They were only on TV once, but the performance (a solo by Karl) is legendary, and did as much as other appearances to solidify their reputation as forward-looking comic geniuses.

All three Onion Brothers grew up in central Wisconsin, isolated from external influences that would have perverted the development of their ground-breaking, radical humor, in a small town where there was no TV studio — but some 16 miles away is the town of Marshfield (so named because it’s located in a field between Weedy Marsh and Bubbly Marsh), which did have a TV station.

Remember, this was in the 1970’s, and back then, some TV stations only broadcast a few hours a day. Such was MFTV, with their most (and to be perfectly honest, only) popular show “The Morning Marsh” and their unforgettable tag line “We’re Marshing Towards Entertainment for You!”

The circumstances are unclear, but as legend has it, Karl’s 18-y.o. uncle, younger than he was, was shtupping the hostess of “The Morning Marsh” and promised her that Karl was a great cook and would do a great cooking segment. She didn’t believe that a boy could cook, but somehow Rob convinced her.

Karl, dressed in a conservative blue suit and bowtie, lugged a blender onto the picnic table that served center stage for the cooking segments. “Is there an outlet for my creativity?” he asked, and when no one responded, found an outlet and plugged the blender in.

After the on-camera introductions, Marylou, the hostess, seemed a little flustered, but winked at him and said, “I hear you’re quite a good cook for a boy. What are you going to prepare for us today?”

Karl: “The death of bourgeois humor.”

Marylou, more flustered: “Ah? … ? ……..Should I chop some parsley?”

Karl didn’t respond, and instead took a large onion, placed it in the blender, and started the blender on “puree.”. I think there must have been a technical glitch, because the camera stayed on the blender for like a minute, only briefly cutting away to Marylou.

Then Karl took the blender and downed its contents in a very long gulp, and started retching.

This time the cameraman was on his toes and cut away to a shot of Marylou.

Legend has it that Karl continued to puke for several minutes after having been carried off stage, all the while muttering “Bob Hope, Bob Hope.”

-R