A True Comedian

This afternoon I finished a book that my son, Chris, had lent me. The title is: I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! (and Other Things That Strike Me as Funny) by Bob Newhart. Bob is my age, and has been doing stand-up, TV Sit-Coms, movies and Voice-Overs since the 1960's.

Bob's first album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, became the first comedy album to go to #1 on the Bilboard charts. In all, he had a total of eight comedy albums.

I was surprised to learn that he hosted The Tonight Show 87 times!

My family watched every episode of The Bob Newhart Show on TV from 1972 to 1978 and then Newhart from 1982 to 1990. One of the most remarkable TV moments I've ever seen was the final show of Newhart, when Bob wakes up in bed with Emily from The Bob Newhart Show and says that he has had a dream (the Newhart show). I thought that was a classic touch. The idea came from Bob's real wife, Ginnie, in a moment of true genius.

Bob's routines are being resurrected on XM Radio Channel 151 (Laugh USA) and are wonderful to hear again. Especially the one about the discovery of tobacco. Bob says in his book that when he did that bit he was actually a chain smoker. A short time later he quit cold turkey.

Remember some of the characters on Bob's shows?

"Hi, my name is Larry. This is my brother, Darrell. And this is my other brother, Darrell."

Neurotic Mr. Carlin? "I only had one problem this week. Yesterday I was possessed by the devil." Dr. Hartley says: "Okay, go with that, Mr. Carlin."

Wife Emily, who was one of the most beautiful actresses in television, Suzanne Pleshette.

Bob has lots of stories to tell about his friend, Don Rickles. (I didn't know that Don Rickles had any friends. )

Bob talks about other comedians that I want to do more research on:

Joe Frisco, who did the "Jewish Charleston" and is famous for his comedic stutter.

Jimmy Edmundson, who was called Professor Backwards, who was supposed to be a famous tightwad.

W.C. Fields, one of my all-time favorites. His routine as a memory expert is a classic.

Laurel and Hardy, who I have followed for years. When I was in Cologne, Germany, I spent a lot of time in the movie theaters watching Dick und Duenne (Fat and Skinny) do their schtick. The Germans loved them and laughed and laughed at their antics, even though the dialogue was in English.

Peter Sellers.. you know, Doctor Strangelove and The Pink Panther. Nobody.. I mean nobody.. could take his place as Inspector Clouseau.. not even Steve Martin! XM Radio's Laugh USA is playing some of Sellers' routines from the Goon Show of many years ago. One routine that I like has him playing an Indian Doctor singing with his Nurse.. if you can hear it, you will love both the melody and the words.

All in all... Bob Newhart's book is a fast and pleasant read that will cause you to have many belly laughs and put a constant smile on your face.