I love it Fran. Reminds me of the shot I made for Dennis Miller and his late night TV show. It was to be shown in the opening segment of the show when the music for "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was played. They had six cue balls painted to all look like planet Earth and they wanted me to make all six in the six pockets. We all know this shot. The problem was they were using a prop table with a plywood bed. The balls would roll all over the place since the table was so out of level. I practiced it several times and usually could make three or maybe four balls, but never all six. I was being paid 500 to make this shot and I told the director why it was so difficult on this table. He told me he could cut in several takes so it looks like I made all six balls in one shot. Then he pipes up that if I can make all six in the same shot he will pay me an extra 500! Bingo, the light went off in my head. I took one practice shot and slammed the balls with all my might. Five balls went in! I told the director I was ready and now we were taping. On the very next try I made all six balls and he asked me to do it again. It took me a couple more tries and I made it a second time. I realized that by hitting the shot at warp speed they had no chance to roll off. They literally flew into the pockets!
We were done and now Dennis took my precious Josey cue and did the opening, where they would cut to me making the shot (you only see the balls on camera). After they go in Dennis is supposed to throw the cue gently on the table in triumph. But oh no, Dennis throws my cue across the table hard where it bounces off the end rail and slides across the concrete floor. I was pissed! I grabbed the cue (luckily undamaged) and told them he was not using my cue again. No matter, they used that one take in the opening that aired a few hundred times over the course of his show's run. Dennis was a very nice guy and we chatted away during breaks, he even inviting me to visit him at his home in Santa Barbara where he had a pool table. That's 25 years ago and I have yet to take him up on his offer.
