Vicki Lawrence Recalls Time She Got Revenge on Tim Conway During 'Carol Burnett Show'
“The Carol Burnett Show” was a television staple in homes across America in the 1960s and 70s. This show brought people to their knees with laughter — and it often did the same to the cast as well.
The adorable Vicki Lawrence got in on the laughter in many sketches, but there was one in particular where she got the goat of her castmate Tim Conway, according to Playbill.
In the sketch, Lawrence played the cranky old mother of Carol Burnett. She was decked out in prosthetics to play the old woman even though Lawrence was only in her 20s at the time.
For one particular sketch, it was key that the cast members keep their cool and remain in character no matter how hard it would be.
In Hollywood comedy, you never break the fourth wall and laugh unless, of course, you can’t help it.
For this particular skit, the characters played by Conway, Burnett, Lawrence and Dick Van Dyke were sitting around playing a board game.
Conway’s character started to tell a meaningful and hilarious monologue about a visit to the circus that has famously become known as “the elephant story.”
While two tapings of the episode would take place before a studio audience, Burnett had implored her cast members not to laugh at Conway no matter how funny the sketch got.
Of course, Burnett was the first one to break the fourth wall as her belly laugh got the better of her with Conway’s role.
For the second taping, Lawrence would get a little revenge.
After seeing some notes about the elephant story that Conway would tell, Lawrence found out the story would be told differently this time around.
While Conway brought the cast to tears of laughter once again with his elephant tale, Lawrence kept a straight face.
Conway continued on, even breaking the fourth wall himself with a laugh that was all his own.
As the cast members regained their composure, Lawrence delivered a line that literally knocked Conway off his feet — but couldn’t be aired on network TV.
You’ll have to watch the clip below to see what she said (Editor’s Note: the clip does contain profanity).
Lawrence proved that as funny as Conway was, she was a step ahead and could be just a tad bit funnier herself.
Kudos to you Vicki! You got Conway, and the results are hysterical.
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