My winning Gong Show act

[TsWade2]

Wow! That was awesome, man!

[PAMAROSHOUSE]

what did you do with the winnings?

[stardial]

@PAMAROSHOUSE if I could recall what I did with $516.32 in 1977, I would amaze my dog. I probably spent it on repairing my motorcycle.

[aquarianbabe]

You did great. And you're pretty handsome too!!!

[emjee]

There is a variation on that joke that goes like this: A guy goes to a dance that has a wooden eye. He asks a girl with a hair-lip if she wants to dance. "WOULD EYE?

"Hair-lip! Hair-lip!!"

[neveranygoodnameslef]

Ooooo you were good looking back in the day ;) well the half I could see O.O

[red32rum]

Great job, man!

[garethop]

I'm jealous! That is awesome!

[joeblowthehot]

your cute cookie!!

[NimblewillBill]

Fantastic job! I would have given you a 10. Well, gotta go put some medicine on my cougar bites.

[MissTessalt]

man how long did THAT make up take?

[stardial]

@MissTessalt about 2+ hours as I recall.

[TheMagmagoblin]

You got the John Boy mole. But damn you handsome.

[SaraDemon]

i wonder what he wanted to tell his grandfather... guess we will never know

[stardial]

@SaraDemon You might find a clue in Eugene O'Neill... I took John-Boy's dialogue from a two-character scene in one of his plays... Can you guess which one? ;^)

[SaraDemon]

@stardial oh goodness i have no clue which

[stardial]

@SaraDemon I won't keep you in suspense... it's from "Ah, Wilderness". Richard is trying to have a heart to heart talk with his dad about wanting to be a writer. I thought it would be fun to juxtapose O'Neill with the hunchback joke.

[stardial]

No, I never saw that when it was out. My interaction with Barris was too brief for me to have any kind of read on him personally. He was a maestro in his realm, though, and we enjoyed playing in his playground a lot.

[lttguys]

LOL...I wasn't sending you to "Shady Pines" or anything...just figured that was a long time ago. Have you seen the movie "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"? Having met Chuck Barris I was wondering what you thought of the movie. Happy New Year!!

[lttguys]

I thought it was great...what did you do afterwards...did you go into show business or was this a one time thing? I'm assuming you have to be close to 60 by now.

[stardial]

@lttguys hi, thanks for your comment. I did pursue an acting career with mixed results. Some tv and film, mostly theater, and I had a blast doing it all. I still keep my eye open for acting opportunities, but I have changed careers and am now professionally a 3D animator. And still feeling quite youthful at 54. Happy New Year!

[bli1964]

@stardial 3d animator? .. nice! you should have a go at building and animating the characters in this video to the audio of it :D

[stardial]

@bli1964 In my spare time! lol But actually, I thought about doing that to the audio of the OTHER Gong Show episode that I performed an act on, since for years I only had an audio recording of it. But thanks to a kind soul who had both shows on tape, and sent it to me over the holidays, I now have this long lost episode and will be posting it up soon(ish) ... like I said, in my spare time.

[bli1964]

@stardial I know what you mean about 'spare time' I've been a professional animator (2d and 3d) for the last 25 years myself! :D

[stardial]

@lttguys hi, thanks for your comment. I did pursue an acting career with mixed results. Some tv and film, mostly theater, and I had a blast doing it all. I still keep my eye open for acting opportunities, but I have changed careers and am now professionally a 3D animator. And still feeling quite youthful at 54. Happy New Year!

[RRNYC1998]

The Gong Show was great. The garbage on TV today is well.... garbage

[djuri0612]

You are so my hero right now lol . the only game show I ever watched on a regular basis

[stardial]

@djuri0612 thank you djuri0612... now bow down to Zod! lol

You could be my hero if you were to find my lost episode. It featured me as Retch Butler singing and dancing to " Won't Dance". Arte Johnson gonged me. I think Steve Martin was also a panelist. I am trying to find it in compilations being sold online, but no luck so far. Keep an eye out, k?

[GenkiStreet]

Classic. I wish there was some way to watch the whole series in HQ via the net.

[swingkid570]

I was just rummaging through some of the Gong Show videos on here and wondering what happened to some of those contestants...

[stardial]

@swingkid570 well, I have continued my career as an actor, and more recently I've gone on to become a professional 3D animator working in NYC. I belong to a theater group in CT where for a time there was another member who had also appeared on the Gong Show (and I believe won) featuring a dog act.

[ekocentric]

@stardial Dude, Duderick....I have got to send this video to my sister.

We watched this show religiously and this was one of our favorite skits. I am so glad to know that you are doing well. Wow in hell did you come up with this act? It was the greatest!

[stardial]

@ekocentric thanks a lot! It's fun to still get applause for this skit after so many years. I actually knew Will Geer and was in his acting troupe up in Topanga Canyon during the early 70s. We did many Shakespeare productions. So I guess that was the inspiration. I also showed the finished episode to Earl Hamner, the creator of The Waltons, and he loved it. Will got a kick out of it too.

[ekocentric]

@stardial Isn't life funny? I used to be a nanny in Malibu and often drove past The Geer place...very rustic looking from the outside. It wasn't too far from Elysium fields too. lol

Are you familiar with Hamner's "Spencer's Mountain" and his Twilight Zone episodes?

[stardial]

@ekocentric yes, the Twilight Zone about the old man and his dog not being allowed in heaven is one of my favorites. It is a small world.

[djdavemick]

THAT was original. No off-key singing or bawdiness to say the least.

[binrockin]

oh wow good job!

[jordanthecat]

What a wonderful souvenir this video is for you!

[stardial]

@jordanthecat yes it is... now, if only I could get hold of the one where I played Retch Butler singing and dancing to "I Won't Dance". That would be sweet! (Arty Johnson gonged me for that performance)

[gabbahey66]

good job man i remeber that act from the gong show , loved it and did get it .

[stardial]

well, it was quite awhile ago, and mostly I remember being very intimidated, not by the way he acted toward me, cuz he was a gentleman and was very professional on the set, but just by his larger-than-life reputation. I had a great time on the show, both times I was on.

[ekocentric]

@stardial Both times? I don't remember another time. What did you do? Maybe it will jar my memory..it couldn't possibly be as good as this one. lol

[pete0969wi]

Your pretty damn talented... What was Chuck like??? Nice skit..

[Centralia62801]

I don't remember this but I wasn't born until 2yrs later lol. Very funny though and I can't belive The Waltons was on in the 70's.. I learned something new. I never knew the Gong Show was on then either.. BTW Excellent performance!

[jsaw200]

I love it!!

[10Dec1971]

Damn Chuck looked SEXY here! Well, he always did though.

Dawn

[thesethingz]

Nice job stardial!! Very creative and funny!

[stevenscottoddballz]

That was VERY good!

[morglon]

thanks, stardial! i think i vaguely remember this. the joke is old and i'm too uncultured to catch the eugene o'neill reference but it was funny and the makeup alone makeit worth a ten!

[stardial]

I continued my career as an actor, performing in plays of all sorts. Nothing quite as whacky as this bit though. :^)

[ekocentric]

I watched the show religiously but missed this one. Hands down it is one of the most creative and funniest ones yet! Thanx. P.S. Did you go on to do any other comedy?

[PeeWeeChic1]

Cool

[tachoX2]

Very clever...

[CrisisXScape]

Great! :)

[hardyboyzrko]

So its two different people right ???

joking

[bagrat22]

Kudos to you dude. I would have taken 500 bucks for that. My friends and I just waited for Gene Gene when we watched.

[HamerD]

awesome idea but i didnt follow why they seem to be talking different conversations.

[stardial]

that was intentionally part of the joke that their "heart-to-heart" talk had them not listening at all to each other. By the way, all the dialogue out of John-Boy's mouth I pulled directly from Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness" where the boy is having a serious discussion with his father about being a writer. Hence the last quote... "They're apt to be whited sepulchres..." No one caught on to my inside joke there.

[HamerD]

ok well done :)

[ekocentric]

@HamerD Grandpa always seemed to be in his own world. As a matter of fact, the old man used to moon his fellow cast mates regularly.

[aquaiz]

How much $ did you win?

[stardial]

they brought out a giant check for $516.32

[ekocentric]

@stardial Did you pay the taxes before or after the show? lol

[robw90]

Belated congrats on the win, good act!

[mondoshrimpo]

LOLOLOL i wish this was back on tv,,i guess Americas got Talent is the next best thing but still,,the gong show gave ordinary people a chance to get up and do whatever their heart desire on national television,,usually the worse they were the better the act

[toboe399]

It was back on the air.....a newer version......but...you know todays shows.....SUX

[Manusturbo]

America's got talent is a lame, sanitized version of the Gong Show. Only the weirdest and most bizarre acts got through on the Gong Show.

[mondoshrimpo]

thats exactly what i said,,,,ASS.... and how did the gong show set out to paroday Americas Got Talent??? the gong show was one of the pioneers of its kind,,

[Manusturbo]

There were variety shows long before the Gong Show, kid. The Gong show hired weird acts specifically to mock that. Edith Massey of the John Waters films and Paul Reubens of later pee wee herman fame were hired specifically for these purposes.

The Gong show was intentionally subversive, not a straight Variety Show like America's got talent.

[mondoshrimpo]

this 'kid' is 44 years old but anyway,what is your point ? I know all about it ,jerry maren married my great aunt elizabeth and we have watched this show my entire life . Why are you so adamant about defending the gong show anyway? it wasnt that big of a deal,it was only on tv a couple of years,,the only comparison i was making was that people got up in front of three 'judges' and performed,sometimes to be gonged or X'ed.

[Manusturbo]

I'm not defending the Gong Show, I'm not taking a position where I'm assuming you're saying it's worse or better. Just stating It was the creator's intent to make this show a parody of variety shows. Your 3 judges comparison is valid, but you, like many other mature and rational commentators on youtube assumed I was just out contradict you and got defensive because you felt you were being talked down to. You don't come off as very secure, or maybe you were looking for a fight? (shrugs)

Have fun

[Manusturbo]

And I would argue that America's got talent is the kind of variety show that the gong show set out to parody

[LifeSeedDeath]

Very creative costuming!

[algonkin64]

Great job! congrats!

[atomicdawg68]

Woa, I actually remember this... I was 9.

[JulesXtheXJestess23]

So, now you're 41? Why do you waste your time on the computer when you could be doing meaningful things?

[adamtrenholm]

Still 40 for a few more months. You're right, I should never be on a computer. Ever. Devils tool.

[JulesXtheXJestess23]

Exactly, that's why I'm on it a lot:) Just kidding!

[mssquirrely]

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

GRT WIN!

THKS 4 SHARING, Loved the Gong Show!

[cindyshealed]

I watched this show like mad, but missed this one. Love your act!

[ObeyVonZip]

I remember your act. Funny stuff. 5 stars, John Boy!

[Asifmurad]

I remember watching the Gong Show back when I was in junior high school. My family and i used to watch it every day and just laugh our asses off. It was a hilarious show. Thanks for sharing. All of these "american idol" crap came out of this kind of idea. But the Gong Show had goofey people, not professional entertainers. It was americana at it's best.

[Palitato]

Congratulations on the win! That was quite a while ago!! I think I've seen the sketch somewhere before. You did great! And your john boy was pretty cute, too!

[rjv66]

Good job!!

[TBomb068]

Bravo, I loved it!!! I miss the old Gong Show. The new one can't hold a candle to the original.

[wyndmere58081]

Did they withhold taxes on the $516.32

[stardial]

No, and not only that, for the rest of the year, I periodically opened my apartment door to find a new prize delivered: one time it was a crock pot, then a Eureka vacuum cleaner, then a case of LaChoy Noodles. I guess they had alot of inventory to move out! lol

[bonzohart]

I saw this act when it originally aired! You should've gottn 10s all that way. What year's it from?

[stardial]

Nineteen-Hundred-Seventy-Seven­, I recollect

[relictele]

So how much coke did Chuck Barris do?

[stardial]

How much snow did our good Chuck blow,

if our good Chuck would blow snow?

good question... maybe someone else wants to finish this?

[cossack207]

GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MagnumStellarz]

lol

[getherintobednow]

@ 1:13 ['and john boy...'] you get to the very essence of geer. beautiful job.

[deenotheman2]

Very ingenious.

I loved every bit of that.

[bonnadella]

Where are you now? Still in show business? Great Act!!!

[stardial]

Not on the boards. I'm turning a different creative corner and pursuing a career in 3D computer animation. Thanks for your comment.

[archduke11]

Awesome!!

[MoleinaHole]

This is bloody brilliant! Appreciated from the U.K!

[Bobofet241]

That was extremely creative and very well done.Did you stay in the Entertainment business?

[ACeDiAx]

Amazing. I came on here looking for possible episodes of the new Gong show, but now I don't think it would even compare. xD

And the fact that you made that costume is also pretty dang rad. ~^^~

[stardial]

I thank you for that, it feels good to be able to share this bit of creative bizarreness again after so long and have it reach new people.

[ACeDiAx]

No problem dear. c:

Thank you for uploading this~

[AppleScruffWitch]

Kind sir, you are brilliant. XD

[MyHeadHurts79]

That was really well done!

Have you ever seen the movie (or read the book) "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind?" Do you suppose that stuff is true, or is it fiction from the imaginative mind of Chuck Barris?

[stardial]

Nope, missed that when it was out in theaters. Wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

[thommg]

The CIA rarely speaks out about whether someone has worked for them in the past or not. When 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' was released, the CIA released a statement saying that they had no records whatsoever of Mr Barris ever working for them. I guess you can take that for what it's worth. Barris was a notorious joker, plus the book was written in 1983, a time where Barris was struggling to keep the public eye. So, two facts from two equally untrustworthly sources.

[MyHeadHurts79]

Haha! Indeed! I wonder if we'll EVER know the truth on this one? Probably not.

[mayej]

Pretty damn cool man. The new gong show just doesnt seem to have what the old one did. Cant explain it, I just like Chuck better I guess.

[stardial]

I haven't seen the new one, just the ads for it, which didn't inspire me to tune in. I suspect the essential difference is that Barris' Gong Show was completely authentic in its corny, twisted, relaxed strangeness, and the new one is more than likely pushed and contrived, made "bigger and better" by producers that don't get what made the first so unique. Just a guess.

[DeathGoddess90]

This was AWESOME!!! I watched the new gong show now because I'm only 18 but that was just awesome!

[hotemmy100]

XD Congrats

[Calbeck]

Now that is REALLY cool! A genuwine see-lebrity right'chere on YouTube! -:D

[morton360]

thats cool how old were you?

[stardial]

I was 21 at the time. glad you enjoyed the bit.

[ZomgTom13]

that is so f*cking funny how did you think of that lol

[prayer4you08]

Goodness lol. That is a good one. Looks just like the real ones lol.

[thewomandirector]

That was so goddamn funny..."...cougar bites!" I saw this when I was 9 years old, and am now 41! Do you have a website?

[stardial]

In the works..

:^)

[tinyfolk]

This is amazing!! I've been watching Gong Show clips up on youtube, it's really incredible how much mainstream television has lost its stomach for weird. I was watching through other videos you posted, and your animations seem really great too.

[desperategirl932]

pretty funny and creative. I actually remember watching this. weird. i loved the gong show and i was only 6 or 7 at the time. Chuck B. was such a perfect host for this show.

[landrykkb]

@desperategirl932 Because Chuckie was wild and spontaneous himself,he was a natural fit as The Gong Show host.

[spiked200]

That is one of the funniest bits I've seen in a long time.

Do you still get asked to the bit today?

[stardial]

lol ... no, no one has asked for a reprise. But it does bring up the idea of doing a series of impersonation pairings. In my spare time!

[AdamNedeff]

Do you still have the golden gong trophy?

[stardial]

Indeed I do. Sitting on a shelf waiting for an Oscar or an Emmy to bookend it.

[lewiske]

Cool. Though our politics couldn't be further apart (not to mention sexual proclivities), I respect Will Geer as one of the greats. Loved him in In Cold Blood, Advise & Consent, and Executive Action. I well remember his last appearance on The Waltons when he reaffirmed his love for Esther when she returned after her stroke. Touching performances by both him and Ellen Corby. And of course the Eight is Enough appearance! Shame that little goof Adam Rich was his last co star!

[lewiske]

How did you know Will Geer? Was it a casual relationship? Also, did he see the performance on the Gong Show or did you do it for him somewhere else? Just curious!

[stardial]

I've known the Geer family since 1972, and was one of the original members of Will's Shakespeare theater, the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon. We did a lot of Shakespeare, Chekhov, and I was also very fortunate to perform there in "Our Town" with Richard Dysart. Yes, I showed him the Gong Show clip and also played it for Earl Hamner. They thought it was a riot.

[alexia942]

Do you have the copy of your clark gable performance? Can you post it please?

[stardial]

No, as I said in an earlier post, I don't have that tape (but would love to get a copy. I only have the audio, which I may try to put up with a couple of still pictures of me in costume. Or maybe I should do an animated "recreation". That could be fun.

[alexia942]

That is a great idea!

[knightflyte]

I remember seeing this act. I was amazed at how well you did John Boy. The Gong Show was a strange mix of entertainment and oddities.

For some strange reason at the age of 16 - 17 I had the hots for JP.

[stardial]

That's because everytime she looked at you, you felt as if she was going down on you. LOL

[MGM12]

Outstanding performance! You even got the classic Chuckie "get off the stage" and the boot in the ass. I remember this show well. Hilarious.

[stardial]

Hi MGM12,

ya, I remember Barris really liked that one. I did a Gong Show previous to that where I did an impersonation of Rhett Butler singing and dancing to "I Won't Dance", and Chuck REALLY loved what I did at the end when Artie Johnson gonged me. I said, in a Clark Gable voice, "Well, I didn't want to do it, but MGM forced me into it." And then I pulled out a derringer cap pistol and shot myself and crawled off the stage! (continued in next comment...)

[stardial]

During a commercial break, a PA tracked me down and said Barris was looking for me. When I caught sight of him from behind the wings, he smiled and gave me a thumbs up sign.

[stardial]

P.S. IF ANYONE HAS THAT APPEARANCE ON TAPE, I WOULD LOVE TO GET A COPY!! I only have an audio tape of it.

[MGM12]

Too funny! MGM made me do it... ha ha

(I always like J.P. Morgan.)

[SconeMason]

that's really cool, what do you do now?

[stardial]

going to college at SVA in NY, studying 3D computer animation. I'm 51, feel 35, and having a blast doing it. I'm also occasionally doing "under-5" appearances on "All My Children", performing in musicals with my wife, and raising two kids in CT. My school projects can be seen on YouTube by typing in "stardial" in the search field.

[prim97]

Really creative!

[toonguy85]

Great job! Terrific dialogue and you must've spent hours on this and I salute you! Peter Sellers could've saved himself a lot of time in the makeup chair if he'd something like done this on Dr. Stangelove!

[Dolphin252]

nice

[PugetSoundFlyer]

Bravo !

[itsabomberscope]

you were great

[rrbh]

Then you've totally missed out on something special....Chuck Barris was unique - total classic personality, funniest thing I've ever seen. Infectious, genuine,addictive. Legendary.

[mosfonotoc]

i love the show but chuck barris sucks.

[TOPOFFMAN]

Aunt Ester might have called you a Heathen! Good Stuff!!

[BleachedSurfJunkie]

I've seen this done before (different sketch but same kinda idea)

did you do it first? If so, you sir, are a genius!

[algabal]

You did a great job!

[BubbleGumSinger1]

This is a great spoof on The Waltons. Very funny!

[lindaguadalajara]

Great act and great costume!!!

[benriner]

Holy s***! I remember seeing this as a kid in the 70's!

[Kneesoxrock]

That was you?! Oh, awesome. That's a great act, you deserve to win!

[JaYnEsAyZ]

i was just surfing for episodes of the waltons and came across this..great make up & very creative!

[stardial]

thanks a lot! I really enjoy to be able to share it like this after so many years. I knew Will Geer and he thought it was a great fun. So did Earl Hamner.

[louthebody]

I thought that was great. Funny stuff.

[cindyshealed]

Go Esther!

[Ultrasecond]

It's easy to see why you won. The sight gag and costume gimmick was great in and of itself but what pushed it so high was the acting and the comedy of the routine itself. Hell I don't know why you didn't get all 10's.

[seizetheweakened]

hair too long

[KevinHayden]

Great makeup. Great routine. I give it a 30. You still in theater of any kind? You oughta be creating your own fresh YouTubes.

[stardial]

Hi Kevin, thanks for kudos. Yes, I'm still acting, and also studying 3D computer graphics at SVA in NYC. I have a bunch of those school projects up on YouTube... just keyword "stardial" and you'll find them all. Beep, beep!

[Webins]

So great to see Lewanda Page outisde of "Sanford and SOn"!

[denise804]

COOL and look at Ester. lol