Here it is. Back by popular demand (from two younger TMV readers):
The famous Sy Si routine that Jack Benny did with Mel Blanc (who did the voices of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig,Tweety, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester, Barney Rubble, Dino the Dino and a host of others):
Benny loved this routine and did it again:
And again:
Even in his final years, he loved doing it. Here he is on Johnny Carson, singing the praises of Mel Blanc — and doing his favorite routine. Benny and Blanc’s work needs to be studied by any young person interested in comedy or comedy acting:
Benny was way ahead of his time. In one famous episode, the cheap comedian Jack Benny so bugs store clear Mel Blanc that the clerk kills himself:
Benny was a master of timing and the comedy scan. I love his work and a producer who saw one of my videos in my other incarnation said my timing reminded him of Jack Benny. I never realized how much watching him had rubbed off on me. And I do use the scan — where when I get a big laugh I slowly pan and look across the audience, prolonging the laugh.
There are lots of good collections of his TV shows that you can get on DVDs (get them while they are available) if you’re a young person interested in conedy or someone just interested in comedy. I NEVER watch old videos for nostalgia; I watch them to study the performance, comedy and acting technique. Here’s one good, well-priced collection:
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.