Talk Show Guest
Kann's first appearance on The Tonight Show was June 8, 1966. He had been booked to discuss some of the prized carpet sweepers from his 150-item collection. "I planned on showing the vacuums as a kind of historical demonstration. I had no idea what it would turn into," Kann told a reporter for the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Once Kann began demonstrating the sweepers on air, parts began to fall off the vacuum cleaners at inopportune moments. Tonight Show host Johnny Carson saved the situation with humorous ad libs, and Kann was invited to make 76 additional appearances on The Tonight Show.
Kann had been introduced to Carson through Phyllis Diller. He met Diller when she made a guest appearance on The Charlotte Peters Show, a local St. Louis television program. Kann served as musical director and co-host on the show, and Diller was impressed by Kann's wit. "When she saw my vacuum (collection) she said, 'I'm going to call the Carson show, cause you're nuts,'" Kann said in an Associated Press interview.
Kann also made 89 appearances on The Mike Douglas Show and was a guest on talk shows hosted by Merv Griffin and Gypsy Rose Lee.
Read more about this topic: Stan Kann
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