Rare Quebec comedy routine wanted TQH Flight 52

[Peter Dougherty]

Hi folks,

I've got an urgent plea for information on an old comedy routine from
Quebec, probably dated from back in the 50s.

I don't have the name of the bit, but it centers around a the cockpit
of a small puddle-jumper airplane by the mythical name of TQH Flight
52. I remember most of the skit, and I'll include some quotes below.
The routine was pressed onto a 78 RPM vinyl record which I borrowed
from a high school firend back in the 70s. Some cretin _painted_ over
the label on both sides, and completely over the tracks on the "other"
side of the disk so I never got the info. The whole piece is about 15
minutes long.

Even if you know the bit, but do not have it, I would appreciate any
information on who did it, the actual name of it, the
artists--anything.

Capitain Harbidal Spuldater
Co-pilot: Onézim (used to fly the kiddie-airplane ride at Parc
Belmont)
Stewardess Mimi, who passes out Pepsi and Mae West after departure.

"OK, Onézim, before we go to da took-off pointe, flap da t'ings, make
sure the red light is green and the blue light is on or off as it look
best to you."

"...In the event that the mask pops at you, I ask you to face the rear
of the aeroplane and blow out all your air very very 'ard"

"Welcome aboard TQH Flight 52, with service to (list of forgotten
place names), and many other places in La Belle Province of which I am
not sure, because I do not know which way the wind is blowing."

The end of the skit is "TQH announces the arrival of Flight 52 which
has just landed on runways 3,4,5,6 & 7. Passengers and crew may be met
at the following hospitals."

Stay Demented!
Cheers!

[Abrey]

Dear Peter:

The 78rpm may be a Red Herring. It wasn't unusual for airchecks to be pressed
onto 78rpm long after they stopped being commercially available (after 1959 in
Canada). The piece sounds very familiar. It *MAY* have come from the CBC Radio
Comedy show called 'Funny You Should Say That', which aired in the late
60s-early 70s, with Ted Zeigler, Barry Baldaro, and I forget the other two
members. The sketch may also have been revived from the Royal Canadian Air
Farce's early days on radio, because the gag about the plane landing on separate
runways was used in some of their sketches in the 70s and 80s.

Try this: go to the CBC Radio webpage, and if there is still a link for The
Royal Canadian Air Farce, send them an e-mail and ask them if anybody recalls
this bit. Canadian comedians who have been around a long time generally are
well-versed on historical comedians. They are also in a position to refer it to
someone at CBC archives, who may be able to trace it down for you.

One other thought: if the record was actually pressed in the 50s, it may have
been legendary CBC radio broadcasters Max Ferguson and Allan McFee, who were not
above a little nonsense like this every now and then.

Good luck in tracking it down.

Abrey
-----
In article <am4o9tg65usiuspq0...@4ax.com>, Peter says...

[Peter Dougherty]

Abrey <Abrey_...@newsguy.com> said :

>Dear Peter:
>
>The 78rpm may be a Red Herring. It wasn't unusual for airchecks to be pressed
>onto 78rpm long after they stopped being commercially available (after 1959 in
>Canada).

Didn't know the 78 died before I was born; I though it continued into
the mid-60s for some reason. My family's 78s are long gone, though.

> The piece sounds very familiar. It *MAY* have come from the CBC Radio
>Comedy show called 'Funny You Should Say That', which aired in the late
>60s-early 70s, with Ted Zeigler, Barry Baldaro, and I forget the other two
>members.

Oh, Jeez, that troupe sounds VERY familiar. I remember those two names
from either a radio or TV show I used to listen to/watch when I was a
grade schooler (born in 61).

>The sketch may also have been revived from the Royal Canadian Air
>Farce's early days on radio, because the gag about the plane landing on separate
>runways was used in some of their sketches in the 70s and 80s.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't the Air Farce, although they did one
*marverous* bit in the early 80s, I think, with the French Air Traffic
Controller at Mirabel and the British Airways pilot looking for
landing instructions. This is another recording for which I would
proverbially give body parts, but it's unlikely that it got published.
I had a cassette tape of it many years ago, but it's long since
departed.

"Bonjour, Anglaise!" "Is that radio interferance or are you speaking
French?"

"Go play your Réné Levesque records!"

>Try this: go to the CBC Radio webpage, and if there is still a link for The
>Royal Canadian Air Farce, send them an e-mail and ask them if anybody recalls
>this bit. Canadian comedians who have been around a long time generally are
>well-versed on historical comedians. They are also in a position to refer it to
>someone at CBC archives, who may be able to trace it down for you.

What a splendid idea! Thanks. The Air Farce has their own site
(airfarce.ca) and I will attempt to contact them via that route. Now
that I'm "living" on the other side of the border (and I use the term
guardedly), it's a lot harder to keep in touch with Canadian issues
and history.

>One other thought: if the record was actually pressed in the 50s, it may have
>been legendary CBC radio broadcasters Max Ferguson and Allan McFee, who were not
>above a little nonsense like this every now and then.

Now those are names I've not heard in a long time.

>Good luck in tracking it down.

Thanks.

If replying by e-mail, please reply to pjd at panix dot com and not the address in the reply-to.

Cheers!
Peter Dougherty
Amatuer Radio: VE3THX /W2

[Abrey]

Dear Peter:

Your memory is good. Ted Ziegler was better known to audiences in Montreal for
an anarchic television show he broadcast on CFCF television in the 60s called
"Johnny Jellybean", which included such stunts such as a quacking duck, and
playing the odd marching music from the Spike Milligan (BBC recording) record
before whacking a large speaker with a baseball bat (sometimes he actually
played Stan Freberg's radio satire 'Bang Gunleigh, U.S. Marshall Fields', with
the 'Puffed Grass' commercial, right on the TV, with the camera focussed on that
speaker!). Sorry, no known tapes or films exist of this TV show. These actors
and actresses, along with the Farce members, were featured or starred on other
comedy or variety shows which aired on CBC radio or televison in the 60s or 70s
("Zut Alors", e.g.)

'Funny You Should Say That' was taped at Sir George Williams University in
Montreal from about 1968 to 1972, before SGWU became Concordia University. There
were also some recordings published of FYSST and 'Les Anglaises' on Dominion
Records (now out of print, of course), but I don't recall that sketch on those
recordings.

I also have the specific Farce broadcast you refer to on a cassette somewhere,
about the Radio Traffic Controller, but I'll have to do some digging in my
archives (now boxed up in the garage) to find it. It's likely that this routine
was in fact published, because the Air Farce has released many of their sketches
on record and CD over the last twenty years.

I'm curious to know if you ever discover the identity of the sketch you are
looking for. Please followup in this space. Thanks.

Abrey Myers
ab...@aol.com

In article <d5dp9t4h40h2qoiop...@4ax.com>, Peter says...

[R H Draney]

Abrey wrote:
>
> Your memory is good. Ted Ziegler was better known to audiences in Montreal for
> an anarchic television show he broadcast on CFCF television in the 60s called
> "Johnny Jellybean", which included such stunts such as a quacking duck, and
> playing the odd marching music from the Spike Milligan (BBC recording) record
> before whacking a large speaker with a baseball bat (sometimes he actually
> played Stan Freberg's radio satire 'Bang Gunleigh, U.S. Marshall Fields', with
> the 'Puffed Grass' commercial, right on the TV, with the camera focussed on that
> speaker!). Sorry, no known tapes or films exist of this TV show. These actors
> and actresses, along with the Farce members, were featured or starred on other
> comedy or variety shows which aired on CBC radio or televison in the 60s or 70s
> ("Zut Alors", e.g.)

By any chance would this be the same Ted Ziegler who was a regular
supporting cast member on "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" in the early
70s?...always thought he (and the rest of the bunch: Billy Van, Peter
Cullen, Murray Langston, etc) was more of a reason to tune in each week
than the people the show was actually named for...when S&C broke up,
most of the ensemble went on to other variety shows of the time like
"The Captain & Tennille" and "Hudson Brothers Razzle-Dazzle Show", but
it was never quite the same....r

--
Infinity must be a very noisy
place with all those parallel
lines crashing together!

[Abrey]

Dear R:

I don't remember the Sonny & Cher hour, for some reason; but it's probably a
good bet that he was on it, because Peter Cullen is one of the names I couldn't
remember that make up the foursome to 'Funny You Should Say That'. (The last
member was a woman, forgot her name, sorry). Ted Zeigler resurfaced in the
Eighties during the big standup comedy boom, and was the manager of 'The Unknown
Comic' (the guy with the paper bag over his head, forget who it was). And I
neglected to mention that The Johnny Jellybean Show was an afternoon CHILDREN'S
show!

Abrey Myers
ab...@aol.com

In article <3A9DB608...@earthlink.net>, R says...

[kentmcg...@gmail.com]

I'm actually too young to remember this in its entirety but my father and his siblings would bring it up on occasion and I have been hunting for a copy since I was a tween just to get the joke... My favourite quote that my brother would say was "An' in case of engine fire, there is no problem, the wings are held on by a special glue and when a fire 'appens my 'copilote'(french accent) just 'as to push a button 'an the wings they fall off!" or something along those lines. If you ever do find a copy of the whole skit please reply to the thread and let me know. I'm dying to know what I missed out on!

[wolfme...@gmail.com]

I HAVE 'TQH FLIGHT 52" ON A CASETTE! Someone has to tell me now what to do with it.
Cheers
Wolf

[tim.l...@gmail.com]

Wolf, did you get this digitized by chance? Has anyone found a digital copy of it?

I would love to get a copy of it.

Tim

[audrey...@gmail.com]

Up load it to you tube............please. :-)
We have been trying to find a lost album for years, please share

[marcfst...@gmail.com]

Has anyone found anything else on this? I remember hearing this comedy off my father's 8-track tape when I was about 7 years old. It was very funny

[pum...@gmail.com]

I remember this routine ....my parents had it on a 33 album and from my understanding it was produce by a couple of amatuers, they worked as air traffic controllers at Dorval Airport. On the B Side there was a skit about the 12 days of christmas that was absolutely hilarious!!!

[pum...@gmail.com]

On a completely different note ....are you the Peter Dougherty who is/was co-owner of McDougherty's Ice Cream on Sherbrooke in Montreal?

[pum...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, February 27, 2001 4:21:17 PM UTC-5, Peter Dougherty wrote:

TQH Btw means ....Trans Quebec Hairlines

[stephen...@gmail.com]

Did this go anywhere? I have been looking for this for years.

[jrober...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, October 3, 2013 2:47:11 AM UTC-4, stephen...@gmail.com wrote:
> Did this go anywhere? I have been looking for this for years.

I found it online in 2005 but I can't seem to track it down anymore. I'll keep looking.

[rangerchr...@gmail.com]

I had the entire skit memorized back in 1980. I performed it for my drama class. The strange thing is I started playing it back in my head and I can still remember it!

Don't forget he has many hours experience in driving his brothers tractor on the farm, "and dis makes a big help in steer da aircraf".

[kem...@gmail.com]

I can digitize it at my audio video studio at a very reasonable price.

Mike
KEMEedia
514-782-3000

On Monday, October 1, 2012 7:28:07 PM UTC-4, wolfme...@gmail.com wrote:

[jrober...@gmail.com]

This is the version I found in 2005. Not quite the way I remember it, but the gist of it is there....

Flight 52

How do you do, ladies and gentle-men. Dis is your capitan, Alphonse St. Ceboire, welcoming you on board Trans Quebec Hairways flight number one to St. Barnabe, St. Elie de Caxton, st Louis de Ha Ha, St Hagaphit and a few other places dat I am not sure of at de moment because I an not sure which way duh wind is blowing. At dis time I would like to introduce you to de other peoples in my crew. My co-pilote is Joseph Carpentier from Chibougamou, Quebec; haldough only 18 years old, he has had many years experience driving his fathers tractor at the farm. Also, the boy was a class 'A' model aircraft champion for de whole region of Chibougamou, and hes make a big help for me in steering de aircraft. Your stewardess is Gigi, who comes to you directement from Chez Manon on the Main Street here in Montreal, where she is famous for mixing dis and dat ting, but mostly for her specialty of a Mae West and a Pepsi on the side. As for me, I have spent many hours on the stimulator at St. Tite, Quebec, and for many years I was the operator of the mini plane ride in Kiddieland at the Parc Belmont amusement park. So you see, ladies and gentle-men, we have a most experienced gang to fly this aircraft. You will excuse me if I do not go back to speak to you personalment, but it happens that I went to a bad place last night and today my stomach she's feel very bad.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, as require by duh Cartierville Flying Club, of which dis airline is a charter member, I would like to call your attention to the safety features which have been provided for your safety and convenience. Dis airplane has four engines, two on each wing, each one independant from de other one. Now, for you peoples who don't understand dos technical terms, dat means if one engine stops, the other tree going to keep us up. However, if two engines stop, my co-pilote will go back and lead you all in one Hail Mary. And, mon dieu and heaven forbid, if three engines stop, Joseph will go back and lead you in one Our Father and as many Hail Marys as possible in the time remaining to us. I could not go back and lead you myself because our automatic pilot is not working and somebody has to steer the plane. Also, ladies and gentlemen, in the event dat prayer is needed, we have on board dis aircraft a fantastic machine. We call it the Tabernacle Automatique and it is guaranteed by the manufacturer for fifty Hail Marys per minute. I am sure you will agree dat dis is nothing less dan fantastic. As an added feature, we have on de dashboard of de cockspit, a medal of St. Christopher and a statue of the Holy Mother. The medal was blessed at the Pope's office in Rome and we got a personal guarantee from Cardinal Spagalli for 300 hours flying or 400 foots up, whichever come first.
One of the main safety features of dis aircraft are the wings. Each one is attached by a special glue so that, in the event of a fire in one of the motors, my co-pilote can press a button in the dash making de whole wing fall away, and preventing the fire from continuing to the cabin. for dos of you who still feel insecure, I would like to assure you dat immediatement after took off, we will circle the Oratoire St. Joseph for two minutes, maximum. However, for a small donation, which can be placed with Gigi, we can make dat five minutes, maximum. At dat time, if you look downwards very hard, you could perhaps see the box dat contains de heart of Frere Andre.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, we are ready to drive to the took-off point, so would you all please distinguish your cigarets and place your seats in de up tight position, and make sure de double lock safety thing is attached to de most hardest part of your body. Tank you and we hope you will enjoy your flight experience with TQH.
"Allo, tower? Dis is capitan Alphonse St. Ceboire of Trans Quebec Hairways requesting information on how to get to de starting point for took-off. Over."
"Right-to, old chap, no need to give me the details of your life. Just the number of your flight will be adequet in the future. You are cleared to active runway 180 and hold until further advised. Wind 10 at 160, squawk 3. Departure at 181.4. Over"
"Allo, tower? I tink I know what's means dat but maybe it would be better all around if I just follow the guy with the yellow tail who just pass by. Uh...and could you tell me what's means dat word, squawk?"
"TQH number 1, just as you wish, old chap. Please advise me when you reach your took-off point, as you put it. Squawk, by the way, means call me when you reach 3000 feet."
"Hokay, mon chum. Tanks to you dat guy with da yellow tail she's gone. It's hokay for me to go now?"
"Right-to, old boy. Give it a try. Pip pip, old chap; have a good trip."
"Merci tower, and me and Joseph says pip pips to you too."
"Hokay, Joseph, flap the wings and trim the hydralic and whatever else it say in da book and make sure tyhe red light is green and dos other tings in front of you is working good."
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is capitan Alphonse St. Ceboire speaking; we just received the permission to took off. Our flying time will be two hours and some minutes, depending on how fast the wind is on our tail. We will be flying at an altitude of 3999 feet. Before we go from the ground, I would ask you peoples to observe Gigi, who will demonstrate the use of the oxygen mask, which will pops from the top of you if needed. Also, should we be forced to land on water, god forbid, there is a rubber raft in the rear of the airplane. In the event the mask pops at you, we would ask that you face the rear and blow out your wind very hard, den put the mask over your nose."
"Tower here.I say, number 1, from what the radar chaps have told me, you have just wiped out the landing lights on the right side of the runway. Please advise, old chap."
"Allo, tower. Uh...I am sorry about dat. Joseph he's forgot to let go of the brake pedal de same time as me. But do not worry, we are going to back up and de next time we are going straight up in the air. Merci."
"Ladies and gentlemen, dis is your capitan speaking, we seen to have a small problem techical. While we are going back to de starting point, Gigi will serve each and every one of you with a complimentary Pepsi at no extra charge. However, we would ask that you return de empty bottles so dat dey will not rattle on the took-off."
"Allo, tower. Dis is TQH number 1 calling you again for de clearance. We are ready to bid you adieu but before we go, could you please tell me the score of de hockey game between Boston and the Montreal Canadiens at de Forum. Over to to. Thank you.
"TQH 1, tower here. Look, old shoe, would you mind terribly removing your aircraft from the active runway immediately? The score, by the by, was Boston 10 Montreal 2."
"Hokay, hokay, tower. We are going. Salute and tank you."
"Calice Joseph, you heard dat? It's not possible dat Canadiens play so bad. I had some good pots on that game too. Oh well, c'est la vie. Dis time, Joseph, don't forget to step off the brake de same time as me, hokay? We are going to put dis sum da bitch up dere on de first shot dis time."
"Ladies and gentlemen, dis is your capitan speaking to you again; we are finally up in the air. Gigi will shortly be passing by you with a large assortment of chocolate bars and shewing gum, at no extra charge, of course. And if you cannot get dat safety ting off the most hardest part of your body, I am sure Gigi will be most happy to asist you. For your entertainment, we have a full-length movie picture entitled Tarazan Plays With His Monkey. And for dos of you in de first class section,we have an added feature entitled How To Make Holy Water For Fun And Profit. Also, you will see how to catch long distance blessing by the Pope. Tank you."
"Hokay, Joseph, you take over and drive the airplane now. After I get Gigi to get me someting for my hungover, I am going to try to catch me some sleep. Follow de compass and de directions I put on de dash."

[tok...@gmail.com]

It was by Montreal Comedian Al Leger.

The flip side had a very funny version of the twelve days of Christmas, and a fake used car dealership.

I too am looking for a copy, so if anyone finds it I'm in for one!!!

[tok...@gmail.com]

The album art:
http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-3144945-1365423201-6105.jpeg

[Jeff Morris]

> The album art:
>
> http://s.pixogs.com/image/R-3144945-1365423201-6105.jpeg

FYI that gives a 403 forbidden message when I try to access it.

[bernard...@gmail.com]

Hello everyone,

I actually have a copy of the Flight 52 skit along with the 12 days of Christmas and the car dealership skits. I was going to transfer it from cassette to mp3 format. I will likely do this over the holidays. I can post a link to it once I have it done.

[mitchel...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, February 27, 2001 4:21:17 PM UTC-5, Peter Dougherty wrote:

[bernard...@gmail.com]

Hello everyone,

I posted earlier that I had a copy of the original recording. I finally found it and converted it to mp3 format. Here is a link to my Dropbox account so that you can finally listen to it for yourselves!

Enjoy!

Bernard

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2hdh62qrbbu0t0m/9TdPUtB61K

[Jeff Morris]

Thanks for posting, it's funnier to hear them than read them.

So this came from an EP or LP of some sort? It's too bad that the album art link posted last month doesn't work.

[clarke...@gmail.com]

Thank you for uploading to your dropbox!!! We have been.looking for the tqh flight skit for a very long time (we had cassette but it has gone missing over the years)
Thank you for taking the time to upload!

[clarke...@gmail.com]

[jrober...@gmail.com]

Great - thanks for this.

[goggles...@gmail.com]

My dad played this for our family when I was about 11 years old. I listened to it over and over the the next night I did the routine for my family. I have been looking for it for years.

I currently do standup and this is the routine that got planted in my head to get me started. Thank you so much for posting!

[collee...@hotmail.com]

Thank you so very much! I've been searching for this for years. It brings back such great memories.

[collee...@hotmail.com]

Thank you so very much. I've been looking for this for years. It brings back such great memories.

[macgillivr...@gmail.com]

Amazing to hear again! Thanks for taking the time to do the mpegs! I had these three on an old reel-to-reel tape and I've been wondering for years how to get at them. No worries now!

[prog...@gmail.com]

I found the vinyl of this last night at my local thrift store

[upnor...@gmail.com]

Over Christmas I found a cache of audio cassettes at my mom's house, including this skit!

I've converted to mp3 and uploaded to Chirbit. The audio volume increases after a few seconds:

http://chirb.it/ryzkz8

This was a favourite of my family in Quebec in the 70's, living on airports for my dad's job.

We always called the skit "Hello Tower" and I had no idea who the artist/performer was until today.

[me2p...@gmail.com]

Hello From Windsor, I used to have Flight 52 on a cassette.... It no longer works. I would love it if I could get a copy from you. where are you located?

[hound...@gmail.com]

I have this, recorded it off cassette and edited it to make it sound a little better. You still need a copy?

[beb...@gmail.com]

Thanks so much for posting your recording. There must also have been another one. I definitely remember the line

Please state your height and position

Well I ham about 5 foots 10 and hin de front of de plane.

[mrsj...@gmail.com]

It's here!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cNIxyDtTZc

[mrsj...@gmail.com]

[mrsj...@gmail.com]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cNIxyDtTZc Here you go.

[denrobe...@gmail.com]

Any way you can post a link again that works or if you know of any youtube or other links, please post. Thnaks

[Master chiun]

On Wednesday, February 28, 2001 at 3:58:05 AM UTC-5, Peter Dougherty wrote:
> Abrey <Abrey_...@newsguy.com> said :
> >Dear Peter:
> >
> >The 78rpm may be a Red Herring. It wasn't unusual for airchecks to be pressed
> >onto 78rpm long after they stopped being commercially available (after 1959 in
> >Canada).
> Didn't know the 78 died before I was born; I though it continued into
> the mid-60s for some reason. My family's 78s are long gone, though.
> > The piece sounds very familiar. It *MAY* have come from the CBC Radio
> >Comedy show called 'Funny You Should Say That', which aired in the late
> >60s-early 70s, with Ted Zeigler, Barry Baldaro, and I forget the other two
> >members.
> Oh, Jeez, that troupe sounds VERY familiar. I remember those two names
> from either a radio or TV show I used to listen to/watch when I was a
> grade schooler (born in 61).
> >The sketch may also have been revived from the Royal Canadian Air
> >Farce's early days on radio, because the gag about the plane landing on separate
> >runways was used in some of their sketches in the 70s and 80s.
> I'm pretty sure it wasn't the Air Farce, although they did one
> *marverous* bit in the early 80s, I think, with the French Air Traffic
> Controller at Mirabel and the British Airways pilot looking for
> landing instructions. This is another recording for which I would
> proverbially give body parts, but it's unlikely that it got published.
> I had a cassette tape of it many years ago, but it's long since
> departed.
> "Bonjour, Anglaise!" "Is that radio interferance or are you speaking
> French?"
> "Go play your Réné Levesque records!"
> >Try this: go to the CBC Radio webpage, and if there is still a link for The
> >Royal Canadian Air Farce, send them an e-mail and ask them if anybody recalls
> >this bit. Canadian comedians who have been around a long time generally are
> >well-versed on historical comedians. They are also in a position to refer it to
> >someone at CBC archives, who may be able to trace it down for you.
> What a splendid idea! Thanks. The Air Farce has their own site
> (airfarce.ca) and I will attempt to contact them via that route. Now
> that I'm "living" on the other side of the border (and I use the term
> guardedly), it's a lot harder to keep in touch with Canadian issues
> and history.
> >One other thought: if the record was actually pressed in the 50s, it may have
> >been legendary CBC radio broadcasters Max Ferguson and Allan McFee, who were not
> >above a little nonsense like this every now and then.
> Now those are names I've not heard in a long time.
> >Good luck in tracking it down.
> Thanks.
> In article <am4o9tg65usiuspq0...@4ax.com>, Peter says...

> If replying by e-mail, please reply to pjd at panix dot com and not the address in the reply-to.
> Cheers!
> Peter Dougherty
> Amatuer Radio: VE3THX /W2

Try this
https://www.google.com/search?q=tqh+flight+52+quebec+humour#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:086dc8fd,vid:2cNIxyDtTZc