Clapper Caper

[William George Ferguson]

Since a (relatively) large number of people have either adopted my term,
or come up with it independently, I thought I'd post the original from
which I derived the term (especially since anyone very much under 50
won't have seen it live like I did).

The origin was a sketch done on the Tonight Show in 1968, with Jack Webb
playing Joe Friday, and Johnny Carson playing the victim he's taking a
statement from.

The Copper Clapper Caper

Joe Friday: "This is the city. Los Angeles, California. I work here...
I'm a cop."

"It was Tuesday, February 9. It was raining in Los Angeles. We were
working robbery. Some people rob for pleasure. Some people rob
because it's there. You never know. I was working the day watch out of
robbery when I got a call from the Acme School Bell Company."

Victim: "There's been a robbery."
Friday: "Yes sir! What was it?"
Victim: "My clappers!"
Friday: "Your clappers?"
Victim: "Yeah, you know those things inside a bell that makes them
clang."
Friday: "The clangers?"
Victim: "That's right! We call them the clappers in the business."
Friday: "A clapper caper."
Victim: "What's that?"
Friday: "Nothing sir! Now can I have the facts? What kinds of clappers
were stolen on this clapper caper?"
Victim: "They were copper clappers!"
Friday: "And where were they kept?"
Victim:" In the closet!"
Friday: "Uh huh, do you have any ideas who might have taken your
copper clappers from the closet?"
Victim: "Well , I fired a man and he swore he'd get even!"
Friday: "What was his name?"
Victim: "Claude Cooper!"
Friday: "You think it was him then?"
Victim: " That's right! I think Claude Cooper copped my copper clappers
kept in a closet."
Friday: " You know where this Claude Cooper is from?"
Victim: "Yep! Cleveland."
Friday: "That figures!"
Victim: "What makes it worse is that they were clean!"
Friday: "Clean copper clappers? Why do you think that Claude Cooper would
cop your clean copper clappers kept in your closet?"
Victim: "Only one reason!"
Friday: "What's that?"
Victim: "He's a kleptomaniac."
Friday: "Who first discovered the copper clappers were copped?"
Victim: "My cleaning woman Clara Clifford!"
Friday: "That figures! Now let me see if I got the facts straight here?
Cleaning woman Clara Clifford discovered your clean copper clappers kept
in a closet were copped by Claude Cooper a kleptomaniac from Cleveland.
Now is that about it?"
Victim: "One more thing. If I ever catch kleptomaniac Claude Cooper from
Cleveland who copped my clean copper clappers from the closet."
Friday: "Yes?"
Victim: "I'll clobber him!"

[AngLT97]

Thanks for posting this. It was before my time, but it was sure fun to read.

[Dallas Stars!]

Post by AngLT97
Thanks for posting this. It was before my time, but it was sure fun to read.

...and a hoot to try and say aloud five times fast!

~t

[Wayne Brown]

Post by William George Ferguson
Since a (relatively) large number of people have either adopted my term,
or come up with it independently, I thought I'd post the original from
which I derived the term (especially since anyone very much under 50
won't have seen it live like I did).
The origin was a sketch done on the Tonight Show in 1968, with Jack Webb
playing Joe Friday, and Johnny Carson playing the victim he's taking a
statement from.

Thanks for posting this. It's been a _long_ time since I saw it!

I'm 48 (almost 49), and was just a kid when this was on the air. At the
time Carson was still doing the 90-minute show from New York and I was in
the Eastern time zone, so it was on from 11:30 pm to 1:00 am. My parents
wouldn't let me stay up late enough to watch it, so every night I would
wait till they went to bed, then sneak down the hall to the living room.
I'd sit on the floor in front of the TV, in the dark, with the volume
_very_ low so they wouldn't hear it. The element of "danger" made it
that much more fun, and it also was fun the next day being the only
kid at school who knew the jokes Carson and his guests told. (I used
to be able to do David Steinberg's whole standard routine from memory,
and I had a bit of a crush on the lovely E.J. Peaker. Sigh. :-)

[Rob Jensen]

Post by William George Ferguson
The Copper Clapper Caper

Clever.

-- Clob Clensen
-----------------------------------------
LORELAI: In the movie, only boy hobbits travel to Mount Doom, but that's only
because the girls went to do something even more dangerous.
GIRL: What?
LORELAI: Have you ever heard of a Brazilian Bikini Wax?