In 1932 and 1933, Groucho and Chico Marx starred in an NBC radio series called Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, which we assume was a very funny show. We have to assume this because not many recordings of this program have survived. The series was written by two close Marx associates, Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin, sometimes with the participation of George Oppenheimer and Tom McKnight. So it had that going for it and of course, it's Groucho and Chico. How could that not be worth listening to? (Though audiences of the time found sufficient reason to prefer Ed Wynn, who was on opposite the Marxes' show. Which is why it only lasted one season.)
Like I said, most of the shows are lost but fortunately, copies of all but one of the scripts still exist. In the early nineties, BBC Radio hired Groucho and Chico impersonators and a full cast and crew to replicate the old series. The thirties' material was freely adapted, in some cases with two or more of the original scripts combined to make new episodes. Material from the Marx Brothers movies also found its way into the BBC versions. In one, their Groucho sings "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" which the real one sang in the 1939 movie At the Circus. The tune probably hadn't even been written when Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel was originally airing.
Despite the tampering — or maybe even because of it — the BBC shows are pretty darn entertaining. Wanna hear one or more? BBC Radio 7 is presently rerunning them, which means they also turn up on that network's website. If you go to this page, you can listen to the first episode…though only for the next week or so, at which time I expect it will be replaced by the second episode and so on. Various sources disagree on how many the BBC did but 18 seems like a good number. One hopes they'll keep this run going 'til they've replayed them all. Enjoy. And thank Mike Rea for letting me know about these.