Today's This American Life -

Act One. Take My Break, Please.

Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall were a comedy duo back in the mid-1960s, playing clubs around Los Angeles, when their agent called to tell them he'd landed them the gig of a lifetime: They were going to be on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The only problem was that their performance was a total fiasco, for a bunch of reasons, including one they never saw coming. David Segal of the Washington Post reports. (18 minutes)

Spoiler: Air-date 2/9/64. The routine sounded funny to me, anyway.

Incidentally, why don't I have this?