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| Kelsey Little of Cleburne, left, and Kathleen Black of Burleson outside the Ed Sullivan Theater where the “Late Show with David Letterman” is taped. The pair appeared on Wednesday’s show playing piano with their noses. (Courtesy photo) |
Two Johnson County friends appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” on Nov. 12 to perform “Für Elise” on piano during the show’s “Stupid Human Tricks” segment.
Ludwig van Beethoven may have penned the popular tune, but he probably never played it with his nose.
Doing just that earned Kelsey Little of Cleburne — a May Cleburne High School graduate and salutatorian — and Kathleen Black of Burleson a free trip to New York to display their musical virtuosity on national TV.
“I guess it went from the toes to the nose,” Little said, explaining the genesis of the pair’s unique musical technique.
Both claim a long love and history of performing music.
“After church once we were playing music, and I was joking with Kelsey about how I used to play piano with my toes in high school,” Black said. “It made us think of what else we could do that might be funny, and we thought why not noses?”
The Letterman stint occurred through happy accident, Black said. During a September 2007 trip to New York to celebrate her birthday, Black checked the Internet to obtain tickets to the show. That proved impossible, but she noticed the Web site’s link providing information about stupid human tricks. Black e-mailed, outlining her and Little’s Stupid Human Trick and received a response, and request for a DVD, within hours.
“I forgot about it,” Black said. “But wrote again about three or four months ago asking if they were still interested, and they were.”
The pair submitted a tape, received airline tickets and flew to New York on Tuesday.
“Some of the people in the audition had sent their tapes in three or four years ago,” Black said.
Black characterized the trip as awesome.
“They booked the flight,” Black said. “A limo met us at the airport. Everything was taken care of.”
Little, reached Friday at McMurry University in Abilene where she is a freshman, said she still can’t quite believe it.
“For me, the whole experience was surreal,” Little said. “It just happened so fast. It was definitely the experience of a lifetime.”
In addition to appearing on the show, Black and Little took time to take in the Big Apple visiting Times Square, Central Park, Rupert Jee’s Hello Deli — frequently featured on Letterman’s show — and catching a performance of “Chicago” on Broadway.
Both had the chance to briefly visit with Letterman show regulars Paul Shaffer and Biff Henderson as well as actor Jack Black before the show. Dave himself, not so much.
“No, during rehearsals Brian Hall [one of the show’s producers] stands in for Dave’s part,” Black said.
The only time the pair spent with Letterman occurred during taping of the show. Nonetheless, Little said she came away impressed.
“He’s really cool, really tall too,” Little said. “The thing is, he made us really feel at ease on stage. We were so nervous beforehand.”
Unfortunately, Black and Little’s return flight left Friday night, meaning the pair were in the air while they were on the air.
Thankfully, family members made sure to tape the show, Black said.
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