April Fools! 1957: The Spaghetti Harvest

 [post 462]

It would have been way too predictable for me to try to fool you on April Fool's Day, but this BBC video from 1957 was actually just such a joke, likely the first April Fool's prank by a major broadcaster. I remember seeing it on the tv show, Tonight Starring Jack Parr, and since I still remember it, obviously it made an impression, either because I thought it very funny or perhaps because I actually fell for it at the time. I was eight, after all. I was reminded of it again when my old clown partner Fred Yockers sent me a clip of it. This is the original BBC version:

I love the deadpan documentary style. As Eddie Cantor said about Laurel & Hardy, "It's their seriousness that strikes me. They play everything as if it might be Macbeth or Hamlet." Also, I suspect what Jack Parr showed was condensed for an American audience, as are some of the versions you will find on YouTube. Which is a shame, because what really sells this for me is all the detail, both in the narrative and in the visuals. After all, art is in the details, and comedy is an art.