Joan Sutton from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: “I’m going to play a
duet with Garry Moore on my idiot stick”
What Miss Sutton called her ‘idiot
stick’ is a ridiculous looking single-string bass adorned with various
percussion instruments. Garry has a
similar instrument he calls his ‘pogo-cello,’ which has been part of his comedy
act for years. They perform together,
backed by Norman Paris and his trio. Miss Sutton is a beauty queen who in 1959
was named one of Glamour Magazine’s “10 Best Dressed College Girls in America.”
Bjarne Lingaas from Brooklyn, New York: “I fought a boxing match with Ingemar
Johansson…I won!”
With his upset win over Floyd
Patterson in June, 1959, Johansson (
E335
) became the heavyweight champion of
the world. He would lose a rematch with
Patterson five days from this broadcast.
Lingaas was the Norwegian heavyweight champion when he fought the Swede
Johansson in an amateur bout in 1951.
Johansson lost a handful of amateur bouts, but his only losses as a
professional would be his two to Patterson.
Special Guest Jay North wheels out a covered toy wagon which
contains: “Frogs…We’re going to have a frog jumping contest”
Mark Twain’s short story “The
Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” (1865) inspired a real-life
Jumping Frog Jubilee in the northern California community, which has been an
annual event there since 1928. Other
communities all over the country have similar competitions. North, the popular star of Dennis the Menace (1959-1963) is only
eight years old here, possibly the youngest celebrity guest in the history of
the show. Like many child actors, North
would struggle with his peculiar sort of fame in later life. He would join A Minor Consideration, a
non-profit foundation which supports child actors past and present.
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