Question about ad libs

[jim aka jtigre99]

I have always wondered since I read in Dreamgirl where Mary said that Flo was such a natural comedienne that she ad libbed some hysterically funny lines such as during the time she was introduced as the quiet one and she retorts "that's what she thinks" or during "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" when she says "Give me that Gold and I'll Do My Own Shopping" or replying to Diana that "THin may be in but fat is where it's at". Also Flo is credited with the phrase "Honey, we is terrific". My questions are they must have been spoken during concerts because I have only seen Flo do the "gold" line [[which I never found all that funny) on Ed Sullivan and I have seen Cindy do the thin line and Mary was the one who said "Honey, we is terrific" during TCB. That one always made me question, if Flo ad libbed or said that phrase how did the writers for their first major TV show include what she said into a written script for this major achievement. Why would they even think of including it? Would Diana or Mary have suggested it? It seems odd that this phrase would be incorporated in their special if it had not been part of their show prior or written specifically for the show. Does anyone know?

[Spreadinglove21]

I suspect it's a mixture. Some scripted and some ad-libbed within the confines of the script. Good example would be the patter/banter of Can't Take My eyes off of you comparing the versions on the Mary Wilson Anthology and Farewell. Some parts were the same [[brought to you at a great expense...) while others were likely ad libbed based on what was occurring at the show [[Diana "scolding" Mary for going after that man). But for TV I don't think there was any ad libbing, especially for TC--they stuck to script as the purpose of those performances were to promote the night club act.

[reese]

I have always wondered since I read in Dreamgirl where Mary said that Flo was such a natural comedienne that she ad libbed some hysterically funny lines such as during the time she was introduced as the quiet one and she retorts "that's what she thinks" or during "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" when she says "Give me that Gold and I'll Do My Own Shopping" or replying to Diana that "THin may be in but fat is where it's at". Also Flo is credited with the phrase "Honey, we is terrific". My questions are they must have been spoken during concerts because I have only seen Flo do the "gold" line [[which I never found all that funny) on Ed Sullivan...

I don't find the lines all that hilarious, especially not on paper. It was Flo's delivery that put them over. Flo's reading of "Thin my be in but fat is where it's at" is miles ahead of Cindy's done just a few years later, IMO.

But I'm sure Flo's delivery differed from night to night as well, which is to be expected. On the 1965 Copa album, Flo's reading of "Wait a minute honey. I don't know about all that!" was cute. But her reading during the 1967 Copa show captured on audio seems forced.

[sup_fan]

what is definitely not true is the idea of Flo suddenly making up these lines during opening night at the Copa. if you listen to You're Nobody from the Motown Revue in Paris, they're doing a version of the skit there too. it could be possible they decided to cut the lines to "polish" the act up for the Copa but i doubt that. they rehearsed the show so that these lines appeared spontaneous and ad lib.

Flo did vary the lines some. sometimes doing the "now i don't know about that!" or the "give me that gold!"

As for Cindy doing the Fat line, i agree the Flo's delivery was stronger. they should have just come up with new lines or routine.

[BayouMotownMan]

what is definitely not true is the idea of Flo suddenly making up these lines during opening night at the Copa. if you listen to You're Nobody from the Motown Revue in Paris, they're doing a version of the skit there too. it could be possible they decided to cut the lines to "polish" the act up for the Copa but i doubt that. they rehearsed the show so that these lines appeared spontaneous and ad lib.

Flo did vary the lines some. sometimes doing the "now i don't know about that!" or the "give me that gold!"

As for Cindy doing the Fat line, i agree the Flo's delivery was stronger. they should have just come up with new lines or routine.

They eventully did totally re-do the show when Jean joined. At one point when Cindy and Mary seemed to disagree on introducing Jean to the audience, Cindy quipped, "Uh uh, Mary, you ain't gettin' rid of me too." That always brought the house down.

Scherrie sometimes took comedic privileges as well. I think it was her first Magic Mountain appearance where the ladies pick on each other about their age. Mary told the crowd she was at Scherrie's house looking through her record collections, "and I found 78s, remember 78s?" Typically Scherrie would just shake her head as the audience laughed but one night she retorted, "Girl, the only 78 I know is your hip size."

[sup_fan]

They eventully did totally re-do the show when Jean joined. At one point when Cindy and Mary seemed to disagree on introducing Jean to the audience, Cindy quipped, "Uh uh, Mary, you ain't gettin' rid of me too." That always brought the house down.

Scherrie sometimes took comedic privileges as well. I think it was her first Magic Mountain appearance where the ladies pick on each other about their age. Mary told the crowd she was at Scherrie's house looking through her record collections, "and I found 78s, remember 78s?" Typically Scherrie would just shake her head as the audience laughed but one night she retorted, "Girl, the only 78 I know is your hip size."

hahaha that's a great one

of course the ultimate of ad libs would be the unedited Farewell shows! from what Deke shared, Mary was really on fire. I'd guess maybe some of the things were planned and some less so.

[marybrewster]

Some of these "ad libs" are flat and embarrassing. Cindy's "fat" line is so out of character. I also want never a fan of Mary's "tax return" line from "Mercedes Benz" [[You need one, honey) - makes no sense, as well as her talking about how dirty the Detroit River still is from LIVE IN JAPAN.

[sup_fan]

i liked the "Once upon a time..." intro to the medleys, even mary's comment about the polluted Detroit River. i only heard that comment on the japan set and maybe the language barrier didn't allow it to translate to the audience

i also thought the Love The One You're With banter was very fun. Loved jean talking about some sugar daddy slipping in the back door [[if only she knew her double entendre lol)

the expanded ad libs the original line up did with Queen of the House and You're Nobody were quite fun. same with the Group Introductions "that's not your real voice! they don't know the difference lol!"

Our conductor drinks/sex maniac was funny in the 60s shows. Mary did it in the 70s and i can't tell if it wasn't funny because i'd already heard it or if it just didn't work any longer.

[jim aka jtigre99]

I always wondered because Mary stated they were ad libs by Flo, yet they sounded very much like they were still very much scripted. Mary stated that Flo was the one who coined the phrase "Honey, we is terrific" and it made me wonder how it ended up as part of TCB. Was it something suggested by Mary or Diana? Or was it something Mary said to promote Florence and her legacy even if it wasn't true much like the label no-hit Supremes?

[sup_fan]

I always wondered because Mary stated they were ad libs by Flo, yet they sounded very much like they were still very much scripted. Mary stated that Flo was the one who coined the phrase "Honey, we is terrific" and it made me wonder how it ended up as part of TCB. Was it something suggested by Mary or Diana? Or was it something Mary said to promote Florence and her legacy even if it wasn't true much like the label no-hit Supremes?

i doubt mary was doing much to promote Flo during the DRATS era. i wouldn't be surprised if it had been worked into the script at some point earlier. the live albums were of course heavily edited with much of the stage patter cut. the Honey line probably wasn't during a song [[like the lines in You're Nobody) so it could have been in their monologues. we only have a few shows even today

Also the old group introductions with Flo being the quiet one and Mary being the sexy one and Diana the intelligent/skinny one was, i guess, dropped with the group change. i don't know that they ever did the routine with Cindy as the quiet one. i don't think on the TOTT lp there's a "group introductions" section. been a while since i watched those Europe shows from this time too, but again i don't recall an introductions section.

[reese]

Also the old group introductions with Flo being the quiet one and Mary being the sexy one and Diana the intelligent/skinny one was, i guess, dropped with the group change. i don't know that they ever did the routine with Cindy as the quiet one. i don't think on the TOTT lp there's a "group introductions" section. been a while since i watched those Europe shows from this time too, but again i don't recall an introductions section.

I figured they dropped the group introductions once Cindy joined since they didn't really need them anymore? There aren't any on the TOTT album or in the Sweden and Amsterdam concerts from 1968. They did it for TCB but probably because it was a tv special and the Tempts were doing a group intro as well.

[bradsupremes]

i doubt mary was doing much to promote Flo during the DRATS era. i wouldn't be surprised if it had been worked into the script at some point earlier. the live albums were of course heavily edited with much of the stage patter cut. the Honey line probably wasn't during a song [[like the lines in You're Nobody) so it could have been in their monologues. we only have a few shows even today

Also the old group introductions with Flo being the quiet one and Mary being the sexy one and Diana the intelligent/skinny one was, i guess, dropped with the group change. i don't know that they ever did the routine with Cindy as the quiet one. i don't think on the TOTT lp there's a "group introductions" section. been a while since i watched those Europe shows from this time too, but again i don't recall an introductions section.

Group introductions were dropped when Flo was fired. They were trying to make the Flo/Cindy transition as seamless as possible and pointing out Cindy during the introductions would have put light on "Hey, Flo isn't here anymore."

Mary once said it was Diana who came up with calling her "the sexy one." If you listen to the Opening Medley cut from the Join The Temptations album when the Temptations are asking about the girls, Eddie says "the shy one, the real sexy one" and Melvin chimes in "Yeah and the skinny one too!" Cindy must have been given the "shy one" term although I never heard it anyplace else.

[sup_fan]

on the bootlegs for the Jean era shows, i'm not sure they did intros either. it is on Japan as they used the Tossin to introduce the band. and they added themselves too

i don't recall them doing this on O Happy Day previously.

As for 70s ad libs, they seemed to stick to the script then too. Jean's welcome monologue, Mary's bit on men being her fav things. then of course the women lib and the Once upon a time.