Actually the title to this particular blog is a “hook”. It was intended to get your interest. I remember a folk singing group named “Peter, Paul and Mary” from the 1960’s. More later!
I listen to CDs when I walk every morning. Debs is responsible for downloading most of my CDs but Margaret gets honorable mention. One of my favorite CDs is “The Smother Brothers”. I love the interaction of Tommy and Dick Smothers. One brother plays the dummy (Tommy) and the other plays the self righteous brother (Dickie). Their jokes contain cynicism, sarcasm and simple humor. Simple humor from simple people.
I got the thought that the job that Tom and Dick Smothers have is petty really cool. They play folk songs, recognizable ballads, and modern songs. The songs get interrupted regularly with their humor. The blend of music and humor make their routine seem like lots of fun.
So my next thought was, who could I team with that could produce the “dumb Tommy” look and do jokes that would be in rhythm with the straight lines I would feed him/her. There is an assumption that one could play a guitar (Paul and Margaret have had some practice) and I would learn a base fiddle. Each of five Grasshoppers has something to offer for the “dumb Tommy” role. If using a Grasshopper in my act, I had to make a choice.
I want to team with Grasshopper Paul. He would play the Tommy Smothers role and I would feed him straight lines. Paul has a warped sense of humor and he could develop skills on the guitar. Both our singing voices are in question, but hey these are folk songs and nobody would know the difference. We need to name our group (twosome) and I think Peter, Paul and Chuck would be perfect but we have leave out the Peter. So there is no Peter in our group. It would be Paul and Chuck (in concert).
It would be dynamite. My sarcasm has no end and Paul is able to play off that with the dumbest retorts and looks that most people could ever imagine. We would cut albums. We would perform on Leno and Letterman and all the talk shows. We could play Carnegie Hall. We would be popular. We would be rich. We would have fun.
As you can tell, it was a slow walking day if all I can think about is doing a knockoff act of the Smothers Brothers with Grasshopper No. 4. It is intriguing to think about the dummy and the brain teaming to do music.
By the way, I think Tommy Smothers (Paul’s role) is a member of Mensa which puts him in an elite intellectual class. He is also rich! Now who is the dummy?
Love,
Dad