This is one of those things that…well, I can't explain why it's funny but it just is. Some things just are. This is the Nairobi Trio, an immortal creation of the late Ernie Kovacs. I always felt Mr. Kovacs received too much credit for his visual, pantomime gags and not enough for his brilliance as a plain, old-fashioned talking comedian. But his ape-faced chamber group deserves as much of a rave as anyone can heap upon it.
Allegedly, one of the persons in this scene is Ernie himself — reportedly the one in the middle. The one at the piano is supposed to be his spouse, the wonderful Edie Adams. And the performer on the left with the drumsticks is, they say, Jack Lemmon. I do not know if this is true. Apparently, Lemmon said on some talk show or somewhere that he'd played the part…but Kovacs repeated this routine a number of times and this is just the most-often-seen videotape of it. Assuming Mr. Lemmon did speak of performing in the Nairobi Trio, was he in it every time it was performed? Jack Lemmon was a busy man in Hollywood and Mr. Kovacs occasionally did shows from New York.
We may never know. We may just have to write it off as one of the great mysteries in life, including the Sphinx, the murder of the Black Dahlia, and why Will Ferrell has a career. And so, to the lilting strains of "Solfeggio," I give you the Nairobi Trio…