Extraordinary Comedy: Celebrating Bob Newhart’s 30 Years in the Life of a Midwestern Accountant and His Occasional Mistakes
The best way to learn about the evolution of the office drone is to watch this comedy special, in which Newhart revisits some of his earliest stand-up routines. The bits are still laughing decades later, even though they were over 30 years old. One of the best-ever comics doing his thing is giving the audience a realistic idea of what’s happening on the other side with his show “Off the Record.” In doing his bits about ordinary schmoes, Newhart spoofs the language of American life. Rent or buy it on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu or YouTube.
We may see some of the glitter that can be concealed in places that may seem invisible, thanks to Bob Newhart’s life.
The story is false. Newhart was involved in advertising for a long time than he was in accounting. It is true, though, that Newhart rocketed to the top because he innately understood a certain midcentury Middle American type: the meek and anxious Everyman, overwhelmed by a world that sometimes seems deeply weird.
By the 21st century, he had settled into emeritus status, reviving his old routines in concerts while doing his beloved shtick in supporting roles in movies and on TV. Here are six of Newhart’s most memorable performances, all available to stream:
Onstage, he didn’t curse, bust taboos or show anger. His style was gentle and wry. As opposed to motormouth contemporaries like Lenny Bruce or Mort Sahl, his defining trait was a cheerful, sloth-paced delivery, stammering, pausing, gradually, meticulously working his way through a sentence. He belonged to neither of the great branches of American humor — the legacies of Jewish or Black comedy. A Roman Catholic from the west side of Chicago, Newhart came off as an entirely respectable example of Midwestern nice.
He was working as an accountant in Chicago in the mid-1950’s, where, he used to insist, his motto was, “that’s close enough!” He and a friend began to make calls between historical figures to relieve the tedium of cubicles and calculators.
When the president learns that Grant was drinking, the PR told him to send a case of the brand of booze he was drinking to all of the generals. “It’s funny. Do it!”
The Rolling Papa Elf When Walt Becomes a Particle: A Conversation With Walt About the Changing Face of American Humor
He asked if Walt bought 80 tons of leaves. Can you chew it? Or place it in a pipe? Or … put it on a piece of paper, and roll it up … ”
The shipping executive has to stop laughing. We might regret that there wasn’t more skepticism of rolling tobacco leaves and smoking them in the 16th century.
In the hit shows, Newhart portrayed mild-seeming men, the first a Chicago psychologist and the second a Vermont innkeeper trying to maneuver in a world of colorful characters. He was introduced to a new generation by playing the role of Papa Elf in Elf.
In 2002, Newhart won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. On the stage of the Kennedy Center that night, he told a crowd in silk and sequins, “Standing here is a long way from the accounting department at the Glidden company.”