Throw the hat at my foot, and I’ll flip it into the air, and catch it on my head! A very funny clown bit, done by the great Donald O’Connor on The Carol Burnett Show Donald O’Connor and Nancy Wilson – S3:E12.
It’s a funny bit, as Carol first throws it at his foot — and misses. Then she throws it, and he succeeds and catches it on his foot. He then flips it into the air, and nearly catches it on top of his head. So, he throws it out to a member of the audience, and asks them to throw it on his head. And, misses!
Then it goes into a faster and faster rhythm, with different people tossing it and he keeps missing, until finally a kind person just places it on his head. And he takes a bow, to thunderous applause.
Editor’s notes:
- You could limit it to the rule of three.
- You could turn it into a running gag throughout a longer performance, and have the clown come on, either after an act’s finished to try again, or interrupting another skit.
- If doing the running gag, you could also have each attempt use an increasing larger hat, ending with one ridiculously large.