Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 April 14

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April 14

Warm-up comedians

Late night talk shows here in the US such as those starring David Letterman, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Fallon often have warm-up comedians that come out before the show starts taping to get the audience excited and laughing before the star comes out. (I think sitcoms have them too but I'm less sure about that.) I'm wondering about the profession though. Are these comedians hired for X number of weeks/months/etc? Or do they take the job until their own career starts to take off and they leave the show? Or do they get on with one show and stay there for years as the entirety of their career? I'm guessing that it's not the same for everyone of these people but just in general, what happens?

And before this gets hatted, no I am not, nor am I thinking of becoming, a comedian, warm-up or otherwise. Therefore this isn't a financial question. Nor is it by any stretch of a reasonable imagination a medical question. Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 07:57, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

You make find this article helpful.http://www.laweekly.com/2013-01-17/news/sitcom-warmup-comics-Mark-Sweet/ Hotclaws (talk) 09:26, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

We do have an article for Warm-up comedian, but I also saw this article which seems to suggest the same comic will often do a particular show for a long time, e.g. "Kelly, who has been with "The View" for six years...". It also gets into whether it's a help or a hindrance to comics' careers (answer: it varies). --— Rhododendrites ^talk |  19:23, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

What is the significance of St James Secret Garden Secret Map Block Puzzle by Cornelia Sand

I have a St James Secret Garden Block Puzzle. It is a set of 12 wooden blocks in a wooden box. Each block has different parts of a scene around some or all of the sides which form a Secret Map when all are turned the right way. One block is stamped on a blank side, "Opening Night April 25, 1991 St James Theatre." The box is also marked inside, "Designed and Produced by Cordelia Sand." I know that Secret Garden was a story that was turned into a musical which opened at St. James Theatre on 4/25/91 but can't seem to find information on where the blocks came from, who is Cordelia Sand, what is the significance of the blocks i.e. Were they give-aways on opening night or were they special presentation blocs or were they perhaps a commercial product and are they worth anything. Can you help please?

The local for this question would be New York City.

I found this which mentions another give away [1] Maybe the New York Magazine or the theatre itself might know more. Hotclaws (talk) 09:36, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

≈≈≈≈ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thejerryg (talk • contribs) 08:20, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Charlie Chaplin, working on his film music with Kurt Weill and someone else (Schoenberg?)??

I don't remember where I heard that anecdote, but apparently some of Charlie Chaplin's own film scores were realized this way: Charlie Chaplin would whistle his melodies to Kurt Weill, who would notate them, then they would bring that piano score to Arnold Schoenberg (I'm not sure about him), who would write the arrangements.
The only movies that fit the timeframe of the latter two living in the US are "Modern Times", "The Great Dictator", and Monsieur Verdoux".
However, Schoenberg was in Los Angeles, and Weill in New York, so this whole thing doesn't really add up. Can someone resolve the mystery? And/or, perhaps, provide the origin of this (true or false) anecdote)? -- megA (talk) 20:03, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

I have David Robinson's unread book Chaplin: His Life and Art on my shelves. I consulted the index, but there's no mention of either Weill or Schoenberg. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:27, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

This talks about Chaplin whistling tunes to people such as Hanns Eisler and Georg Kreisler, who would then write them down and orchestrate them. Robinson does mention Eisler, but nothing about this.

This tells me he was friendly with Schoenberg. I can't find any evidence he ever even met Kurt Weill. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:42, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Mickey Mantle autographed baseball

Any idea of how much that would be worth? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 23:05, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

It all depends, but they go from hundreds up to $16K at least. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:32, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. Wow, that's quite a variation of prices on that page. Any idea as to why? Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 23:45, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Several things factor into the price of something like that: A) condition of the signature, B) condition of the ball, C) significance of the ball (home run ball, etc). Dismas|^(talk) 00:28, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

One would hope that confirmation of authenticity would figure into it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:56, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

I hope you don't doubt it's authenticity solely based on the signature being misspelled, in crayon, with every letter a different color, and actually on a tennis ball.  :-) StuRat (talk) 05:09, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Mantle, Schmantle. I can let you have a genuine, 110% authentic Joe Schlabotnik for peanuts. Clarityfiend (talk) 06:40, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 22:36, 18 April 2014 (UTC)