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Humor is key part of playing accordion
By
Lee Benson
Deseret News
columnist
Accordion humor.
Gotta love it.
Mark Cantor plays an Irish style button accordion in a
local band called "Last Night's Fun," and in response to a
recent column about an effort to organize a new accordion club
in Salt Lake City, he sent the following:
"I enjoyed your article, but sadly won't be joining the
Salt Lake Accordion Club. You see, the other day I had my
accordion in the back seat of my car when I stopped at a
mini-mart for a soda. When I returned to the car, I was
horrified to see that someone had smashed out my back window . .
. and left another accordion on the seat."
Wait, he's got more.
"What's the difference between an onion and an accordion?
No one cries when you chop up an accordion."
"What's the difference between a trampoline and an
accordion? You take your shoes off to jump on a trampoline."
"What's the difference between a vacuum cleaner and an
accordion? The position of the dirt bag."
"If you were to drop an accordion and a banjo off the
Empire State Building at the same time, which would hit the
ground first? Who cares?"
"Oxymoron: accordion music."
"Why is an accordion better than a banjo? The accordion
burns longer."
"What's the difference between an accordion player and a
savings bond? The savings bond eventually matures and earns
money."
"How do you get an accordion player off your front porch?
Pay him for the pizza."
"What is the definition of an optimist? An accordion
player with a beeper."
What is the definition of a gentleman? Someone who knows
how to play the accordion, but doesn't."
Mary Finch, an assistant city editor here at the Deseret
News and also a member of "Last Night's Fun" (she plays fiddle),
adds, "By the way, accordions don't play 'Lady of Spain.' People
do."
And so the local accordion revival rolls forward. No
less than 90 people showed up a couple of weeks ago to the
exploratory first accordion club meeting, organized by Salt Lake
resident Jay Todd. Everyone was armed with an accordion and a
sense of humor.
Mandatory requirements, it turned out, for the club.
The second meeting — and yes, this makes it official — is
set for Tuesday, Feb. 18.
One of the new members is 72-year-old Marjorie Stubbs of
Ogden, who has used the new club to help pull her old accordion
out of its case for the first time since her husband, Max, died
four years ago. For 45 years they played beautiful music
together on their accordions, performing at weddings, parties
and receptions. When Max was gone, so was the music. Or so
Marjorie thought.
"The club brought me out of a shell I'd been in since he
passed away," says Marjorie, who also plays piano, organ,
vibraharp, saxophone and marimba. "Our whole life was music
together, and I didn't know if I could ever get the feeling of
music back."
But then came the club.
"Getting together with others who play the same instrument
got me out of my 'what-do-I-do-now?' shell," says Marjorie.
At the club's first meeting, Marjorie and Janet Todd,
Jay's wife, were coaxed by a reporter to play a duet.
Their selection: "Lady of Spain."
And it was no joke.
Lee Benson's column runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and
Friday. Please send e-mail to
benson@desnews.com and
faxes to 801-237-2527.
Link to Deseret News Story:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,455028274,00.html |
