Zoneboy
01-18-2010, 06:06 PM
A half-century later, comic still keeps it clean
Link (http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2010/01/17/1A_BOB_NEWHART_ART_01-17-10_E1_LLG9IA6.html?sid=101)
Bob Newhart makes people laugh just by talking into a fake telephone to nobody. What if one found himself on the other end of a real phone connection with him? Fifty years ago next month, the chart-topping album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart introduced a different style of stand-up comedy -- one in which the straight man, a purposely bland chap, delivered the punch lines. His signature became the one-way telephone conversation with absurd characters, leaving the eavesdropping audience in stitches. Two classic sitcoms and assorted movie roles later, Newhart, 80, is still considered comedic royalty -- and one of the nicest guys in the business, with a scandal-free personal life. And still among his best friends is insult king Don Rickles. With wife Ginnie, he recently celebrated his 46th wedding anniversary.
Q: How does 46 years of marriage happen?
A: I really think laughter has a lot to do with it. A lot of comedians have long marriages: Don and Barbara Rickles are at 43 years. Jack Benny, George Burns, Bob Hope -- there are just too many for it to be coincidence.
You laugh, and somehow those problems just go away. But you don't want to be funny all the time, you know. Some things have to be taken seriously.
Q: You and Rickles make an odd couple. How did your friendship begin?
A: Barbara and Ginnie knew each other long before Don and I got to know each other.
We were in Vegas, and Don was playing at the Sahara. . . . On the way to his show, Ginnie says, "Oh, Don is so sweet -- such a family man." I said, "Well, hon, his act is a little different from that."
They put us right in front, of course. Don comes out, and the first thing he says is: "The stammering idiot from Chicago is in the audience with his hooker wife from Bayonne, N.J."
Her jaw dropped, and I said, "I tried to tell you."
Q: What is your stand-up act like these days?
A: I'll do one or two of the old album routines, and the rest is just observational about this crazy world we all are trying to survive.
At the end, I show clips from the TV shows and our family life together. You could say it's a history of the Newharts in America.
Q: What is it like revisiting your life, sometimes three times a week, in front of strangers?
A: Hmmm. I've never been asked that. The real feeling at the end is: What the hell happened? It all went by so fast.
I have a daughter who's 32 now, with kids of her own. I'm sure that most people feel that way, that everything was only yesterday. Where did the time go?
Q: You've always worked clean, but did you ever consider working "blue"?
A: There was a time, probably around Laugh-In. To survive in comedy, you have to be aware of changes and adapt. But I never felt comfortable with it, like some old sweater that just doesn't fit.
I have nothing against profanity. I was in the Army, so I know what the words are. A lot of times they were directed at me.
But I've talked to people like Jerry Seinfeld and Jake Johannsen about it. We agreed that if people have a great time without resorting to (profanity), you feel good about yourself.
That being said, I think (Richard) Pryor was the greatest influence on comedy in the last 50 years. Even when you take the dirty words away, the concepts are so rich.
Q: I loved the movies Catch-22 and Cold Turkey. Today's kids love Elf and Legally Blonde 2. Why haven't you done more films?
A: I'd like to say I'm picky, but the truth is, I haven't been offered that many. I may have turned down two or three in my career.
Q: Which ones?
A: There was a Norm MacDonald movie, and also a Will Ferrell movie, the basketball movie he did (Semi-Pro). I just had a problem with the language.
I haven't spent 50 years doing one thing to turn around and say, "Yeah, yeah, I'll do that." I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
Q: That's called integrity.
A: Well, there has always been a little guy on my shoulder saying, "No, I don't think so." And a wife on the other shoulder saying, "No, I don't think so, either."
Link (http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/arts/stories/2010/01/17/1A_BOB_NEWHART_ART_01-17-10_E1_LLG9IA6.html?sid=101)
Bob Newhart makes people laugh just by talking into a fake telephone to nobody. What if one found himself on the other end of a real phone connection with him? Fifty years ago next month, the chart-topping album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart introduced a different style of stand-up comedy -- one in which the straight man, a purposely bland chap, delivered the punch lines. His signature became the one-way telephone conversation with absurd characters, leaving the eavesdropping audience in stitches. Two classic sitcoms and assorted movie roles later, Newhart, 80, is still considered comedic royalty -- and one of the nicest guys in the business, with a scandal-free personal life. And still among his best friends is insult king Don Rickles. With wife Ginnie, he recently celebrated his 46th wedding anniversary.
Q: How does 46 years of marriage happen?
A: I really think laughter has a lot to do with it. A lot of comedians have long marriages: Don and Barbara Rickles are at 43 years. Jack Benny, George Burns, Bob Hope -- there are just too many for it to be coincidence.
You laugh, and somehow those problems just go away. But you don't want to be funny all the time, you know. Some things have to be taken seriously.
Q: You and Rickles make an odd couple. How did your friendship begin?
A: Barbara and Ginnie knew each other long before Don and I got to know each other.
We were in Vegas, and Don was playing at the Sahara. . . . On the way to his show, Ginnie says, "Oh, Don is so sweet -- such a family man." I said, "Well, hon, his act is a little different from that."
They put us right in front, of course. Don comes out, and the first thing he says is: "The stammering idiot from Chicago is in the audience with his hooker wife from Bayonne, N.J."
Her jaw dropped, and I said, "I tried to tell you."
Q: What is your stand-up act like these days?
A: I'll do one or two of the old album routines, and the rest is just observational about this crazy world we all are trying to survive.
At the end, I show clips from the TV shows and our family life together. You could say it's a history of the Newharts in America.
Q: What is it like revisiting your life, sometimes three times a week, in front of strangers?
A: Hmmm. I've never been asked that. The real feeling at the end is: What the hell happened? It all went by so fast.
I have a daughter who's 32 now, with kids of her own. I'm sure that most people feel that way, that everything was only yesterday. Where did the time go?
Q: You've always worked clean, but did you ever consider working "blue"?
A: There was a time, probably around Laugh-In. To survive in comedy, you have to be aware of changes and adapt. But I never felt comfortable with it, like some old sweater that just doesn't fit.
I have nothing against profanity. I was in the Army, so I know what the words are. A lot of times they were directed at me.
But I've talked to people like Jerry Seinfeld and Jake Johannsen about it. We agreed that if people have a great time without resorting to (profanity), you feel good about yourself.
That being said, I think (Richard) Pryor was the greatest influence on comedy in the last 50 years. Even when you take the dirty words away, the concepts are so rich.
Q: I loved the movies Catch-22 and Cold Turkey. Today's kids love Elf and Legally Blonde 2. Why haven't you done more films?
A: I'd like to say I'm picky, but the truth is, I haven't been offered that many. I may have turned down two or three in my career.
Q: Which ones?
A: There was a Norm MacDonald movie, and also a Will Ferrell movie, the basketball movie he did (Semi-Pro). I just had a problem with the language.
I haven't spent 50 years doing one thing to turn around and say, "Yeah, yeah, I'll do that." I just couldn't bring myself to do it.
Q: That's called integrity.
A: Well, there has always been a little guy on my shoulder saying, "No, I don't think so." And a wife on the other shoulder saying, "No, I don't think so, either."