Phil Harris and Dennis Day roast Jack Benny.

[TheSportsmenQuartet]

Not sure if this has been posted yet:

Phil Harris: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNec4FargQ4

Dennis Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGbnYgkWbhY

This is great. Watch the Phil Harris clip first.

[shimp scrampi]

Great clips! I especially like seeing Phil and Jack interact - we're so used to hearing it on radio but there's so little video of Phil with Jack compared to most of the rest of the cast.

[Jack Benny]

I love how floored everyone is that Dennis could quickly put together such a funny bit that riffs off of much of what Phil had to say, but adds so much humor to each situation. I think he really impressed a room full of the best comedians in history and that is hard to do!

[Moose Hatrack]

Been a while since I played it, but I liked how Dennis stuck to his radio character. Weren't there calls for him to drop the innocent kid shtick from the crowd? (or maybe the dias?) It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Milt and/or one of the other still-active writers penned at least Phil and Dennis' gags, maybe the whole show.

[Yhtapmys]

Been a while since I played it, but I liked how Dennis stuck to his radio character. Weren't there calls for him to drop the innocent kid shtick from the crowd? (or maybe the dias?) It wouldn't surprise me to learn that Milt and/or one of the other still-active writers penned at least Phil and Dennis' gags, maybe the whole show.

If anyone was ad-libbing, it was Jack, and he would have been advance copies of the text of all the remarks to prepare, and thus avoid looking foolish or drawing a blank on camera.

There's no way Dennis just suddenly picked up on Phil's comments. It was all scripted. That's Hollywood. And in the true spirit of a running gag on Jack's show.

Yhtapmys

[Moose Hatrack]

In that clip George Burns pointed to his mic and asked something like, "I suppose these mics are here in case we want to ad lib?" Somebody answers yes, and George comes back with "OK I will" I think I heard him use that one on another roast.
The director would never have been able to call the shots if there was no script. It's not like a sports program where all the camera operators have a ball to follow. There was probably iso tape rolling on individual cameras for post production insurance, but it's cheaper and safer to call the shots "live" from a script rather than hope for the best.
One line I'm not sure of was Phil Harris saying "Beautiful" during Dennis' speech. I'd like to think Phil was spontaneoulsy complimenting Dennis' time honored delivery, but who knows? He may have said it in rehearsal and somebody said, keep it.
I remember a "documentary" about Mystery Science Theater when it was at its zenith. Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo voice and puppeteer) was asked if the show was all ad-lib. Murphy answered that no, it would have been a trainwreck if they all started pitching at once. All show biz. Even the nightly news!

[GrassReek]

Link is gone! Copyright issues... Was this a TV roast? A private event? Radio roast?

[Moose Hatrack]

It was either a Dean Martin roast or along the lines of a Dean Martin roast... can't remember!

[GrassReek]

AHA!! Looks like the clips have been reposted on You Tube. Am looking at them now... Just search for Jack Benny Roast and you will find a bunch of clips!

[Jack Benny]

They are from the Friar's club roasts that were recently released.

Here is a link to the set.
http://www.classicfriarsroasts.com/FriarsRoastsJackBenny.php