Tag: jokes

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Farewell to P.D.Q. Bach

It’s entirely possible that you’ve never heard of P.D.Q. Bach. But it’s almost certain that you’ve never heard of Peter Schickele.

I hadn’t thought about either one in fully forty years, but seeing on Facebook that Peter Schickele had passed away brought it all back to me.

Schickele was known for the elaborate parody he created around his “studies” of P. D. Q. Bach, the fictional “youngest and the oddest of the twenty-odd children” of Johann Sebastian Bach. A accomplished musician in his own right, his musical gags and jokes were hilariously intelligent and on point.

Of course, I wasn’t exposed to all that much of his stuff back in the late 70’s/early 80’s, because (duh!) we didn’t have the internet. So, I’ve been amazed to discover the wide range of his compositions.

The video below is an entire concert, but I invite you to start at the 54:30 mark to enjoy his absolutely brilliant “Beethoven Symphony No. 5 Sportscast.” Too, too funny!

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Of piccolos & fifes

A non-musician friend sent me this joke and I can’t resist sharing it!

Two musicians are walking down the street. One says to the other, “Who was that piccolo I saw you with last night?” The other replies, “That was no piccolo, that was my fife.”

Yeah, I know…but it made me laugh! And speaking of laughter….

For years I kept a Bizarro comic that showed two cowboys; one is holding a double bass and the other has a flute. As I remember it, the caption read: “You’d better wipe that smirk off your bass unless you’re looking for treble.” At the time I was half of a double bass/flute couple, so that lived on our refrigerator for years!

Not familiar with Bizarro? Well, here’s a sample; one final chuckle to wrap up the day (with apologies to banjo players everywhere).