Tickling the ivories

[toots3928]

Tickling the ivories in this tough town is rumored to be a dangerous endeavor. What is the towns name and which author famously reintroduced this comical public notice. This town is somewhere in the western united states. Thanks!!!!

[jno]

might have been Down There by David Goodis, filmed as Shoot the Pianist and I think later given the same title itself; but I don't know where it was set.

Try posting this in Quizzes & Puzzles, where people know this sort of thing

[jno]

sorry, Shoot the Piano Player; Tirez sur le Pianiste in French

[toots3928]

thanks anyway

[toots3928]

jno- your answer really put me on the right track. thanks!!!! i got the town now all i need to do is find the author.

[jno]

toots, the original sign was - perhaps just a myth - in an old western town and said 'Please don't shoot the piano player, he's doing his best'. So Goodis may be the author they have in mind.

[toots3928]

was the goodis book a comedy? I'm also coming up with oscar wilde and mark twain. francois truffaut did a movie. Thanks.

[charlatan53]

If this helps, 1n 1882 Oscar Wilde on a tour visited Leadville Colorado to view a sign in a tavern that read "please don't shoot the piano player, he's doing the best he can" To which Wilde wrote a short paper reflecting on the consequences of bad art.

Of course Elton John's album, forgot the songwriter for that track, Wilde sounds more appropriate though.

[charlatan53]

Btw, I think some of the big brained people in here (myself excluded) could potentially ace this thing.

[toots3928]

I knew the city but the author is stumping me. there are so alot of options. I'm also coming up with quentin tarantino. I think I'm sticking with Wilde. still going to do some more research.

[jno]

I think it's the original sign that is comical, not the writer. Wilde saw the original so he didn't really 'reintroduce' it. Goodis wrote his book (non-comic) long afterwards, so that might count as reintroduction, except that he didn't use the name 'Shoot the piano player' originally. The name was revived for the film by Truffaut -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054389/
- and I think the book's name was then changed.

[seizurekitty]

I have created a forum specifically for the Marlboro Outwit the West challenge. Please go there. All of the questions have been created as topics. Feel free to put in what your ideas are even if you don't know the answer. Me personally, I wouldn't just take someone's word for it. I'd take their idea and then research it to make certain it is correct.

Go to http://www.carolina-web-design.com

Remember to keep it clean and nice. As long as we don't exceed my 92000mb of bandwidth the site will stay free.