Bob Newhart's new book

[comedybrad]

In Bob Newhart's recently released book, "I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!" he recounts seeing Jack appearing on the bill with Sammy Davis Jr. and pulling off a death-defying piece of comedy...I won't spoil it for you, but it sounds hysterical as Bob describes the mise en scene. And Bob acknowledges that only a MASTER like Benny could have pulled it off. I recommend the book, not only for the references to Jack, but Bob's career stories are well worth the time.

[shimp scrampi]

Thanks for the recommendation comedybrad, I think Bob Newhart might be the closest living comedian we have in spirit and style to Jack. Now I'm really curious about that story!

I'm into posting pictures lately, so here's the perfect excuse to post one of Jack, George, Gracie, and Bob back in the day!

[Gerry O.]

Thanks for the recommendation comedybrad, I think Bob Newhart might be the closest living comedian we have in spirit and style to Jack. Now I'm really curious about that story!

I'm into posting pictures lately, so here's the perfect excuse to post one of Jack, George, Gracie, and Bob back in the day!

I imagine that it must have been a super-thrill for young Newhart to pose with those comedy greats!

Alan King would often talk about his days as a young comedian just starting out, and how exciting it was to be invited to Hillcrest and have lunch with Jack Benny, George Burns, George Jessel, Groucho Marx and the other "big kids".

[shimp scrampi]

Yeah, he really looks like he is on cloud nine in that picture. I would be too!

[Alan]

Thanks from me as well for the recommendation-i will definitely be checking out the book.

I agree w/ Shimp's call on Newhart being "closest" in "spirit"...any others? even if relatively recent?

My Newhart recommendations: re-issues of his classic albums are widely available ("Button-down..." series via Warner Archives...)

Also: Lifetime Tribute from (ballpark) 5 years ago. Hosted by brother "Niles" from "Frasier" TV show. IMO, long and formal, but many fun, funny and informative segments.

[Jhammes]

Louie Anderson's laid back delivery, and laid back reaction to the audience laughter (I remember his Tonight Show appearances, hadn't seen too much of his other stuff) always made me think "he sounds a lot like Jack Benny...looks like Don Wilson, but sounds like Jack Benny."

[shimp scrampi]

When Ellen Degeneres first hit the scene, she was occasionally compared to Bob Newhart. And, thinking about it, she has a really "clean" self-deprecating persona that is very much in line with what Jack Benny established.

[Roman]

I see comedians and comic actors basically falling into two categories - the protaganists (instigating the action) and the reactors (responding/reacting to the action. The prototype (and greatest) protaganist comedian was Groucho Marx. Most comedians fall into this category. I'd classify Lucy, Robin Williams, Danny Kaye, Sacha Baron Cohen, Howard Stern, John (and Jim) Belushi, Alan Alda, Jim Carrey, and Eddie Murphy, among many, many others, in this category.

Jack is obviously the best example of a reactive comedian. The reactors are a much smaller group but I would put Oliver Hardy, George Burns, Bob Newhart, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, and Jerry Seinfeld as some of the best reactive comic actors. Jackie Gleason was probably one of the few who shined as both a protaganist and as a reactive comedian.

This is obviously a gross oversimplification. After all, some of Jack's funniest work was his tormenting of the Colmans and, even more so, Mel Blanc's various characters. And every great comedian has to have the ability (and timing) to react to the audience and the other actors.

[Roman]

Both Jack and Bob Newhart had a low-key, natural and very human way of speaking to the audience and to the other actors who performed with them. They were the opposite of shtick-driven comedians like Groucho or Robin Williams who are like no person we ever encounter in real life. I've seen a few of Jack's television shows and I was very impressed with the intimacy of Jack's monologues to the audience - it was as though he were talking to you personally. And Bob Newhart, in his stand-up and, especially in the Bob Newhart Show, had a similar style. Besides their realistic and perfectly timed phone conversations, they were both also masters of using hems, haws and stutters to great comic effect.

As to who else was/is most like them, I guess I would have to go with Dick Van Dyke. Bob Hope is also a bit like them but he had a more manic, nervous quality to his comedy, at least in his younger years. And Jerry Seinfeld but he his comedy has a bit too much of the guy who thinks he's smarter/better than you. And neither Jack nor Bob had the bevy of weekly beauties like Jerry did. Of course, Rob had Mary Tyler Moore who outshined all of Jerry's girlfriends. And Suzanne Pleshette was no slouch either.

[LLeff]

I see comedians and comic actors basically falling into two categories - the protaganists (instigating the action) and the reactors (responding/reacting to the action. The prototype (and greatest) protaganist comedian was Groucho Marx.

True, although watch some of the interactions between Groucho and Chico (classically, "Why a duck?" or the contract scene in "Night at the Opera"), and you'll see that Groucho could play both protagonist and reactor. And in Jack's "Getting to Know You" bit with Gisele MacKenzie, they both did. While comedians have one or the other they play dominantly, I think the real masters are able to play both sides with equal dexterity.