"LET'S HAVE FUN" POSTER

Hey! My birthday present arrived! It's the large colorful beautiful autographed LET'S HAVE FUN POSTER! If I were a kid I woulda died, so I'm glad I didn't get it as a kid so I could be here now to show it to you! Joy unbounded.

IT'S A NEW WEEK, SO. . .

(title card from Chuck McCann's show)

WONDERAMA (Part I)

Back in the day, WONDERAMA was the go-to show in the New York Tri-State area for fun & games & comedy & guests. It was on for fours on Sunday hosted by SONNY FOX, though it began as a 6 hour(!) program starring SANDY BECKER.I, of course, preferred LET'S HAVE FUN which was on opposite Wonderama but starred CHUCK McCANN with the PAUL ASHLEY PUPPETS as all of the above.
Here's how my trek to appearing on Wonderama began. . .

I get dragged to a CAR SHOW at the Coliseum on 59th & Columbus Circle here in NYC by a new friend I had just met in school. Never had much interest in cars (still don't) but oh well what de hell I went. Fenders, bumpers, engines = meh.
Then suddenly my eyes fell upon an oasis in a desert of tin. There was a poster bellowing:

VENTRILOQUIST JIMMY NELSON PERFORMING LIVE!

Right there! So I was right there. Like clockwork Jimmy appeared on the stage and from beneath a lecturn he produced his partners DANNY O'DAY & FARFEL THE DOG.
For those of you who don't know who he is, Jimmy Nelson was in the Top Tier of Classy Vents in the 50's and 60's.

There was EDGAR BERGEN

. . . PAUL WINCHELL. . .
. . . and JIMMY NELSON.

He will forever (how long is "forever" in a culture that goes POP?) be remembered for his classic NESTLES QUIK COMMERCIALS.

Well, his act was GREAT and afterwards I wended my way backstage and met his eyes and told him "I can talk without moving my mouth" which I said without moving my mouth. He told me "Hey, you're good. Do you want to see my dummies?" It wasn't an etching but I couldn't say no. In fact I FLIPPED!!! So we go on the stage and - - I still think this memory is beyond cool - - he unlocks a door on the back of the lecturn and there sat Danny & Farfel. And he let me manipulate them! That was the first time I ever worked a professional dummy with a hole in the back and it's head on a stick.

After a while he said to me "why don't you call my friend Norman Berger . . . (Norman! If you're reading this? THANX!) . . . he's the producer of WONDERAMA. I'll tell him to expect your call, then you can set-up a time to audition." That was heaven. Yes it was (except it meant if I got on I'd have to miss LET'S HAVE FUN. What a choice!)

It's telling that all these people I admired that I met as a child:

JIMMY NELSON

CHUCK McCANN

PAUL ASHLEY

SANDY BECKER

. . . they all gave me a real-life boost in this make-believe art. THANKS GUYS!!!

A few weeks later, I was on WONDERAMA.

COMING: PART II

the one and only CHUCK McCANN!!!

I know I've said it before, but to me CHUCK McCANN was the best kid show entertainer I ever saw. His comedy, characters, heart and most importantly PUPPETRY ("voices & animation") was eveything I needed. He was just so much FUN! And. Come along! We're all going to have FUN together. Chuck inspired me no end. The memories still do.

Chuck understood and presented his love for television itself as part of his presentation. He was on for 4 hours(!) on Sunday with a show called "LET'S HAVE FUN". Before the program came on, WPIX-11 would show an artcard with cutout pictures of the puppets and a LETS HAVE FUN logo in the center. They'd play old time gazebo music by a group called Professor H.

Then at 9:00 AM, this following scene would unfold. . .

Notice how Chuck took us into his world - - behind the scenes of the teeny tiny studio populated by characters of his own imagination - - all the way to the far end of magic-land until soon? He disappears behind the puppet stage and his alter egos take over. Absolute magic. I'd never miss it!

Olga, Chuck & Me in Flexitoon Central, prior to an "Evening of Memories" @ the Museum of Broadcasting

On the next Chuck post, I get the courage to traipse from Queens-to-Manhattan to meet Chuck @ WPIX, and end the day by being on his show!

*Produced by CHET DOWLING. Directed by IRV JARVIS.