Starting Today, I’m Packin’ a Mallet and a Gong.

First of all, let me say that I do realize that I’m totally dating myself (and many of you, thank goodness) in this post. But hang on, even you younguns, because the end is worth it.

When I was a kid, I watched a lot of tv. (Okay, to be fair, not much has changed.) In my house, we loved “The Gong Show”, hosted by Chuck Barris. If you don’t remember it, you’re a baby! it was a quasi-game show on which people of questionable talent (Including the Popsicle Twins, who you can check out here in this NSFW clip) performed an act and tried to be good enough so that one of the three celebrity judges didn’t hit a huge gong that hung behind them, putting an end to the act and destroying their chances of winning the $516.32 prize.

Hey, wait a minute. Does Chuck Barris realize that the creators of “America’s Got Talent” and “Britain’s Got Talent” totally stole his original idea from the 1970’s?

Many people became household names back then, as a result of their association with the show. There was Chuck Barris, of course. There was Jaye P. Morgan, one of the judges, and there was Gene Gene the Dancin’ Machine. I dare you to watch this without smiling. He was one of my favorites.

Another “character” who got lots of air time on the show was a guy known as The Unknown Comic. He was extremely cheesy, even back in the day.

He was on the show more than 150 times, according to his Wiki (which we all know is accurate!), and later appeared as a judge. I haven’t seen him or heard of his whereabouts in years.

So you can imagine my surprise, when as I was setting up the Skype application on my laptop yesterday and decided to ring up Liz from This Full House. When we connected, I discovered that the Unknown Comic apparently lives in Joizey, with Liz and five others in a seven-room house*! Who’da thunk it?

baglady
*I hope he at least takes care of his own laundry.

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