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Grumpy Puppet

Wallace & Ladmo

Featured Clip of the Month

from the personal video collection of

Dan Horn

Title: Grumpy Puppet

Description: Orson’s in a baaad mood.

Date: 1983

Comments:

Here’s a bit where I contrast Orson’s surly demeanor against the squeaky-clean identity I had come to establish for myself on the show.  Orson was often grumpy, but in this bit, he displays a little more than his usual amount of grump.  This is also closer to the character Orson had when I headlined with him at places like the Playboy Club in Phoenix—similar in character, but trust me, the material for those shows was a whole lot different. 

That’s one of the ways that Wallace was really cool; he didn’t mind at all that I had a dual career—one working on the TV show performing for kids and one performing for adults at nightclubs.  Someone once wrote to the station complaining that the adult material I had done at some comedy club was inappropriate for a “kid show” entertainer, but Wallace disregarded it.  He felt that the two venues were completely separate; I wasn’t doing racy material on the TV show, and no kids saw me at nightclubs,so where was the conflict?  His no-harm/no-foul attitude made it possible for me to work in both worlds and make a living entertaining fulltime.  These days, I continue to gear my act for adults, but I’m proud to say it is also suitable for a family audience.  Orson, however, is still just as grumpy.

The original Orson and me at the PhoenixPlayboy Club – 1981

(Orson used to joke that my white and silver outfit made me look like Liberace’s milkman.)

Dan Horn