Tim Conway appears as Lloyd Adams, President of Vortex Industries, in this hilarious clip from “The Carol Burnett Show.” He’s sitting at a desk, giving a speech to a TV audience. “Lloyd” Conway tells audiences that Vortex will be successful in the industrial sector.
The microphone then begins to cut off. Conway masterfully cuts his voice in and out while moving his lips. This creates the appearance of the microphone breaking. The crowd is laughing!
A stagehand crawls on the floor behind the desk to assist Conway with his microphone. He first attempts to manipulate it, and then he pulls out a screwdriver. Static is audible, as Conway continues to talk about the difficulties.
Conway starts to narrate a story, but the production assistant takes away the microphone. Conway’s story is being heard by no one, yet he keeps moving his lips. “Testing 2, 4, this thing is broken,” shouts the stagehand over the mic, and everyone laughs. A new microphone is installed by the stagehand just in time for Conway to deliver the story’s punchline.
Conway then continues to play with the cable, making a dreadful noise. Still lurking behind the desk, the stagehand takes Conway’s hand and pulls him away from the cable. Eventually, the cable snaps as the stagehand strikes Conway’s hand with a hammer.
Toward the end of the act, a stagehand places a lapel mic on Conway, but it keeps falling off owing to a short wire. We hear Conway’s pulse over his speech when the stagehand sets it for the third time. The stagehand inserts Conway’s hand inside his suit jacket to grip the lapel mic and secures it with a staple gun. In anguish, Conway’s face contorts.
He attempts to make a motion with his hand but is unable to do so because of the staples. The stagehand places his own hand on the desk to signal Conway. The crowd erupts in laughter, and Conway is finally poked in the eye. Finally, a stagehand attaches the microphone to Conway’s nostril, and he proceeds to deliver the speech in a comical voice, as if his nose had been clipped shut. Tim Conway is hilarious, and the crowd can be heard laughing throughout the video!