Bob and Ray: Keener Than Most Persons

by David Pollock

Overview

By the established comedy conventions of their era, Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding were true game changers. Never playing to the balcony, Bob and Ray instead entertained each other. Because they believed in their nuanced characters and absurd premises, their audience did, too. Their parodies broadcasting about broadcasting existed in their own special universe. A complete absence of show-biz slickness set them apart from the very institution they were mocking, yet were still a part of. They resisted being called comedians and never considered themselves "an act." Bob and Ray, Keener Than Most Persons traces the origins and development of the pair's unique sensibility that defined their dozens of local and network radio and TV series, later motion picture roles, Carnegie Hall performances, and hit Broadway show Bob and Ray The Two and Only . Together for 43 years (longer than Laurel and Hardy, Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, and Martin and Lewis), the twosome deflected all intrusions into the personalities behind their many masks and the dynamics of their relationship, and rarely elaborated on their career trajectory or methodology. Now, with the full cooperation of Bob Elliott and of Ray Goulding's widow, Liz, together with insights from numerous colleagues, their craft and the culture that made them so relevant is explored in depth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781480354999
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2014
Series:	Applause Books
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David Pollock (Los Angeles, CA) with writing partner, Elias Davis, has written for The Steve Allen Show, The Don Rickles Show, The Carol Burnett Show, All in the Family, M*A*S*H, Cheers, and Frasier, as well as nightclub material for Jack Benny. Their play Points in Time was produced at South Coast Repertory. They've won an Emmy, Writers Guild, Peabody, and two Humanitas awards.

Table of Contents

Foreword Dave Letterman ix

Prologue 1

1 The Electrified Fish House 9

2 Grabbed by the Medium 13

3 The Opportunity to Be Bad 31

4 Pulling a Fast One 51

5 Game Changers 57

6 Amateur Night in West Newton 71

7 Nomads with Earphones 93

8 McCarthyism in Skunk Haven 103

9 The Bert and Harry Campaign 121

10 Escape Artists 139

11 Baby Boom 157

12 Mad Men 173

13 The Smelly Dave Caper 183

14 A Fragile Dynamic 203

15 B&R Ink for Pic in Stix 219

16 The Two and Only 227

17 Wally Ballou for Mayor 239

18 Tuesdays and Thursdays Only 253

19 A Night of Two Stars 267

20 The English Channel 275

Acknowledgments 289

Bibliography 291

Index of Bob & Ray Parodies 299

Index 303