Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Essence of Comic Timing

Jack Benny, as far as I know, never told a joke. He didn't have to, because he was the greatest straight-man in the world, merely playing to his character and setting up his co-stars. It was an incredible gift that he shared for a really long time on the vaudeville stage, on radio, and later on TV. Here he is with one of his regular castmates, Mel Blanc (perhaps most famous as the voice of the great Warner Brothers cartoon characters like Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny). Try not to laugh.

No comments: