A skit developed by comedian and actor Ernie Kovacs (1/23/19 – 1/13/62) for a number of his US television programs, The Nairobi Trio consisted of three people in gorilla masks and wigs, long coats, and hats. The three portrayed the characters on top of a wind-up, robotic music box.

Mr. Kovacs, himself, was always the middle gorilla, seated on a stool, chomping on a cigar, and conducting the music with a baton or a banana. To his left was a female gorilla, sometimes played by his wife, Edie Adams, seated at a piano, moving her hands up and down on the keys. To his right was a male gorilla, played by a Kovacs friend (Frank Sinatra and Jack Lemmon did it), using a pair of huge timpani mallets.

Multiple times during the music, the drummer would turn and tap out a rhythm on the conductor's head, causing him to do a “slow burn”, becoming increasingly angrier and finally obtaining his payback.

Mr. Kovacs studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1937. After years of amateur acting, he won his first paid job on the radio, in his hometown of Trenton, NJ. Wearing shorts and a barrel to an audition earned him his first television job in January, 1950. He worked in films in the late 1950s until his death in a car accident at age 42.

Mr. Kovacs reported that he got the idea for the Nairobi Trio skit the first time he heard Maxwell’s “Solfeggio”, in 1954. He repeated the skit often, for many TV programs, including his own.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org