When I was a child, my parents had a comedy album called “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.” It consisted of Newhart's comedy routines where he usually had one-sided telephone conversations. I can remember my parents laughing out loud at this album.
In the 1970s, “The Bob Newhart Show” was a Saturday night staple on CBS, along with “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “All in the Family” and “The Carol Burnett Show.”
In the late 1980s, he played an innkeeper in Vermont with a wacky cast of characters on “Bob Newhart.” As long as I can remember, Bob Newhart has been making people laugh.
Recently, Newhart wrote a book, “I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny,” about his career as a stand-up comedian, television and film actor.
I listened to the audio version of the book because I knew that he reprised some of his famous comedic routines in the book, and I wanted to hear him perform them again.
He begins the book with his famous “King Kong” routine. Newhart portrays a new security guard at the Empire State Building calling his supervisor to report that there is a giant ape climbing up the building and he is not quite sure what to do. He relates the situation to his supervisor and tells the man that he looked up in the employee manual “Ape,” “Apes Toes” and more, but was unable to find a section in the manual that describes what to do in this particular situation. It is hilarious!
The book is brief, as one would expect from Bob Newhart. He gives a few details about his growing up in Chicago in a lower middle class family. Graduating from college with a degree in accounting, he accepts a position as an accountant in a manufacturing firm.
While working as an accountant, he would spend time on the phone with another employee, Ed Graham, creating the beginnings of what would be his comedy routines. Another man heard about them and offered to pay to put the routines on tape, which they would then send out to radio stations across the country.
They sent out 300 tapes, and three stations offered to buy the tapes from them on a weekly basis, which the men decided they should sell for $7.50 each. The only problem was that it cost them more to make the tapes than they were getting paid, and so that enterprise ended soon.
By this time, Newhart decided that he wanted to give comedy a try. He did radio shows in Chicago and eventually ended up doing a television gig on small Chicago station. A popular Chicago radio DJ championed Newhart and got him an audition with Warner Brother Records. They wanted to record an album with Newhart doing his telephone routines, and they wanted to record them in front of a nightclub audience.
The one small problem was that Bob wasn't really a stand-up comic and didn't have a gig booked. That was taken care of and “The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart” was recorded. In 1961, it became the number one record in the country. A second album was quickly produced and Newhart found himself with the top two best selling albums in the country.
He won Grammy awards for Best Comedy Album, Best New Artist and surprisingly, Best Album of the Year, beating out Frank Sinatra. Not surprisingly, Sinatra was not pleased to be beaten out by a comic.
After the success of the albums, Newhart found himself performing in showrooms. Movie offers came his way. The chapter where he describes working on “Hell is for Heroes” with Steve McQueen and “Catch-22” is interesting, albeit brief. He shares a few stories about being on the set of a movie.
Newhart married his wife Ginny and he recounts a funny anecdote about waking up one morning to find his wife angry with him. He quickly reviews the events of the previous day to discover why she is angry, and coming up with nothing, he finally asks her. Ginny responds that she had a dream that they were at a party and Bob spent the entire evening talking to a beautiful woman. When he reminds her that it was just a dream, she tells him that while it was just a dream, it sounds like something that he would do.
I found myself wishing that the chapter on Newhart's television shows was longer. He doesn't really discuss them much and I would have enjoyed some inside information on them. Newhart writes about his comedy idols, famous people he has worked with, and his friendship with Don Rickles.
The best part of the audiobook is when he performs his comedy routines, including “Abe Lincoln Vs. Madison Ave.” and “The Driving Instructor.” Even today, some 40 years later, they are still timeless and laugh out loud funny. I give “I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!” two and half stars; if it were longer, I would have given it three.
Auburn native Diane La Rue's lifelong goal is to read a book a week. If you have suggestions, e-mail her at laruediane2000@yahoo.com
In the late 1980s, he played an innkeeper in Vermont with a wacky cast of characters on “Bob Newhart.” As long as I can remember, Bob Newhart has been making people laugh.
Recently, Newhart wrote a book, “I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny,” about his career as a stand-up comedian, television and film actor.
I listened to the audio version of the book because I knew that he reprised some of his famous comedic routines in the book, and I wanted to hear him perform them again.
He begins the book with his famous “King Kong” routine. Newhart portrays a new security guard at the Empire State Building calling his supervisor to report that there is a giant ape climbing up the building and he is not quite sure what to do. He relates the situation to his supervisor and tells the man that he looked up in the employee manual “Ape,” “Apes Toes” and more, but was unable to find a section in the manual that describes what to do in this particular situation. It is hilarious!
The book is brief, as one would expect from Bob Newhart. He gives a few details about his growing up in Chicago in a lower middle class family. Graduating from college with a degree in accounting, he accepts a position as an accountant in a manufacturing firm.
While working as an accountant, he would spend time on the phone with another employee, Ed Graham, creating the beginnings of what would be his comedy routines. Another man heard about them and offered to pay to put the routines on tape, which they would then send out to radio stations across the country.
They sent out 300 tapes, and three stations offered to buy the tapes from them on a weekly basis, which the men decided they should sell for $7.50 each. The only problem was that it cost them more to make the tapes than they were getting paid, and so that enterprise ended soon.
By this time, Newhart decided that he wanted to give comedy a try. He did radio shows in Chicago and eventually ended up doing a television gig on small Chicago station. A popular Chicago radio DJ championed Newhart and got him an audition with Warner Brother Records. They wanted to record an album with Newhart doing his telephone routines, and they wanted to record them in front of a nightclub audience.
The one small problem was that Bob wasn't really a stand-up comic and didn't have a gig booked. That was taken care of and “The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart” was recorded. In 1961, it became the number one record in the country. A second album was quickly produced and Newhart found himself with the top two best selling albums in the country.
He won Grammy awards for Best Comedy Album, Best New Artist and surprisingly, Best Album of the Year, beating out Frank Sinatra. Not surprisingly, Sinatra was not pleased to be beaten out by a comic.
After the success of the albums, Newhart found himself performing in showrooms. Movie offers came his way. The chapter where he describes working on “Hell is for Heroes” with Steve McQueen and “Catch-22” is interesting, albeit brief. He shares a few stories about being on the set of a movie.
Newhart married his wife Ginny and he recounts a funny anecdote about waking up one morning to find his wife angry with him. He quickly reviews the events of the previous day to discover why she is angry, and coming up with nothing, he finally asks her. Ginny responds that she had a dream that they were at a party and Bob spent the entire evening talking to a beautiful woman. When he reminds her that it was just a dream, she tells him that while it was just a dream, it sounds like something that he would do.
I found myself wishing that the chapter on Newhart's television shows was longer. He doesn't really discuss them much and I would have enjoyed some inside information on them. Newhart writes about his comedy idols, famous people he has worked with, and his friendship with Don Rickles.
The best part of the audiobook is when he performs his comedy routines, including “Abe Lincoln Vs. Madison Ave.” and “The Driving Instructor.” Even today, some 40 years later, they are still timeless and laugh out loud funny. I give “I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!” two and half stars; if it were longer, I would have given it three.
Auburn native Diane La Rue's lifelong goal is to read a book a week. If you have suggestions, e-mail her at laruediane2000@yahoo.com
