No, we didn’t mean to write “bassoon,” although that certainly would make a lot more sense. But like he’s been doing for years, Paul Reubens proved that just about anything is possible. As a guest on The Tonight Show, he pioneered the art of played the balloon as a musical instrument.
Jimmy Fallon was talking with Reubens about his new Netflix original movie Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, in which Pee-wee plays the balloon as an instrument at one point. Well, it turns out Reubens actually learned how to do it. Reubens revealed that he did that gag in his Broadway production The Pee-wee Herman Show, so it’s not exactly a new concept to him, but that makes it no less impressive.
Naturally, Fallon conveniently had an inflated balloon under his desk, so Reubens grabbed it and did his thing. The balloon wasn’t specialized for this task; it wasn’t just a set of rubber bagpipes or something like that. It was a straight-up birthday party balloon, and Pee-wee had complete domain over it.
After playing what could technically be called an original composition, he challenged Fallon and the audience to figure out what song he was playing next. Supreme credit to The Roots where it’s due: After just a few notes, the band picked up on what he was playing and joined in, revealing that it was “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
Have you watched Pee-wee’s Big Holiday yet? Let us know in the comments what you thought of it if you have. We sure did enjoy it.
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HT: Laughing Squid
