Marie Osmond Goes Dada

Marie Osmond was co-host, with Jack Palance, of the American TV show Ripley’s Believe It Or Not from 1984 to 86. In the show, little topic clusters (like “weird language”) were introduced by one of the hosts. In this case, the frame was Cabaret Voltaire. Marie was required to read Hugo Ball’s 1916 sound poem ‘Karawane’ and a few script lines. Much to everybody’s surprise, as they started filming she looked away from the cue cards directly to camera and recited, by memory, ‘Karawane’.