Bodacious Boomer

Long, long ago there was a man who performed on the Ed Sullivan Show, on CBS. For those of you who are too young to know about the Ed Sullivan Show, it was a true variety show that aired on Sunday night on CBS from 1948-1971. Everybody back in the day watched it. (If you’re too young to know it, ask your folks or older relatives about it). Ed Sullivan was not a performer himself. He showcased acts, including Elvis and  the Beatles. He had singers, dancers, jugglers and other performers too. He had some acts that recurred through the season. One of them was Topo Gigio. (I couldn’t stand that little mouse).

One of the other recurring guests was Senor Wences. Senor Wences was a ventriloquist from Spain. Almost of his act was built around conversation with “Johnny”. Johnny was nothing more than a face drawn on the side of Wences’ hand. When he held that hand on top of a headless doll Johnny would come to life. Then a conversation would ensue with Wences switching voices back and forth. (I almost forgot, Wences also had a tiny wig he put on top of his hand to complete “Johnny”). Anyway, we all thought it was great. He could still talk with Johnny while smoking a cigarette or drinking water. I remember being fascinated.

Pedro, a disembodied head in a box, was another one of his characters. There’s a whole story about how Pedro “came to be” in the Wiki article. It’s very interesting. Wences would knock on the lid of the box to talk to Pedro. Most of what I remember about  Pedro was that he said  “s’awright”.  (Seems strange now that I wasn’t freaked out by just a head in a box- but I wasn’t). Forty years ago, Senor Wences was considered very funny-without cursing, racial jokes, or anything that could in any way be construed as controversial. He probably wouldn’t be nearly as successful today. That’s too bad. Today’s trivia answer- 140 decibels.