snippet of verse appeared in my mind unbidden and has been driving me crazy all afternoon. it goes something like this:
in the dark behind the stair
can’t find a reference to it anywhere. is it ogden nash or dorothy parker? or a traditional nursery rhyme? did I get the words right?
I think the little man’s name is Yehudi–at least that’s what Frank Brown, the science fiction writer, called him. Do you know what the connection is?
Antigonish
As I was walking up the stair
It’s Fredric Brown, by the way.
The poem was written by that most prolific of all poets, Anon. It goes something like this:
Yesterday, upon the stair
It was 30’s comedian Jerry Collonna who came up with the name “Yehudi” for the little man. Collona was inspired by the name of violinist Yehudi Menuhin, a name Collona found particularly amusing.
Waverly
September 5, 2001, 7:58pm
4
Antigonish By Hughes Mearns
Damn, not quick enough…
Colibri
September 5, 2001, 7:58pm
5
It’s originally from an amateur paly called The Psycho-ed (1910), by the writer and educationalist Hughes Mearns (1875-1965).
As I was walking up the stair
Colibri
September 5, 2001, 8:09pm
7
Damn, you guys are fast
from this site
**Yehudi
Catch-phrase of Jerry Colonna (which see). This originated in a gag involving the violinist Yehudi Menunin and an appearence by him on the Bob Hope radio show, on which Colonna was a supporting player. Wertheim describes the origin of the gag: apparently, Colonna, not knowing who Yehudi was, asked the cast of the radio show, who didnt know either. The search for the mythical Yehudi became a running gag and, eventually a popular song. Yehudi references can be seen in Hollywood Steps Out (where an invisible figure is sitting next to Colonna, and is identified by Jerry as Yehudi), Farm Frolics (an owl says Whos Yehudi?), and Crazy Cruise (Avery/Clampett, 1942), in which an invisible battleship, the S.S. Yehudi, is seen. There is also the Club Yahoodi in Lights Fantastic (Freleng, 1942), which does not have much of anything.
A fairly recent episode of the PBS series Nova, I have been informed, discussed a so-called Project Yehudi from the World War II era involving camouflage schemes for ships, which gives the Crazy Cruise gag an interesting twist.**
My father, a WWII vet, often used “Yehudi” to refer to an unidentified person who had done some piece of mischief (actually done by us kids).
I must apologize for claiming the author was Anon. That was faulty research on my part.
AKAmame
September 6, 2001, 10:19am
9
Or there is the second version I learned at school:
Yesterday upon the stair,
Or there is the second version I learned at school:
Yesterday upon the stair,
That version was originalli in Mad magazine. I posted it yesterday, but soon found it gone. I suspect the Mods were afraid of copyright issues (possibly correctly). Is the mortal that you shouldn’t attribute your quotes?
AKAmame
September 6, 2001, 12:00pm
11
Mad Magazine? You mean the exorbitantly expensive ladies finishing school I attended got it’s syllabus from MAD MAGAZINE???
(Mind you, it was the late '60/early 70’s. 'Spose I should be glad they had a syllabus, not just music and enthusiasm.)
Nyrath
September 6, 2001, 9:18pm
12
The UFO version goes:
I saw a disc up in the air
