Benjamin Spider
‘The Carol Burnett Show’ featured the incredible comic mind of Carol Burnett. She addresses the audience monologue-style, telling them the sketch they were about to see was ‘In shambles.’
She tells the audience that it made the crew laugh so hard they decided to show it! Carol says, ‘We’re going to show you what we did. Please forgive us.’ The sketch begins and a news reporter, played by Harvey Korman, says he is waiting for the great escape artist ‘Flo Zigfeild Houdini, the Great Houdini’s daughter.’
Harvey, the reporter, explains she will be placed into a steel trunk while being handcuffed. Then, cement will be poured on the trunk, and it will be chained and thrown underwater. However, he is confident she’ll escape.
‘Flo,’ played by Carol, walks out and shouts ‘Wooo!’ She is dressed in a glittery pink and purple jumpsuit. The reporter asks, ‘Are you confident that you are going to be successful in this feat today?’ She responds with a loud and quick, ‘Yes! Yes, I am very confident because there is not a set of handcuffs that can hold me.’
She struggles to get into her suit for the stunt and falls over into the basket behind her. She breaks character and laughs while chaos happens all over the stage. The basket gets stuck on her bottom, and she enters the trunk with the basket on her butt.
The reporter tries to announce the stunt, but then he tangles his mic cord around Carol’s neck, and he falls into the trunk, and it closes as she yells ‘TADA!’
Harvey falls into the ocean, and Carol says, ‘It’s an old trick. It always works.’ She breaks character because of how crazy the sketch turned out. It is an excellent example of how funny ‘The Carol Burnett Show’ was, even when things didn’t turn out as planned.
Share with your friends because sharing is caring.
