The Tonight Show - Carnac - June 13, 1979

[@patbrooks9823]

"The kind of crowd that would watch Bambi through a sniper's scope." LOL.

[@mhartonthego]

Carnac bits were one of the best skits in television history as far as I'm concerned

[@DougCeleste]

OMG!!! Almost 40 years ago but the humor still shines brightly today!

[@simeonflake]

I just love a Carnac segment where it seems like most of the jokes are dying. Johnny and Ed's reactions always make up for a line that bombs. I think I almost fell out of my seat when Ed grabbed a card & went "really, is that what it says"... 😂

[@butchcassidy3373]

Even when the jokes were bad, it was hilarious. I remember staying up late and watching this as a kid in the 70s and was then a fan for many many years.

[@sjtom57]

I watched their entire run, and all these years later still miss Johnny and Ed. May they rest in peace.

[@watcher1258]

Loved the insults. The one about the yacks & your sister was the best.

[@user-wp4ju4hp5w]

The banter between Johnny and Ed was so funny and highly entertaining

[@johncaputo5538]

Carson was the best with a flat joke. I laugh more. His facial expressions and Ed laughing as the joke dies get me. I miss great late night comedy. Too serious now.

[@frankdrebin259]

Carnac headed into Bedouin bedpan. Lol, that line is awesome. 😃

[@dhpbear2]

That and "Punjab Porta-Potty" 😊

[@craigmclean8260]

...also, "Lebanese litter box"!

[@juan833blue]

Calcutta Crapper

[@PlanetEarth3141]

There was so many things to like about The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, but Carnac the Magnificent was the one I liked best. I used to call out to my parents loudly so wherever they were in the house they and my brothers knew that the skit was showing when Ed said so. The whole family would come to the couch to watch it, though some would sit on the carpet as the couch wasn't big enough for the whole family. Those family moments are what I'd like most to revisit if I could.

[@tonyadenton9196]

That's a great and touching memory you have, those were such wonderful times in comparison of today....Love Johnny Carson 😃💋📺👏

[@dhpbear2]

Yeah, home-video was in it's infancy. And with all the home video out there, I've yet to see a video from the 80s or early 90s of a family watching TV! :)

[@willswalkingwest7267]

Johnny was master of his domain. My go to happy place, staying up past 11:30 at night as a kid, watching Johnny LIVE for 90 minutes.

[@johnwood551]

Johnny could die better and get more laughs than most comedians could get telling good jokes. He just made you laugh for 30 years.

[@emansnas]

Love how at 3:13 Carnac gets away with displaying his middle digit to those booing in the audience. Especially because it was so well deserved.

[@rickmarshall808]

I guess thats where Simon Crowell learned it from.

[@brandihilton8485]

I loved watching Johnny Carson do the Carnac skits!!! He was so hysterical!!

[@markmatuga2595]

Nothing like Carnac.Johnny Carson will always remain magnificent.

[@shteebo]

Carnac bits were such a happy ritual, enjoyed by all. The Tonight Show at it's peak was so successful, it created it's own genre. Fifty years later, Johnny, Ed, and Doc are still the archetypes for host, sidekick, and band leader.

[@JPumpkinKing]

Holy crap! He actually got away with giving the finger on national television! 3:12

[@davebowker1113]

I love the episode when Carnac tripped and the desk actually collapsed!!!

[@TheEman590]

Trying to find that episode, but which one was it?

[@djzarrick]

It happened twice!

[@Rusty3659]

I wish they'd show the entire thing! We never get to see what he says after he winds up in a heap on the floor.

[@WingsOfDay]

Nicaragua: what not do when shaving around your aguas... classic!

[@cliffordscharff8536]

Almost got as much reaction as "Sis boom bah" 😁

[@arthuridis]

Nice!

[@Cookefan59]

Wow! June 1979 I graduated from high school and a few weeks later Iwas in boot camp at Paris Island. Johnny was such a consistent and reliable performer. Ed was a great sidekick with just enough belligerence to keep things bouncy and together they were a great team. I truly appreciate this channel and the laughs and guffaws it allows me to relive. Keep up the good job.

[@79goldmaster1]

I graduated in 1979 also. Different world now. Not really better.

[@paulhunt4690]

Your an old man, like me! Grad 5/28/78

[@stevel6939]

Right behind ya the following year. But went Air Force instead. Funny he mentioned Nicaragua. After I got out I found myself there fighting with anti communist rebels, the contras. Spring of 85. .... can you say Iran contra affair. Ugh what a mess..

[@iamgabrielf]

Johnny Carson's expression when the audience booed was the best part.

[@frankdrebin259]

That Nicaragua joke was funny as hell.

[@tonyadenton9196]

Yes it was 😃

[@kellyjohnson9394]

This Nicaragua joke and the sis boom bah joke were THE funniest EVER!

[@richardwilliams473]

Johnny and Ed worked so well together in the Carnac The Magnificent skits. Priceless

[@modernretroradio993]

"Butch Cassidy" -- classic!!!!

[@badtouch2354]

this was one of the wilder ones i remember. both johnny and ed were really fired up that night.

[@steve4158]

Ed was the perfect sidekick to Carson. Every talk show since with a sidekick could never surpass Ed. Carson and Ed were the best ever.

[@v8vrooooom]

Find somebody in late night comedy this good, can't do it this skillfully anymore!

[@emansnas]

Obviously not possible in current crop of poseurs; probably not possible to do it any more skillfully either. Current poseurs of course aren't even in the ball park, not only don't they have what it takes, but they're too busy playing with themselves beyond the Left field fence to even care.

[@studiopixani8258]

3:12 he flicks off the audience 😂😂😂😂. Love Johnny.

[@jaycunningham4215]

I love this crowd here!!!!

[@hgmarsh1]

Great humor with no one being affended.

[@johnwood551]

Johnny, unlike todays’ so-called late night comedians never took sides politically ,he had everyone on and made fun of all.

[@cluelessbeats]

3:23 "May a pregnant camel drop her water over your marital bed" LOL

[@kimkelly5512]

Only Carson could give a look and make you laugh, when a joke bombs on late night!

[@christianmollo3239]

Still kills me !! I love these guys

[@ibuprofenPill]

It’s now been 32 years after his last show and I still miss Johnny.

[@Dan-nt2yb]

Even in the rare time Carnac flops it’s still wayyyyyyy funnier than anything on TV today.😄👍🏾

[@PlanetEarth3141]

Carson not getting laughs or blooping in the show was better than guests. The man's capacity to laugh at himself and put the audience at ease was extraordinary.

[@hi-railhardin]

I love it when Johnny did Carnac. Thanks very much for sharing this!!! I'll sub to your channel.

[@jimbates955]

The best skit ever created! 😂

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

Good Lord! THE KIND OF A CROWD THAT WOULD WATCH BAMBI THROUGH A SNIPER'S SCOPE! Good luck saying THAT on TV in 2021...

[@ArmyJames]

Doing Carnac at all would be considered racist and unacceptable in 2021.

[@kimberlysabillon3005]

Karnak: "May the fleas of a thousand Camels infest your armpits"

[@fredferd965]

And that was the great comedy team of McMahon and Carson in action. (Name of the straight man always comes first.)

[@kwdrm1]

Love the "Sim, Sol and Bim" joke.

[@nathanmorriss4132]

Can we have more carnac the magnificent from Johnny Carson

[@WatchMan1962]

Priceless

[@margareta.halliseyq1777]

Love it!! Even now in 2,022!!!

[@chrisrobinson679]

Carson was the best at telling bad jokes, and making them funny anyway

[@ivanleterror9158]

I like that subtle finger he gives while wiping his right eye.

[@bh5606]

..priceless..

[@rand007]

Even when Carson was to " bomb "...he was funny. Today, there is very little good comedy.

[@davedodds5200]

After all these years, I see Johnny flipping off the audience!

[@dhpbear2]

Yes, at 3:12!

[@deeceea9488]

Wouldn't be Carnac without the TRIP.

[@deanbrandl1987]

There's more than a few of these.. were Ed was a little bit hammered

[@dhpbear2]

Those were the BEST! :)

[@dhpbear2]

4:43 - "Carnac headed into Bedouin Bedpan"! (at other times, a Punjab Porta-Potty) :)

[@dhpbear2]

is at 3:10

[@Ktotwf]

This was a rough one

[@speedyboris]

Is this really from 1981? The set had changed by the start of the 1980-1981 season- the one here is still using the set from the late '70s episodes.

[@dhpbear2]

Good catch! his show was a rerun recorded in April of '81. I believe this is June of 1979.

[@PieFights]

5:29 Carnac .exe has stopped working

[@DanielRamirez-li6zc]

In todays times JC would not
have been able to say “Sim sala bim “

[@oldprankster7606]

As great as Karnak was, and it was GREAT, he did not originate it. Steve Allen, the father of late night did.

[@dhpbear2]

Yes, Steve's version was entitled 'The Answer Man'

[@leestamm3187]

​​@@dhpbear2 Steve Allen's bit was "The Question Man." Several of them are on RUclips.

[@kellyjohnson9394]

CORRECT!

[@davebowker1113]

Where is the one where the desk breaks???!!!!

[@Collector261]

THAT was a bad night for Carnac.

[@quizmaster85]

Hermetically sealed.

[@dhpbear2]

"Funk & Wagnall's porch..."

[@quizmaster85]

@@dhpbear2 *NO-ONE (!)*
You just can't fault the camaraderie between Carson and McMahon.

[@jacksmith5692]

How do you get there? Let me tell you friends, how do you get there! You take the San Diego Freeway to the Ventura Freeway. You drive to the Slauson Cutoff, get out of your car, cut off your Slauson, get back in your car, then you drive six miles till you see the Giant Neon Vice-Squad Cop.

[@johncaputo5538]

Tea Time Movie w Carol Wayne. Loved those. Don't forget the "fork" in the road. He broke the pointer once and I thought Ed was going to die he laughed so hard. 😂

[@jacksmith5692]

@@johncaputo5538 Exactly the best, Art Fern Tea time movie. They would cut to the movie and come back and he'd be making out with Carol.
Yes my Friends!
Then Floyd R Turbo, Aunt Blabby, The Edge of Wetness when they would cut to audience members, playing Reagan, Well, the mighty Carson Art Players!
Just hilarious!
He would hit politicians on both sides and be great. I remember he constantly killed Carter and then when Jim Watt was Reagan's Secretary of the Interior Carson would kill him and it was so funny.
Not mean crap like with these clowns today but good clean humor.
Like when George Carlin in 1996 killed both Bob Dole and Bill Clinton. Genius and hilarious and not biased but funny!
Bob Dole says I'm an honest guy!
Bullshit!
Clinton gives you a hot heaping dose of bullshit and lets you know but at least he's honest!
Genius!

[@Getrichordietrying673]

He gave the audience the bird😮😮😮

[@dhpbear2]

ruclips.net/video/Fhpj-fL2Hso/видео.html

[@wmbrown6]

I know when Ed was off, at least one time Johnny was Carnac Doc handed him the hermetically sealed envelopes. One wonders how Carol Wayne would have handled Carnac . . .

[@tomryan914]

'Motorboatin'!' She was great (R.I.P.}.

[@garyrasberryjr.552]

Carol did at least one episode filling in for Ed (it might have been when the band was on strike, so Doc and Tommy - who also filled in for Ed a few times - were not available)

[@aegisofhonor]

I think every Carnac at this time took pot shots at Fred Silverman, who was a VERY disliked president of NBC at the time. NBC was tanking in the prime-time ratings thanks to many misfires throughout 1978 through 1981. Silverman high from his success at ABC tried to do the same stuff he did at ABC but failed miserably and was quickly disliked universally by nearly everyone who worked for NBC. Carson, with his cushy contract and high ratings (being one of the only bright spots in NBC's programming at the time) had no problem firing quips at the unpopular Silverman any chance he got.

[@Rgoid]

A: Cheetah, Leon Spinks and the American Taxpayer.

[@kevinnavarro2180]

4:38 “Is that what it says, really?”

[@vacuumunit]

middle finger @ 3:13 lol

[@evoman1776]

Just 2 days after John Wayne died.

[@timdowney6721]

When Carnac trips over the riser, he does kind of look like a clumsy Bob Gibson as he delivers his pitches. ‘Course, Gibson was a starter for St. Louis. 😉

[@diannefisher7985]

Best ever

[@jimmieperry3418]

"NO ONE KNOWS THE CONTENTS OF THESE ENVELOPES!!!!!!"

[@DougCeleste]

Carnac gave the middle finger at 3:13.

[@markalanbowers9938]

Why have some of the lines been censored..?

[@dhpbear2]

Where?

[@jaypharmon]

Nicaragua

[@terryogletree2128]

NO ONE ! ! !

[@chrislargent1725]

Question- pot belly answer- what was jerry Garcia’s nickname in high school

[@lmcoopie]

Lasting humor.

[@Brewnoe]

har har har jo

[@timboslice1979]

I was born 4 months later!