By Marion Filler
Candid Camera, the legendary television show that Allen Funt started in the 1950s, ran for 50 years. It’s back for an encore at Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020, this time with son Peter Funt, grandson Danny, and grandniece Katie.
What is its appeal?
“It’s relatability,” says Peter Funt. “The key to what we do is touching a nerve or some thought that people have through their own life experience.”
He describes a few of the little things that drive people crazy, such as tips that are applied to a restaurant bill without asking, or an electronic bar at the parking lot that goes down too quickly for you to pass through.
You can almost see a stunt taking form as he speaks.
“The bigger question,” Funt says, “is can I relate to what I’m seeing when someone else is caught? What might I do in that situation? How do I feel about that thing that’s being talked about or joked about? That’s really the charm of the show.”
Allen Funt (1914-1999) worked at an advertising agency in New York City dreaming up gimmicks for radio shows. While in the army, he used his expertise with a wire recorder (predecessor of a tape recorder) to interview soldiers, which eventually led to a radio show called Candid Microphone in 1947, and then to television.
His son Peter made his first appearance on Candid Camera at age 3 as a shoeshine boy. Later, at 16, he appeared in a memorable stint as a Roman statue that kept dropping its spear until an unsuspecting tourist figured it out.
Then as now, “Smile! You’re on Candid Camera,” is always announced at the end of a stunt, much to the delight of everyone involved.
“For many people, it’s an experience they talk about for decades,” says Funt. “Too many of the copycat shows strike me as too mean-spirited. They are out to show that people are stupid, a gotcha type thing. Well, we just don’t do that.
“I take great pleasure in doing these sequences myself,” continues Funt, who takes credit for thinking up most of them.
The show employs a staff of actors scattered around the country who are called upon to perform certain specific stunts. But many are done by Danny and Katie.
“We are having a ball before a live audience,” says Funt, hinting that a few “surprises” would be in store when Candid Camera comes to Morristown.
The Morristown show, called the L.O.L. Tour, runs for two hours plus a 15 minute intermission, and consists of video, film, and storytelling.
“We try to make it a fast-paced, multimedia experience that combines clips from our film library, some current comedy, some audience surprises, and most of all, some good laughs and good fun.”
Candid Camera’s LOL Tour With Peter Funt comes to Morristown’s Mayo Performing Arts Center at 3 pm on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2020. Tickets: $20-$35. At 100 South St., 973-539-8008.
