What great seer, soothsayer, and sage, would ascertain the answers having never before heard the questions from hermetically sealed envelopes that have been kept in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnalls' porch since noon today?
Carnac the Magnificent was a recurring comedic role played by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. One of Carson's most well-known characters, Carnac was a "mystic from the East" who could psychically "divine" unknown answers to unseen questions.
The character was introduced in 1964. As Carnac, Carson wore a large feathered turban and a cape. The character would emerge from behind the show's curtain accompanied by Indian music, and make his way towards the desk, where he would invariably stumble on the step in front of the desk and lose his balance. On one occasion frequently rebroadcast on anniversary shows, Carson's desk was replaced with a lightweight balsa-wood version; this allowed Carson to trip and smash through it.
Longtime sidekick Ed McMahon ritualistically and bombastically introduced the Carnac routines. The announcement implied Carnac was responsible for some scandal or disaster currently in the news, as "And now, the great seer, soothsayer, and sage, Carnac the Magnificent." After Carnac entered and stumbled, Ed would continue as follows:
"I hold in my hand the envelopes. As a child of four can plainly see, these envelopes have been hermetically sealed. They've been kept in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnalls' porch since noon today. No one knows the contents of these envelopes - but you, in your mystical and borderline divine way, will ascertain the answers having never before heard the questions."
The act involved a variation of the magician's billet reading trick: divining the answer to a question written on a card sealed inside one of the envelopes, announcing it to the audience, then tearing open the envelope to reveal the question. The comedy came from an unexpected question following a seemingly straightforward answer. The resulting jokes often involved puns or wordplay; the answer "The La Brea Tar Pits" was the answer to "What do you have left after eating the La Brea Tar Peaches?", and "9W" was the answer to "Mr. Wagner, do you spell your name with a V?" Jokes would also be topical; for instance, "Over 105 in Los Angeles" (presumably referring to the temperature) instead led to "Under the Reagan plan, how old would you have to be to collect Social Security?" The longest laugh ever recorded was given to "Sis Boom Bah," which was the answer to "Describe the sound made when a sheep explodes" and resulted in both Carson and McMahon breaking character to laugh as well.
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Mark. said:
Carnac the Magnificent, a gag on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Alan J answered:
Carnac the Magnificent.
Roy, socially distancing in Tyler, TX replied:
Carnac the Magnificent was, by far, one of the funniest after-monologue gigs on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show back in the '60s. Carnac was a "mystic from the East" who could psychically "divine" unknown answers to unseen questions.
mj responded:
After touching the envelope
To his turbaned head, Karnak the Magnificent (aka Johnny Carson) would
provide the answer.
Dave wrote:
Carnac the Magnificent. A reoccurring skit on the Tonight Show. Ed McMahon would make the introduction and a costumed Johnny Carson would walk onstage and invariably stumble prior to taking his seat behind his desk. When the gags fell flat, Carnac would employ what Carson's head writer called the "Carnac Saver," and the mystic would deliver a bizarre curse toward the groaning audience, which usually earned more laughs then the joke did.
Photos: The legendary Jack Benny giving young Johnny some comedy pointers | Ed and Johnny as Carnac | the Creature
Cal in Vermont replied:
Carnac the Magnificent. The bit was created in Kansas City in 1951 by Bob Arbogast, it was used on the Tom Poston show and was bequethed to The Tonight Show during Steve Allen's residency there, I'm not sure about Jack Paar's turn, but Johnny Carson ran with it as Carnac The Magnificent.
Jon L responded:
Johnny Carson
Stephen F said:
Carnac
Micki wrote:
Carnac, played by Johnny Carson.
David of Moon Valley answered:
oooh oooh pick me pick me I know I know
none other than....The Great....Carnac...the Magnificent
Jim from CA, retired to ID, replied:
Carnac the Magnificent from the Johnny Carson Show
Harry M. responded:
Carnac the Magnificent
Daniel in The City said:
Johnny Carson as the Great Carnac
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame wrote:
The answer is Carnac the Magnificent (Johnny Carson) on the The Tonight Show. From the
video I found on YouTube, it appears that the location of the mayonnaise jar was variable!
Deborah answered:
I blew yesterday's answer and probably today's as well, but I have to go with Carnac, a magician character played by Johnny Carson. I rarely watched that show, never saw the mighty Carnac, but I'm familiar with the stories.
The sun cane out today after 5 days of gloom, and the bike ride we took was just right. Shelter at home isn't so bad…yet.
Michelle in AZ responded:
Carnac the Magnificent
Joe ( -- Vote Blue, No Matter Who -- ) replied:
The Great Carnac, or something like that.
I ventured out today. Had to mail my application for absentee ballot, City Hall closed. Had a library book to return, library closed and book boxes sealed shut. Went to Family Fare after assessing my larder and deciding I didn't have enough meat to last 3 weeks. Wanted hamburger but there wasn't any. Got some beef steak and pork loin and Rice Crispy Treats. Wallace got me hooked on them. Store was out of toilet paper, but I don't need to buy any. Felt sorry for an old guy, younger than me but an old guy, he was buying about 6 packages of napkins. Any port in a storm I guess.. I should be good for 3 weeks now, no reason to go anywhere.
DJ Useo took the day off.
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Ed K took the day off.
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Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
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PGW. 94087 took the day off.
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BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
I know the answer...
~~~~~
• Not everyone likes chamber music. Arthur Catterall used to lead the BBC Symphony. One day, he was in a taxi when the driver looked at his violin and asked if he ever played on the radio. When Mr. Catterall replied that he did, the cabbie asked, "Do you ever take part in those Sunday afternoons of chamber music?" Mr. Catterall replied in the affirmative, so the cabbie stopped his taxi, opened the door, and said, "Well, you can jolly well walk!"
• Chamber music can be very expensive. Thomas Beecham spent much of his own money on music. Once, a gentleman from the United States who had been donating much money to an orchestra compared notes with him. After their talk, the American gentleman said, "Well, sir, I guess that every time some guy draws a bow across a fiddle, you or I sign a check for a thousand dollars."
Children
• When he was an old man, Sir Thomas Beecham conducted a Sir Robert Mayer Children's Concert. He slowly walked to the conductor's chair, and then spoke to the audience of children, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, my slow progress to the conductor's desk was due not to any reluctance on my part to conduct before so distinguished an audience. My slow progress was due entirely to the infirmity of old age. Our first piece is by Mozart. It was composed when he was at the age of _" - here Sir Thomas pointed to a small boy in the audience - "at your age, sir."
• As a very young child, soprano Geraldine Farrar started taking piano lessons, but she played only the black keys. Asked why she didn't play the white keys, she replied, "Because the white keys seem like angels and the black keys like devils, and I like devils best." In an early autobiography, she wrote, "It was the soft half-tones of the black keys which fascinated me, and to this day I prefer their sensuous harmony to that of the more brilliant 'angels.'"
• When English entertainer Joyce Grenfell was a young girl, her father took her to hear some Bach at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She tried to beat time with the music with her head, but was unable to - the boy in the seat behind her had fallen asleep and his knees had trapped her ponytail! Because she was polite, she waited until the music had ended and the applause had wakened the boy, thus freeing her ponytail.
• In 1909, when tenor Leo Slezak sang the part of Tamino in Mozart's Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera, Walter, his little son, was in the audience. Little Walter had been told the plot of the opera, and he knew that a snake would be chasing Tamino at his entrance. Out of excitement, when little Walter saw his father make his entrance, he shouted, "Watch out, Papa! There is a snake!"
• At age 13, Billie Holiday went to New York City to be rejoined with her mother, but she took a walk in Harlem and got lost. A social worker helped her out by finding her a place to stay until her mother could be located - a place that young Billie remembered as a beautiful hotel. After she grew up, Ms. Holiday went back to the "beautiful hotel" and discovered that it was a YWCA.
• One mother thought that her three-year-old daughter might be a musical genius because the little girl remembered where the middle C key was located on the piano keyboard after being shown it once. However, one day the mother cleaned the piano keys, and her little daughter couldn't pick out middle C anymore - the middle C key had been the one with the egg stain.
1) I wondered who the weird woman was who lobbed that softball up to Predator that allowed him to go all racist during the coronavirus briefing today. She's a nutjob from One America "News" Network:
Whatever the reason, the office of Vice President Mike Pence-who is in charge of the task force-put out a statement after the press conference on Thursday saying: "Dr. Fauci participated in today's Task Force meeting in the Situation Room. He has a full media schedule today including [PBS], [Facebook Live], [CNN] Town Hall, and [NBC News] in addition to his important work [at the National Institute of Health]. Dr. Fauci will be back at the press briefing tomorrow."
3) Considering Adderall-addicted racist POS'S need for adulation and intolerance of the slightest questioning or criticism, how long until he fires Fauci for truth speaking?
2 days in a row Adderall-addicted Racist Attention Hog has gone out of his way to inject himself into cronavirus briefings and proudly display his racism. The attached photo is from Axios; the caption "A close-up of President Trump's notes shows he crossed out "Corona" and replaced it with "Chinese" Virus. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images"
The bridge cartoon probably means nothing to you if you don't play bridge. My mother loved the game--I have so many memories of Momma & Pop staying up all night playing with their friends Orville & Chassie. I honestly believed that I couldn't go to college without learning how to play bridge. Took some lessons at Mercer University the summer before I started at Auburn. Got my Mercer boyfriend so caught up in playing that he flunked out of school. Then I got to Auburn and discovered dating, drinking, and football--life was never the same again.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'MacGyver', followed by a RERUN'Hawaii Five-0', then a RERUN'Blue Bloods'.
On a RERUNStephen Colbert (from 3/12/20) is Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE, (from 2/20/20) are Justin Bieber, Lucy Hale, Scott Bakula, and Wajatta.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'The Blacklist', followed by another FRESH'The Blacklist', then 'Dateline'.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 2/24/20) is BTS.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 3/9/20) are Nicolle Wallace, Keke Palmer, Daymond John, and Steve Ferrone.
On a RERUNLilly Singh (from 2/5/20) is Wendi McLendon-Covey.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Shark Tank', followed by '20/20'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 3/3/20) are Ben Affleck, Justina Machado, and Victoria Monét.
The CW offers a RERUN'Penn & Teller: Fool Us', followed by a RERUN'Whose Line Is It Anyway?', then another RERUN'Whose Line Is It Anyway?'.
Faux fills the night with FRESH'WWE Friday Night SmackDown'.
MY recycles an old 'CSI: Miami', followed by another old 'CSI: Miami'.
A&E has 'Live PD', followed by a FRESH'Live PD: Rewind', then a FRESH'Live PD'.
AMC offers the movie 'Taken', followed by the movie 'I Am Legend', then the movie 'I Am Legend'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY - Shapes and Colors
[7:00AM] DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY - Girl Power
[8:00AM] ELYSIUM (2013)
[10:29AM] KNOWING (2009)
[1:27PM] TOTAL RECALL (2012)
[4:01PM] BLAZING SADDLES (1974)
[6:00PM] CADDYSHACK (1980)
[8:00PM] THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
[10:00PM] THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)
[12:00AM] CADDYSHACK (1980)
[2:00AM] BLAZING SADDLES (1974)
[4:00AM] PLANET EARTH: BLUE PLANET II - Blue Planet Now: Whale Sanctuary
[5:00AM] PLANET EARTH: BLUE PLANET II - Blue Planet Now: Shark Paradise; (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Shahs Of Sunset', another 'Shahs Of Sunset', followed by a FRESH'Shahs Of Sunset', then the movie 'Next Friday'.
FX has the movie 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle', followed by a FRESH'The Weekly', and another 'The Weekly'.
History has 'Ancient Aliens', followed by a FRESH'Ancient Aliens: Declassified'.
IFC -
[6:00A] The Three Stooges - Dizzy Pilots
[6:25A] The Three Stooges - Dutiful but Dumb
[6:50A] The Three Stooges - False Alarms
[7:15A] The Taking of Pelham 123
[9:45A] Homefront
[12:00P] Transporter 2
[2:00P] That '70s Show
[2:30P] That '70s Show
[3:00P] That '70s Show
[3:30P] That '70s Show
[4:00P] That '70s Show
[4:30P] That '70s Show
[5:00P] That '70s Show
[5:30P] That '70s Show
[6:00P] Two and a Half Men
[6:30P] Two and a Half Men
[7:00P] Two and a Half Men
[7:30P] Two and a Half Men
[8:00P] Two and a Half Men
[8:30P] Two and a Half Men
[9:00P] Two and a Half Men
[9:30P] Two and a Half Men
[10:00P] Two and a Half Men
[10:30P] Two and a Half Men
[11:00P] Two and a Half Men
[11:30P] Two and a Half Men
[12:00A] Two and a Half Men
[12:30A] Two and a Half Men
[1:00A] That '70s Show
[1:30A] That '70s Show
[2:00A] That '70s Show
[2:30A] That '70s Show
[3:00A] That '70s Show
[3:30A] That '70s Show
[4:00A] The Three Stooges - Fright Night
[4:10A] Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[6:30am] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:30am] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:30am] The Andy Griffith Show
[9:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[9:30am] The Andy Griffith Show
[10:00am] Urban Cowboy
[1:00pm] Law & Order
[2:00pm] Law & Order
[3:00pm] Law & Order
[4:00pm] Law & Order
[5:00pm] Law & Order
[6:00pm] Law & Order
[7:00pm] Law & Order
[8:00pm] Law & Order
[9:00pm] Law & Order
[10:00pm] Law & Order
[11:00pm] Law & Order
[12:00am] Law & Order
[1:00am] Law & Order
[2:00am] Urban Cowboy
[5:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[5:30am] The Andy Griffith Show (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Edge Of Tomorrow', followed by the movie 'John Wick', then the movie 'xXx: Return of Xander Cage'.
Fox's "The Resident" is doing its part to protect the residents - and other health care workers - at an Atlanta-area hospital amid the spread coronavirus.
Dr. Karen L. Law, who is the program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Emory University, posted a photo to Instagram on Wednesday showing off a donation of masks, gowns and other supplies made by the team behind the medical drama.
ABC's "Station 19," a firefighter-centric spin-off of "Grey's Anatomy," has donated some N95 masks to the City of Ontario Fire Dept. and to a firehouse in the Loz Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles, a spokesperson for ABC Studios told CNN.
"The Good Doctor,"a medical drama filmed in Vancouver, is also working to make a donation locally.
Bavaria's Passion Play, staged every decade since the 1630s when villagers thanked God for the end of the plague, has been postponed for two years due to the coronavirus, organisers in the German village of Oberammergau said on Thursday.
About half a million people had been expected to descend on the Alpine village between May and Oct. 4 to watch one of the 103 performances of the play, which depicts the last days of Jesus Christ.
"At the moment it can be clearly predicted that it will not be possible to hold an event on the scale of the Passion Play. The risk of new infection chains will emerge," the Garmisch- Partenkirchen district authority said in a statement.
The Oberammergau Passion Play dates back to the 17th century plague. In 1633, villagers promised God they would perform the death and rebirth of Christ every ten years if they were spared. The first production took place a year later.
Over the years, the play has caused controversy from when Adolf Hitler visited it in the 1930s and praised its anti-Semitic tone to 1990 when traditionalists were outraged that the Virgin Mary was played by a married woman with two children.
The Olympic flame arrived in Japan on Friday from Greece in a scaled-down ceremony at an air base in northern Japan.
The flame, carried in a special canister, touched down amid growing doubts if the Tokyo Games can open as scheduled on July 24 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Organizers and the International Olympic Committee say it will, but postponement or cancellation is viewed increasingly as a possible option.
The flame reached Japan aboard a white aircraft painted with the inscription "Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay" along its side. It was greeted on the tarmac by a small contingent of organizing committee officials.
The Dr. Oz Show, one of the few syndicated daytime shows that had been continuing during the coronavirus pandemic, has shut down production at ABC's Manhattan studios after a staffer tested positive for the illness.
The show plans to continue airing daily, with Oz shooting from his home, Deadline has confirmed. It had been filming in the studio without an audience using a skeleton crew.
The show's last episode was Wednesday, when the production found out the staffer was diagnosed. According to Variety, which first reported the story, the staff member had not been in the office for more than a week, when he first began showing symptoms.
A sly dig at the international community, this is just one among a torrent of social media posts that has emerged from the blockaded Gaza Strip in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The sight of a world locking itself down seems to have unleashed a wellspring of emotions in Gaza, from sardonic political commentary to schadenfreude, emerging from Palestinian denizens of the tiny coastal enclave that has for years lived with enforced isolation and confinement.
"Have you got bored with your quarantine, the closure of your crossings, your airports and your trade? We in Gaza have been living this for 14 years," one social media user posted this week.
"Oh world, welcome into our permanent reality," he added.
Scientists have proved one of Charles Darwin's theories of evolution for the first time - nearly 140 years after his death.
Laura van Holstein, a PhD student in Biological Anthropology at St John's College, University of Cambridge, and lead author of the research published today (March 18) in Proceedings of the Royal Society, discovered mammal subspecies play a more important role in evolution than previously thought.
Her research could now be used to predict which species conservationists should focus on protecting to stop them becoming endangered or extinct.
The anthropologist confirmed Darwin's hypothesis by looking at data gathered by naturalists over hundreds of years - long before Darwin famously visited the Galapagos Islands on-board HMS Beagle. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, was first published in 1859 after Darwin returned home from a five-year voyage of discovery. In the seminal book, Darwin argued that organisms gradually evolved through a process called 'natural selection' - often known as survival of the fittest. His pioneering work was considered highly controversial because it contradicted the Bible's account of creation.
Archaeologists in China have unearthed a tomb belonging to a 9th-century noblewoman who was buried alongside her donkeys, which she likely rode while playing an ancient version of polo.
New research published this week in Antiquity describes the tomb of Cui Shi, an Imperial Chinese noblewoman who died in 878 CE. Her tomb was found eight years ago in Xi'an, China and appears to have been badly looted. Thankfully, some pieces of little value were left in the tomb, including a stone epitaph that identified the tomb as belonging to Cui Shi, the wife of an esteemed governor.
Much to the surprise of the archaeologists, this elite member of society was buried alongside three donkeys, which the researchers say is the first physical evidence of donkey polo dating back to this time period. Tang Dynasty (618 CE to 907 CE) texts describe the use of donkeys for this ancient sport, but archaeological evidence had been lacking until now. The new paper was led by Songmei Hu from the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology in Xi'an, China.
Xi'an was the capital city and a major cultural and economic center of the Tang Dynasty. Donkeys played an important role as pack animals, but citizens sometimes used these animals for the sport of donkey polo, known as Lvju in Imperial China.
Showy peacock feathers, extravagant elk antlers and powerful crayfish claws are just a few examples of the ostentatious animal extremes used to compete for and attract mates, a process called sexual selection.
Now, thanks to Arizona State University researcher Zackary Graham and his colleagues, we can add the "unicorn of the seas," the narwhal, to the list.
"Broadly, I'm interested in sexual selection, which is responsible for creating some of the craziest traits in biology. As an evolutionary biologist, I try to understand why some animals have these bizarre traits, and why some don't," said Graham, a doctoral student at ASU's School of Life Sciences.
Graham is the lead author of a new study which demonstrates the best evidence to date that the narwhal tusk functions as a sexual trait, published in online in the journal Biology Letters.
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