Yeah he about went off the deep end and completely broke down. In 73 or 74 Jackand Mel were on Johnny Carson and they redid this routine. Jack was destroyed again! I guess Mel Blanc just effected him like that. Kind of like Tim Conway would always destroy Harvey Korman.
I'm forever amazed at how Mel Blanc can keep a straight face throughout the entire sketch while I'm rolling on the floor in convulsions - does it every time! Never gets stale!
@@Dallas_K When Jackie Gleason did sketches as Joe the Bartender and Frank Fontaine was in character as Crazy Guugenheim, sometimes after an awful joke Joe would slam the counter and turn his head around. Gleason was good at facial expressions including Joe's sourpuss, but at those times he just couldn't contain himself -- he had to turn around and laugh!
It's the way that Mel is staring at him so intensely and almost stepping on Jack's lines that sends me. Look at him! He barely even blinks! His body language just screams "Just try not to laugh. I dare you." It takes a special kind of talent to get that many laughs one word at a time.
Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices with very little words? And he still can make you laugh, that is I call classic? RIP in peace Mr Mel Blanc, si rest in peace?
Although you really barely ever saw Mel Blanc on film except for being on Jack Benny's show, a lot of people would not have seen him at all or knew what he looked like. His voice made him legendary. In addition to Cy, Mel Blanc was the voices of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd I think, he was the voice of Barney Rubble on the Flintstones. His voices will live on for generations and that makes Mel Blanc almost truly immortal.
they must've done this routine about a million times...Mel is amazing never breaks out of character while Mr. Benny cracks here in there everytime...just two Gods of comedy.
@@craigofadelaide4960 I remember that version! In the middle of the song Mel twirls the bass around with a deadpan expression looking directly at Jack
for the same reasons George Carlin can walk onstage and stand there looking at the audience and say absolutely NOTHING and wind up with one, two several and then the whole room laughing, and yet not having said a word.
my mom and dad loved Jack Benny. I have no doubt they watched this skit. How I wish I could have been there with them to laugh and smile. I miss them so.
And he was the KING of the pause. He could stand there with that look on his face and his arms crossed and milk one for a LONG time, getting more and more laughs the longer he waited. And then, it was usually the "WELL!", or something equally nothing, and brought the house down. I still laugh at those bits even though I've seen them dozens of times.
This routine is right up there with Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First” sketch.Was waiting for Jack to ask, “And what does Sue do?” To hear Mel answer, “Sew!” but didn’t happen this time. Oh well!😁
When you rehearse it once it is hysterical. When you rehearse it 100 times it becomes routine. But the minute you get it in front of the audience it's almost like you've never done it. Look at Jack Benny's face as he tries not to crack up. Mel Blanc was the master playing it straight
You know what's coming and it's STILL funny, these many years later. Nobody past, present or future will ever have the vast depth of talent, timing, and comedic genius of Mel Blanc. Love the man.💘❤
I don't know how many times I've seen Jack Benny and Mel Blanc do this skit - dozens, I'm sure. And yet, I still laugh. I know exactly what's coming next, yet it still gets me laughing out loud.
On the Carson show Benny said he ad-libed the sister question to try to break up Blanc, but it backfired when Blanc immediately answered Sue, which was not in the script. As a result you can see Benny struggling to maintain composure.
+guyfihi They did this on radio before this, though. The part that WAS adlibbed on radio, was when Jack asked "What does your sister do?" & Mel answered "Sew"
Because of one event, when they were filming a scene for The Jack Benny show, Jack could never look at Mel straight in the face ever again. Mel reacted in a completely unscripted and unexpected way and Jack just cracked up. He never could look at Mel - ''the only man who could crack me up without saying a word' - ever again without being in fits of laughter
Not a sexual innuendo, or even a curse word, in this entire scene. I love it! This was from a time, when corrupt TV practices weren't even allowed on TV. It's just good, clean, wholesome fun!
@@ithecastic Mayonnaise isn't inherently unhealthy in the quantities you'll find on a sandwich. It's the type of oil that matters. Back in the 1950s, they didn't make everything out of soybean oil.
This is a perfect example of the craftsmanship that went into Jack Benny's comedy; the "wordsmithing" one of his writers described as "making the punch line seven words, not nine" (in this case, one word!); and both Jack and Mel Blanc's timing was impeccable.
Oh my, I’ve not seen this since I was a child. Mel and Jack are comic geniuses. To make a comedy veteran like Jack to lose it by speaking a single word is comedy at its best!
I read a book about Jack Benny and his best pal George Burns when I was a kid. The practical jokes they would play on each other were hilariously classic. Mel Blanc is by far one the funniest people of all time.
The timing of these two geniuses is a lesson in how it's done for budding comedians. To this day no single person has made me laugh more often than Jack Benny... but Mel Blanc comes close.
Yes, this probably grew out of Benny's early radio years. Don't rush the lines or responses. Give the folks at home time to absorb things. Bob Hope's direct pause and "stare" was akin to this, followed by a wry, widening smile while proceeding with the next set-up. Often a quick, seemingly unfunny toss-out like, "Global warming's getting really bad. It was so hot in Oz today the Wicked Witch of the West melted without water being tossed on her, but I wanna tell ya..." Or--"I won't say inflation's getting out of control but my savings bonds can only be redeemed at the Salvation Army. No, but I think..."
I had a friend who would call his parents on his phone and almost always only said "K" (as in O.K) over and over again. I liked to imagine he was standing there saying "what?" in Spanish over and over again. 😂 Always thought of Mel Blanc.
Jack was a comic genius. With just a word or a look he had the audience laughing, as can be seen in this clip. And, unlike his miserly character, in real life he was a caring, giving individual.
This goes to show you that if you put some time and effort into developing your material, you can get uncontrolled laughter without relying purely on shock value.
When he bites his fingers and squirms around he was trying not to laugh but you can here in his voice he was laughing and trying his damdest to hide it. Mel Blanc also played Jack Benny's violin teacher, Mr. LeBlanc and was hilarious playing him. One and only original!!!.
These are two of the greatest entertainers ever . Jack Benny and the man with 1000 voices from buggy bunny to all the great cartoon characters ; Mr . Mel Blanc
I can't even think about this bit without laughing. As for it being offensive - my good friend's kids love recreating this with me - and their last name is Sanchez.
When I was growing up The Jack Benny program was compulsory at my parents house, first on the radio, and later the Television when we could only get one snowy, staticky channel.
@@theworm6870 You should see that episode when Benny is on trial for "murdering a rooster." Raymond Burr plays Perry Mason, and totally screws up. Burr fought hard not to laugh his head off.
The audience gasped when Mel looked up, knowing what was coming. Anticipation was often the key to comic effect on the Jack Benny Show, as with Frank Nelson (Yesssss!).
@@Dallas_K also the radio episodes where he meets Sheldon Leonard as the race track Tout. And he doesn't always meet him near the racetrack sometimes it's in a department store or at a hamburger counter at a Woolworths or something. "Hey bud, come here a minute", "Who, me?" Etc.
Amazing. When Mel says his sister's name is Sue, Benny pauses for 13 seconds before responding. No one else would ever dream of doing that. This is why everyone says Benny had the greatest timing in comedy.
I agree he had superb timing. The only slight criticism of Benny's comedy technique I've ever heard was from Stan Laurel, who once said that, in his opinion, Benny overdid the long pauses, waiting excessively long for the laughter to peak before responding or proceeding, creating, I guess, an unnatural situation, and maybe a little too predictable or formulaic. I don't know. It's possible but not in every case. I'd say justified most of the time. It was intertwined with Benny's stage character, much beloved by audiences. Personally, I think I'd have to say that Bob Hope had the greatest timing of all, but both comedians had different styles and methods based on their well-known character-traits. Benny really was never a joke-telling monologist. His timing related to responding or reacting to funny statements or put-downs by others--at this he was a master. Hope, by contrast, was a superb joke-teller. Although the jokes themselves were always very funny, always topical, the way he flipped them out, gave surprise twists to punchlines, stared at the audience as if challenging them to "get it", was the technique of a true comedic master. Together, these 2 giants created more laughter than anyone in the history of the human race(along with Skelton and Gleason).
While Jack is about to crack up in this vid, go to the one called "Jack does his Christmas shopping" This is one of my favorite & I think one of the funniest shows that they did. Mel is a clerk at a dept. store & Jack drives him nuts by always changing the card etc. Starting at 21:00 Mel goes into a routine where he gets Jack to shaking in his boots while he is trying to keep from busting up. Jack literally has to look down at the floor to try & help himself. Hilarious.
On an old Letterman interview I just saw today, Mel Blanc said Jack Benny's character in this skit asked MB's character what his sister "Sue" did for a living; and, MB's character said, "Sew." But, for whatever reason that wasn't in this skit.
Mel Blanc could never be replaced.
That blank stare, the Mexican accent, and those monosyllabic responses are just hilarious.
Si`
Jack is doing everything to hold it together. Mel is playing it so straight which makes it even funnier.
classic :)
Benny almost broke on the first exchange, surprised he made it all the way through. Great stuff!
Yeah he about went off the deep end and completely broke down. In 73 or 74 Jackand Mel were on Johnny Carson and they redid this routine. Jack was destroyed again! I guess Mel Blanc just effected him like that. Kind of like Tim Conway would always destroy Harvey Korman.
@@michaelhungate7506Conway would not rest until Korman cracked.
ichaelhungate7506 Si`
I'm forever amazed at how Mel Blanc can keep a straight face throughout the entire sketch while I'm rolling on the floor in convulsions - does it every time! Never gets stale!
Jack was only one step from rolling on the floor himself.
@@Dallas_K When Jackie Gleason did sketches as Joe the Bartender and Frank Fontaine was in character as Crazy Guugenheim, sometimes after an awful joke Joe would slam the counter and turn his head around. Gleason was good at facial expressions including Joe's sourpuss, but at those times he just couldn't contain himself -- he had to turn around and laugh!
Unlike Harvey Korman who was always cracking up and breaking character on the Carol Burnett Show.
@@wdd3141in
@@barronridge5613 Although to be fair, Tim Conway way deliberately trying to make him lose it.
If something from the 50’s makes you laugh in 2021, and properly laugh hard, then you know they did it right then. I love this so much!😄
Timing
And the fact it proves your not woke
Or 2024🤣
@@stephendavies925 Damn, fragile much?
It's the way that Mel is staring at him so intensely and almost stepping on Jack's lines that sends me. Look at him! He barely even blinks! His body language just screams "Just try not to laugh. I dare you." It takes a special kind of talent to get that many laughs one word at a time.
Seguro que si! .....Of course yes!
Si.
This program have discriminación, I want to see Them speaking good spanish, son I don't like it...
@@franciscomacias2097 I trust you're joking. It's Jack who's being made fun of in this skit, not the character portrayed by Mel Blanc.
Sigh.
I’ve seen this skit countless times. Yet, here I am, in 2023, cracking up once again
2:11
Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices with very little words? And he still can make you laugh, that is I call classic? RIP in peace Mr Mel Blanc, si rest in peace?
The honest to god weirdest thing is, is IF Mel did not go to hospital for his broken hip, he wouldn't have fallen onto the floor and ended up dying.
Mel Blank is one of the best voiceover artist in the world.
Sí
Although you really barely ever saw Mel Blanc on film except for being on Jack Benny's show, a lot of people would not have seen him at all or knew what he looked like. His voice made him legendary. In addition to Cy, Mel Blanc was the voices of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd I think, he was the voice of Barney Rubble on the Flintstones. His voices will live on for generations and that makes Mel Blanc almost truly immortal.
@@michaelverbakel7632the same is true of several movies between 1969 and 1972 before he devoted entirely to voiceover work
Mel is one of the all time greats ..... There will NEVER be another with that kind of talent....
si
they must've done this routine about a million times...Mel is amazing never breaks out of character while Mr. Benny cracks here in there everytime...just two Gods of comedy.
This the third different version I have seen Mel and Jack done this routine, the other ones Mel is part of a band
@@craigofadelaide4960 I remember that version! In the middle of the song Mel twirls the bass around with a deadpan expression looking directly at Jack
@@dennman6 He did 😆😆
How can he be so effective saying one word..... genius, absolutely brilliant comedic timing!
Because he can
You answered your own question; it's all in the timing.
Karth38..... Si! 😂
for the same reasons George Carlin can walk onstage and stand there looking at the audience and say absolutely NOTHING and wind up with one, two several and then the whole room laughing, and yet not having said a word.
Partially it’s Jack’s response
Am Mexican and I can't get enough of this skit he's my fav voice character of all time lol
Actually Mel was of Jewish heritage.
Si, Me too.
Orale
And then in his next breath, he could "voice" Jack's Maxwell.
Mel blank is dead
my mom and dad loved Jack Benny. I have no doubt they watched this skit. How I wish I could have been there with them to laugh and smile. I miss them so.
Benny always said, "it's not the joke, it's the pause that's funny."
And he was the KING of the pause. He could stand there with that look on his face and his arms crossed and milk one for a LONG time, getting more and more laughs the longer he waited. And then, it was usually the "WELL!", or something equally nothing, and brought the house down. I still laugh at those bits even though I've seen them dozens of times.
@willmorrison1022 In this case his pauses were so he could compose himself and not break into laughter.
This routine is right up there with Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First” sketch.Was waiting for Jack to ask, “And what does Sue do?” To hear Mel answer, “Sew!” but didn’t happen this time. Oh well!😁
They can't do every joke all the time. Maybe they didn't think of it then either and when they redid the joke, they came up with it.
So?
@@earllsimmins9373 Si.
@@earllsimmins9373 Si.
Absolutely!
I love watching this routine. No matter how many times Jack and Mel did it, it was all Jack could do to keep from cracking up.
When you rehearse it once it is hysterical. When you rehearse it 100 times it becomes routine.
But the minute you get it in front of the audience it's almost like you've never done it. Look at Jack Benny's face as he tries not to crack up. Mel Blanc was the master playing it straight
Oh man, what a riot! Sheer comedic talent. And the perfect timing! 😄
You know what's coming and it's STILL funny, these many years later. Nobody past, present or future will ever have the vast depth of talent, timing, and comedic genius of Mel Blanc. Love the man.💘❤
The genius is in the timing. Benny doesn't deliver the next line until the audience laughter stops, getting their full attention.
I don't know how many times I've seen Jack Benny and Mel Blanc do this skit - dozens, I'm sure. And yet, I still laugh. I know exactly what's coming next, yet it still gets me laughing out loud.
Am from México and I really enjoyed this 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽 Siiii
It doesn't get any better than this. The simplicity is both genious and hilarious!
Three of the funniest words....Si, Sy, Sue, Absolutely classic!!!
Blanc created so many gut busting hilarious voice characters such that his legacy has lasted for over 60 years.
I once blew a chance to spend an evening playing cards with Mel Blanc. Been kicking myself ever since.
Man, that is a classic.
On the Carson show Benny said he ad-libed the sister question to try to break up Blanc, but it backfired when Blanc immediately answered Sue, which was not in the script. As a result you can see Benny struggling to maintain composure.
+guyfihi They did this on radio before this, though. The part that WAS adlibbed on radio, was when Jack asked "What does your sister do?"
& Mel answered "Sew"
+Sarah Brandy Peters (Gravydog316) That was also done with his sister in the band. She said "Sew".
sha11235
oh yes! it was done so many times, but it still makes me cry with laughter lol
You knew it was funny when Jack came close to breaking.
Andrew Hinton
haha yup. I love when people break up on the air. I would do it sooo much haha
So funny and deadpan from both. Great. 👏👏👏
Best creative comedy comes with no swearing 😁👍🏻
Because of one event, when they were filming a scene for The Jack Benny show, Jack could never look at Mel straight in the face ever again. Mel reacted in a completely unscripted and unexpected way and Jack just cracked up. He never could look at Mel - ''the only man who could crack me up without saying a word' - ever again without being in fits of laughter
I understand that friend George Burns also could crack Benny up.
john dates Jack Benny thought that George Burns was the funniest man in the world.
@@johndates9827 According to George Burns, all Burns would have to do is say to Jack Benny "Don't laugh..." and Benny would be destroyed.
Not a sexual innuendo, or even a curse word, in this entire scene. I love it!
This was from a time, when corrupt TV practices weren't even allowed on TV. It's just good, clean, wholesome fun!
See.
@@margaretjiantonio939 Si not See, Do you see what I'm saying?. LOL
@@imhappyandyou.4003C
@@ithecastic Mayonnaise isn't inherently unhealthy in the quantities you'll find on a sandwich. It's the type of oil that matters. Back in the 1950s, they didn't make everything out of soybean oil.
> when corrupt TV practices weren't even allowed on TV
I hate to burst your bubble, but while it wasn't allowed on TV it was allowed off camera.
Mel would stare right into jack's eyes and dare him not to laugh. When Mel would do this jack was in trouble.
@9TheMajor And his timing is just as good as Benny's!
Yep, he would apparently try it all the time with Jack Benny in the skits and try to make Jack piss himself laughing like here.
What makes it hilarious for me is Mel's deadpan expression, and then Jack trying to hold it together right around "Sue"
The "trying to make the other guy laugh" reminds me of Tim Conway with Harvey Korman.
@@NoelSiksai Sue
the best skit of all times.....bar none, brother....a big fat Si from Sy and his sister, Sue.
Ha, good one!
A classic TV comedy sketch! Thanks, Jack and Mel.
This is a perfect example of the craftsmanship that went into Jack Benny's comedy; the "wordsmithing" one of his writers described as "making the punch line seven words, not nine" (in this case, one word!); and both Jack and Mel Blanc's timing was impeccable.
This will ALWAYS be hilarious!
Hello Cynthia, How are you doing?
@@fremlinmartel8223 fine, thanks 😊.
@@cynthiapickett7403 Good to know, So tell me where are you from?
They don't make comedians like this anymore. It's all in the timing and reactions. Benny was the absolute master.
One of the best comedy acts between straight faced Mel Blanc and Jack Benny. These two are a riot. Joe S
Hilarious!!! Mel Blanc was a man with much talent!! Something sorely lacking today.... lighten up and LAUGH!!!
Oh my, I’ve not seen this since I was a child. Mel and Jack are comic geniuses. To make a comedy veteran like Jack to lose it by speaking a single word is comedy at its best!
It's amazing how Mel always keeps a straightface whenever he and Jack do this skit! Truly classic!
Jack Benny once said "There are only about five real people in Hollywood: everybody else is Mel Blanc!".
Hilarious and nostalgic! No one can beat Mel Blanc at voice characterization and Jack Benny at humor! 🙏
I read a book about Jack Benny and his best pal George Burns when I was a kid. The practical jokes they would play on each other were hilariously classic. Mel Blanc is by far one the funniest people of all time.
Jack's doing everything he can to not break out laughing.
I love that the audience anticipates the classic routine.
Big gasp when Mel looked up! Hilarious!
Jack Benny and Mel Blanc, greatest comedy duo
Mel never broke his deadpan delivery...The MASTER!
So simple and so funny! Mel liked doing this character.
Brian Collins He was also the voice of many top cartoon characters!
yes
+Brian Collins This is also why he loved doing cartoon voices, like Bugs Bunny.
C 🤣
Jack tried to hold it together as long as he could but right there at the end a little laugh came out!
what can one say,these two men were just great,no matter what era we live in,they will go on,ture immortality.
Comedy GOLD sketch . This and Who’s on First still crack me up , and I’ve seen them countless times .
great actor
These two were great together, timing was impeccable. Sometimes Benny could barely keep a straight face.
Mel Blanc, the man of a thousand voices!
I love the part where Jack messes up his name and Mel corrects him.
Mel does a great job in keeping a straight face.
Indeed. Stone faced.
I loved this routine!! Thanks for posting it. Too bad there isn't comedy like this anymore.
Jack and Mel Blanc did this routine countless times on radio and TV, whenever the scene was in a train station. And he still would crack up!
Train now leaving for Anaheim, Azuza, and Cucamonga...
I believe the last time was on Carson in 73 or 74. Of course, Mel destroyed Jack again!
All these years and this still cracks me up! 😂
"Sue?"
"Si."
"And what does she do for a living?"
"Sew."
Sew?
@@BootedIV Si.
@@BootedIV Si
Jack got so confused with the names that he forgot to ask that question here.
The timing of these two geniuses is a lesson in how it's done for budding comedians. To this day no single person has made me laugh more often than Jack Benny... but Mel Blanc comes close.
Benny gets full mileage out of every laugh. Doesn't go to the next line until he has the audience's full attention. The all time comic master.
Yes, this probably grew out of Benny's early radio years. Don't rush the lines or responses. Give the folks at home time to absorb things. Bob Hope's direct pause and "stare" was akin to this, followed by a wry, widening smile while proceeding with the next set-up. Often a quick, seemingly unfunny toss-out like, "Global warming's getting really bad. It was so hot in Oz today the Wicked Witch of the West melted without water being tossed on her, but I wanna tell ya..." Or--"I won't say inflation's getting out of control but my savings bonds can only be redeemed at the Salvation Army. No, but I think..."
Jack, I love that modern update on what Bob Hope would say in a skit today; great work.
I had a friend who would call his parents on his phone and almost always only said "K" (as in O.K) over and over again.
I liked to imagine he was standing there saying "what?" in Spanish over and over again. 😂 Always thought of Mel Blanc.
Jack was a comic genius. With just a word or a look he had the audience laughing, as can be seen in this clip. And, unlike his miserly character, in real life he was a caring, giving individual.
Just watching JB on the screen is a class on being a comic straight man.
I always loved this bit since I was a kid listening to my dad's tapes
At 1:28 Jack flubs his line TWICE and Mel in character corrects him. You can see Jack on the precipice of breaking up completely.
I’m pretty sure that was a joke 😂
Jack is just cracking up. What a delight
The 76 people that gave this skit a thumbs down? Why?!! Jack Benny and Mel Blanc were great, weren't they? Si. 😉😀☺
Classic stuff!!!
Still funny 60 years later
I love Jack and Mel. When comedy was the best!
1977?
Wow what a great comedy routine....that Mel Blanc was such a genious....and Jack had perfect reaction timing....truly two of the greats
Mel Blanc never even cracked a smile! 😂
This goes to show you that if you put some time and effort into developing your material, you can get uncontrolled laughter without relying purely on shock value.
Benny was trying REALLY hard not to laugh.
It's almost funnier to watch him trying not to crack up than the joke is. Lmao
And then, at 1:12, he *did* laugh! This scene is proof that Mel Blanc was not only the Man Of 1000 Voices, but a top-notch comedian. Si.
But fails miserably.
When he bites his fingers and squirms around he was trying not to laugh but you can here in his voice he was laughing and trying his damdest to hide it. Mel Blanc also played Jack Benny's violin teacher, Mr. LeBlanc and was hilarious playing him. One and only original!!!.
These are two of the greatest entertainers ever . Jack Benny and the man with 1000 voices from buggy bunny to all the great cartoon characters ; Mr . Mel Blanc
I can't even think about this bit without laughing. As for it being offensive - my good friend's kids love recreating this with me - and their last name is Sanchez.
One version of the joke asked “What does your sister do?” “Sew.”
Jack was truly one of the great grand masters of comedy. He could get gales of laughter out of the simplest things..SI..SY..SEW..SUE...
When I was growing up The Jack Benny program was compulsory at my parents house, first on the radio, and later the Television when we could only get one snowy, staticky channel.
Benny is trying so hard to keep a straight face!
ilmsff7 Si!!!
and failing!
@@theworm6870 You should see that episode when Benny is on trial for "murdering a rooster." Raymond Burr plays Perry Mason, and totally screws up. Burr fought hard not to laugh his head off.
@@davidlafleche1142 i'll check it out!
One of my favorite sketches of all time.
PURE CLASSIC NOW THIS IS COMEDY AT ITS FINESS
No matter how many times they did this bit Jack couldn't stop laughing.
noone esle could have even made this funny, but with Mel Blanc i crack up everytime!
Those skits are just classic! And funny as heck! Back when comedy was funny and people didn't get offended by things.
The ultimate in comedy is when you know what's coming, but you still laugh. This bit fits the bill.
I must have watched this bit 20 times and it still makes me laugh.
The audience gasped when Mel looked up, knowing what was coming. Anticipation was often the key to comic effect on the Jack Benny Show, as with Frank Nelson (Yesssss!).
@@Dallas_K also the radio episodes where he meets Sheldon Leonard as the race track Tout. And he doesn't always meet him near the racetrack sometimes it's in a department store or at a hamburger counter at a Woolworths or something. "Hey bud, come here a minute", "Who, me?" Etc.
I'm AMAZED they did this and kept a straight face!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jack Benny break. You can see how hard he tries but he can’t hold it
I always loved this skit.
I remember watching this when I was a kid and just about pissed my pants laughing
Truly classic!!!
Amazing. When Mel says his sister's name is Sue, Benny pauses for 13 seconds before responding. No one else would ever dream of doing that. This is why everyone says Benny had the greatest timing in comedy.
I agree he had superb timing. The only slight criticism of Benny's comedy technique I've ever heard was from Stan Laurel, who once said that, in his opinion, Benny overdid the long pauses, waiting excessively long for the laughter to peak before responding or proceeding, creating, I guess, an unnatural situation, and maybe a little too predictable or formulaic. I don't know. It's possible but not in every case. I'd say justified most of the time. It was intertwined with Benny's stage character, much beloved by audiences. Personally, I think I'd have to say that Bob Hope had the greatest timing of all, but both comedians had different styles and methods based on their well-known character-traits. Benny really was never a joke-telling monologist. His timing related to responding or reacting to funny statements or put-downs by others--at this he was a master. Hope, by contrast, was a superb joke-teller. Although the jokes themselves were always very funny, always topical, the way he flipped them out, gave surprise twists to punchlines, stared at the audience as if challenging them to "get it", was the technique of a true comedic master. Together, these 2 giants created more laughter than anyone in the history of the human race(along with Skelton and Gleason).
I've seen this routine many times and it stil, cracks me up.
While Jack is about to crack up in this vid, go to the one called
"Jack does his Christmas shopping" This is one of my favorite &
I think one of the funniest shows that they did. Mel is a clerk at
a dept. store & Jack drives him nuts by always changing the card
etc. Starting at 21:00 Mel goes into a routine where he gets Jack
to shaking in his boots while he is trying to keep from busting up.
Jack literally has to look down at the floor to try & help himself.
Hilarious.
I like the one where Jack plays the violin badly then reveals that he plays it well but only badly for comedic routine.
Oh clerk...
@@GenGamesUniverse Remember Professor LeBlanc, Jack's violin teacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
On an old Letterman interview I just saw today, Mel Blanc said Jack Benny's character in this skit asked MB's character what his sister "Sue" did for a living; and, MB's character said, "Sew." But, for whatever reason that wasn't in this skit.
a man of a thousand voices but very little words
I expected "What row are you in on the plain?" with "C" being the answer.