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Scene 12: Amusement Arcade; 1958.
( A wall of mirror appears in the background
as a slide tells us it is now 1958. A disheveled
young Teddy Boy complains to an unimpressed
Cousin Kevin, who is filing his nails.)
Pinball Wizard
First Local Lad
Ever since I was a young boy,
I've played the silver ball.
From the Soho down to Brighton,
I must have played them all.
But I ain't seen nothing like him
In any amusement hall.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!
(A second Teddy Boy stumbles on,
clearly another local champion)
Second Local Lad
He stands like a statue
Becomes part of the machine.
Feeling all the bumpers,
Always playing clean.
He plays by intuition;
The digit counters fall,
The deaf, dumb and blind kid…
The Two Lads:
…Sure play a mean pinball!
( The rest of the arcade assembles around
them, complete with funhouse mirrors and
several pinball machines played by the
local lads and lasses. Cousin Kevin's
popularity clearly rests on the unseen
Tommy's status as local legend.)
Cousin Kevin & The Two Local Lads:
He's a pinball wizard.
There has to be a twist.
A pinball wizard,
S'got such a supple wrist.
First Local Lad:
How do you think he does it?
Second Lad:
I don't know.
First Local Lad:
What makes him so good?
Cousin Kevin:
He ain't got no distractions;
Can't hear those buzzers and bells.
Don't see no lights a-flashin';
He plays by sense of smell.
He always get a replay,
'N never tilts at all.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid …
Cousin Kevin & Two Lads:
….Sure plays a mean pinball!
The Two Lads:
I thought I was
The Bally table king…
Local Lads:
…But I just handed
My pinball crown to him.
Local Lasses:
How do you think he does it?
First Local Lad:
I don't know.
Local Lasses:
What makes him so good?
First Local Lad:
Even at my favorite table,
He can beat my best.
Second Local Lad:
The kids all lead him in
And he just does the rest.
Cousin Kevin:
He's got crazy flipper fingers;
Never seen him fall.
That deaf, dumb and blind kid…
All:
….Sure plays a mean pinball!
(Riding in on a pinball machine, a teenage
Tommy - our Narrator - appears to the
delight of the Arcade.)
Cousin Kevin & Lads:
Even at my favorite table,
He can beat my best.
The kids all lead him in
And he just does the rest.
He's got crazy flipper fingers;
Never seen him fall…
That deaf, dumb and blind kid…
All:
…Sure plays a mean pinball!!!!
(Sirens wail, lights flash, bells ring as Tommy
runs up an astronomical score,
and the curtain comes down.)
