Mr. X, a musician from Wales: “I performed in a concert that
lasted 18 hours” and Karl Schenzer of New York City: “I’m the only person who
sat through the entire performance”
John Cale was one of ten pianists who
took turns performing Erik Satie’s “Vexations” (c1893) a composition only 80
seconds long but carrying the instruction to be repeated 840 times. Avant-garde
composer John Cage staged the performance.
A year after this appearance, Cale would become one of the founding
members of the influential American rock band The Velvet Underground, followed
by a long career as a critically acclaimed solo artist. Schenzer is an actor appearing
in an off-Broadway show called The Brig. Cale performs the piece (a single time)
here.
Mr. X from Los Angeles, California: “I set a new automobile speed
record – 407 M.P.H.”
Craig Breedlove dedicated much of his
life to setting speed and endurance records.
On August 5 on the salt flats of Utah, his turbojet powered Spirit of America (one of several
vehicles he would design and build with that name) set the new record. He would later become the first person to
reach 500 mph and 600 mph on land. The
Beach Boys song “Spirit of America” (1963) was written as a tribute to
Breedlove and his accomplishment.
Special guest Alan King challenges the
panel to come up with the punch lines to “elephant jokes” popular with
children. (“How do you keep an elephant from charging? You take away his credit card.”) Both elephant jokes and “Tom Swifties” (
E522
) exploded in popularity in 1963, though the former were considered more
juvenile and King and the panel claim to be doing their part to remove the
world of this affront to comedy. King
will be the guest on the season premiere of Garry’s variety show tomorrow night.
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