Playing 2nd kazoo with PDQ Bach and the National Symphony in the Kennedy Center concert hall was a truly amazing experience.    He sure does have a great dry sense of humor--on or offstage.

And they gave me a contract (admittedly all the verbiage about the Kennedy Center having exclusive rights to my services in the area, in preference to any other venue which might be salivating at the prospect of getting my expertise, was crossed out. )    But they did pay me $100.    I can't recall what the arrangement with the musicians union was, but I was listed as a guest soloist.    Maybe if you're a guest soloist you don't have to be in the union.   I meant to frame the contract but forgot to do it.   But it's somewhere in the house.

And they gave me a fancy kazoo for the occasion.

It must have been really something to see when 180 choristers in bathrobes and carrying toothbrushes came on stage at the Concert Hall As a guest soloist, I unfortunately had to wear a tuxedo.   But that sacrifice was worth it--to put it mildly.