Mark J. Price: ‘Heeeere’s Johnny!’ Reader recalls ‘Tonight Show’ host at Kent State

Hi-yooo!

As Beacon Journal readers continue to share some of their favorite memories, Akron attorney Charles Zindle, 79, recalls two words:

“Heeeere’s Johnny!”

He and his brother, Jerry, were roommates at Kent State University when they plunked down $3 apiece to see Johnny Carson perform Feb. 3, 1968, in Memorial Gymnasium.

The host of “The Tonight Show,” who averaged 10 million viewers each weeknight on NBC, played to smaller audiences — a combined 14,000 fans — for two performances at 7 and 10 p.m. in Kent.

“We were laughing so hard it hurt,” Zindle said.

Carson, 42, headlined a bill featuring bandleader Doc Severinsen and a 12-piece orchestra, singer Phyllis McGuire and dancers Bud and Cece Robinson. The shows were done in the round, meaning the acts performed at the center of the basketball court.

The Zindle brothers and their dates claimed “the best seats in the house” in the third row of the bleachers.

Ed McMahon wasn’t present, but an announcer still managed the trademark introduction: “Heeeere’s Johnny!”

The crowd went crazy as Carson strode out onto the floor in a suit jacket with a turtleneck. He grabbed a microphone, stood in front of the Zindles and launched an hourlong routine.

“Who laid out the parking system here?” Carson wondered. “The Marx Brothers?” I almost had to park in Cleveland.”

Carson touched on such topics as TV commercials, hospital stays, flight attendants, hotel maids, President Lyndon B. Johnson and birth control.

“I’m the greatest contribution since The Pill,” Carson joked.

Zindle’s favorite segment was a sketch titled “Deputy John’s Fun Club After the Friday Night Bash.” Carson played a tipsy, rumpled host of a Saturday children’s television program. The character grew increasingly frustrated over lighting and sound issues, but the off-camera crew couldn’t help.

It just so happened that the Zindle brothers were big fans of Ron Penfound, who played the title character on “The Captain Penny Show” at noon on Cleveland’s WEWS-TV (Channel 5).

“At lunchtime, we’d gather and watch Captain Penny,” he said.

Their favorite part of the TV show was the amusing banter between Penfound and his off-camera crew. The mature jokes probably flew over the heads of children but the Kent State students laughed.

And here was Carson doing a similar shtick.

“It was like he had seen Ron Penfound do Captain Penny, but of course he didn’t,” Zindle said.

The audience howled. Everyone left happy that night — including Carson.

“You could tell he enjoyed what he was doing,” Zindle recalled.

The show may have been the best $3 that he ever spent. Incidentally, $3 in 1968 would amount to over $25 today.

Zindle’s brother Jerry was drafted in March 1968 just a month after the Carson appearance. He left for Vietnam in the spring of 1969.

Army Pfc. Jerome P. Zindle was killed in action June 22, 1969, in the Mekong Delta at age 24.

His older brother cherishes the memory of the night they laughed together in the presence of Johnny Carson.

“I’ll always remember that until I die,” Zindle said.

Things I’ll never understand

● Why do Ohio teenagers wear shorts in the winter and knitted caps in the summer?

● What’s the quickest way to get to Barberton from Akron?

● Why do some people talk on cellphones in restrooms?

● What’s the deal with roundabouts?

● Why on earth hasn’t Plain Township changed its name?

● What’s the difference between short, tall, grande and venti?

● Does Dayton lead to Marion?

● If it took only 38 months to build the 241-mile Ohio Turnpike, why is the Akron Expressway always under construction?

● What the heck are non-fungible tokens and blockchains?

● Who let the dogs out?

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: ‘Heeeere’s Johnny!’ Reader recalls ‘Tonight Show’ host at Kent State