Larry
[played by Larry Fine]: “What does
your husband do?”
Lucy
Wyckoff [played
by Jean Willes]: “He's an expert in legerdemain.”
Larry:
“Legerdemain. Oh, a bookkeeper.”
Lucy:
“No, he's a prestidigitator.”
Shemp
[played by Shemp Howard]: “Oh, a
pants presser?”
Moe
[played by Moe Howard]: “Are you guys
ignorant? Didn't you hear the lady say? He presses refrigerators.”
Shemp,
Larry:
“Oh!”
Lucy:
“No, no, no. We do an illusion act in vaudeville. He's a magician. He makes
things disappear.”
Shemp:
“I got an uncle who can make things disappear.”
Moe:
“Is he a magician?”
Shemp:
“No, he's a kleptomaniac.”— Don't Throw That Knife
(1951), screenplay by Felix Adler, directed by Jules White
I watched this short last week, just after I had filled out the 2020 Census questionnaire online. My response came, I must
admit, after a card in the mail advised me of a personal
visit at home from a representative of the Census Bureau if I didn’t reply immediately to the latest
inquiry from Uncle Sam.
Now, I see that, due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Bureau wants a four-month delay in deadlines for its all-important head count. I imagine that the notion of getting up close and personal
with millions of American citizens--with who knows how many infected by the disease?--was not what the army of census-takers
signed up for.
Talking about what can "make things disappear"!
Talking about what can "make things disappear"!
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