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Billy Joel Makes Surprise Appearance On Stage With Igudesman & Joo At Carnegie Hall

Igudesmen & Joo, the classical comedy team, brought many surprises to their Carnegie Hall engagement on Tuesday night, billed as “IGUDESMAN & JOO: A Little Nightmare Music.” The classically trained modern virtuosos mix classical and contemporary music with hilarious onstage antics, reminiscent of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, with a little inspiration from the great Victor Borge tossed in for good measure.

Popular virtuoso violinist, Joshua Bell, and “Piano Man” Billy Joel each played a surprise role in the Nightmare’s musical mayhem. Billy erupted from his seat at Carnegie Hall to interrupt I&J in their purposely over-the-top rendition of his classic song “Baby Grand,” which was originally recorded with Ray Charles. Billy stormed the stage, yelling from the aisles, “Stop, stop!” He ordered an enormous concert grand Steinway, which was immediately rolled from the wings into position alongside Joo’s smaller instrument, as The Piano Man proceeded to demonstrate the correct lyrical phrasing and nuance of “Baby Grand” with all its intended soulfulness vs. the purposely overblown operatic catastrophe that was being perpetrated by I&J with uproarious effect. Please enjoy this fan video, shot on a cell phone (we’re guessing) and excuse the poor quality knowing our fan cameraperson could not stop laughing while getting the shot. Stay tuned and keep your fan videos coming to BillyJoel.com.

Here is a news report from CBS This Morning: