The Gay Canon

One of the dishiest theatrical reads ever was James Kirkwood, Jr.'s Diary of a Mad Playwright, about Kirkwood's experience with his play Legends. The play toured the country, but never made it to Broadway. The reasons why make for quite a tale, and don't exactly do Mary Martin any favors in the reputation department. Carol Channing comes off slightly better, but as with all fascinating failures, Legends has enough blame to spread around to everyone involved.

Carol Channing is not of this earth. She is wholly and decidedly of another existence. Her dancing alone in this clip from a 1985 version of "Alice in Wonderland" will make you question the very foundation of your consciousness. And remember: "Jam tomorrow, jam yesterday, but never jam today."

The set-up here is cheesy and forced, but the payoff is more than worth the wait.