave feminists who rejected the emphasis on male-pleasing body parts. The changing cultural landscape, including the Beatles' youthquake and the rise of explicit Broadway shows like Hair, made Warren's naughty-but-elegant style seem dated.
What does Rusty Warren's continued use of the catchphrase as an autograph reveal about her legacy?
It shows that she embraced the trademark even after her commercial peak, using it to connect with fans and signify her identity. The phrase outlived its controversial edge and became a nostalgic emblem of her pioneering role in opening comedy to frank discussions of female sexuality.

For the full story of Rusty Warren and her place in comedy history, see In On the Joke.