A Mighty Wind Page #3

I sell catheters.

I have my own distribution company.

Sure-Flo Medical Appliances.

May have heard of it.

It's actually named in tribute after

my mother. Her name was Florence.

It's a growth industry, really,

because one in three people over 60...

...either have a flaccid

or a spastic bladder...

...so, in a sense, every 13.5 seconds,

a new incontinent is born, as it were.

People like you and I have

what they call "leakage problems."

They can be running, playing tennis,

laughing, sneezing, anything.

The good old constipation, you know?

You have impacted fecal mass

in your rectum pushing on your bladder.

This might make good dessert talk.

I started playing folk clubs

in New York City...

...and walked into one such

coffeehouse one night and there--

-Half Moon Cafe.

-The Half Moon Cafe and--

I was playing with my sisters,

Jocelyn, Claire, Estelle.

We were the North Four.

We were on-stage

and we had a horrible little heckler.

A little guy, but with

the loudest voice in the world.

And just, you know, "Take off your tops"

and "Get off the stage"...

"You sing like crap! You get off the stage!"

Very inarticulate. Rude.

Mean. Mean little bugger.

All of a sudden, we couldn't see clear,

you got the lights on us...

...but I see this tall, dark figure go over

and there's this intense little...

...something going on,

and all of a sudden, he's pummeled.

-The crap pummeled out of him.

-I don't remember much.

But the next thing I know,

I'm in a hospital, and the first thing I saw...

...was a beautiful rose sitting in a vase

on the night table next to the bed.

And I can't express...

...what was surging through my body.

I was consumed with an emotion...

...that I had never felt before.

We started singing together.

We simply fused together...

...in a very meaningful way.

And before you know it, we were recording.

-I learned to sing with Mitch.

-And--

So scary, so scary. But I just...

Mitch was so strong and so smart

and knew what he wanted...

...and I just focused on Mitch.

You know,

I went along for the ride.

One, two, three, and...

-Wait. I doubled after you?

-No, with me. That's doubling.

-You climb aboard the ferry at the same time.

-Okay, fair enough.

One, two, three, and...

My mama was the cold north wind

My daddy was the son of a railroad man

From west of hell

Where the trains don't even run

Never heard the whistle

Of a southbound freight

Or the humming of its driving wheel

No, I never did no wandering

Never did no wandering

Never did no wandering after all

I just, sorry, I just got a mental picture

in my mind of us on-stage in the show.

And we weren't wearing the old stuff,

the old gear, the old...

We're talking about the dickeys?

I think I'm on record as Mr. Anti-dickey.

You were Mr. Drop-the-dickey.

-It's just a very retro look.

-I'm totally available for the discussion of it.

It sounds like you're thinking

the image that we had...

...was a retro image of something that

wasn't retro because we weren't retro...

-...because we were then.

-It wasn't retro then...

...but now, to try a retro thing,

it might just look kind of sad.

-I mean...

-To do then now would be retro.

To do then then

was very now-tro, if you will.

I know we're getting emotional with things

and I know we want to give this...

...to be a great thing for you know who,

but I'm looking at numbers--

For Dad. Can't you say it? For Dad.

You can't say his name, can you?

You're not the only one

that's thinking about Dad now.

You're not the only person

going through this--

You don't have to take everything personally.

It's not you. It's her. Forgive me.

I'm sorry. Forgive me. Never mind.

This isn't really just

a reunion for the folk groups.

It's also a reunion for the Steinbloom family,

minus Dad, of course.

-Because we never get together.

-Not really.

-We talk. A lot. We talk a lot.

-We talk on the phone a lot.

-We don't really see each other.

-No. We don't need to.

I moved away to North Dakota.

I tried to get far away

to get the singing out of my head.

I didn't care for folk music

and Dad knew that. I just didn't get it.

So I haven't kept up our ties.

That's why this is kind of nice.

Hopefully we can get

through our little things...

...and put on a good show for Dad.

You like to make amends, but you can't,

so we'll try to do it with one good--

Music.

You okay?

Let's just hang on.

Oh, Jesus.

My dad, Fred Knox,

was an original Main Street Singer...

...so I grew up with this kind of music.

So I listened to it when I was little.

But I didn't hear much of it when

I was a teenager because I was--

I was on the streets.

I was really rescued by

The New Main Street Singers...

...and they really

gave me a break from that...

...dark, that darkness.

And...

So I like to give people a break now.

So when I sing, I want

to give out what was given to me.

And I want to be, you know,

a vessel of love...

...and I want to entertain

and make people happy.

So I look for someone out in the audience

and that's what brings me real joy.

So when Mr. Menschell

called me in 1995, my dad died...

...and asked me to be a part

of this band, I said:

"Well, yeah."

Going home

I'm going

Go--

Going

Go

Going home

I'm going home

Home

Home

Go--

Quick plugola, I'm Mike LaFontaine, owner

and founder of Hi-Class Management.

Comic's constant companion.

Let's start right out.

Hey, wha' happened?

As you know, back in 1970...

I starred on a series called, Wha' Happened.

Every time something would go wrong,

I'd look at the camera and say:

"Hey, wha' happened?"

We had fun with that

and other catch phrases.

"I got a real red wagon!"

And, "I can't do my work!"

And I believe I was the first one

to use the phrase, "I don't think so!"

It lasted a year. That's good because

that's how you establish a cult.

I was on-stage doing my shtick, "Hey,

wha' happened?" and "I can't do my work!"

If someone would heckle me, they'd

say, "Will you be on-stage all night?"

I would say, "That's right!"

and that would crack up the audience.

But I noticed a guy sitting down front

with a long face, nothing got to him.

So I said to the lady next to him:

"Hold your mirror up in front

of his nose to see if he's breathing.

To see if there's a reflection."

So he started to smile.

After the show I go down and introduce

myself. His name is George Menschell.

He had been with a group called

The Main Street Singers.

I was never into folk music.

I'd worked some bills with some folkies.

Put him in a cell with a long hose on him

Put him in a cell with a long hose on him

I used to say,

"If he's got a long enough hose...

...he's gonna have friends

in the shower room!"

Folk audiences hated that joke.

But I said to George, I said:

"Seriously, you've put up

some great numbers.

If you re-form your group, I can send

you out on the Starfish Cruise Lines.

Together, we could make a fortune

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