Cartoon fans — particularly younger TMV readers – -get ready for a treat. One of the funniest classic routines was done waaaaaaaay before my time by radio-TV comedy star Jack Benny (who was one of the comedians credited with inventing the situation comedy on radio) and Mel Blanc. It is as funny today as when it was first done.
This should be of special interest to cartoon fans. Blanc was the voice of a host of famous cartoon personalities: the original Woody Woodpecker (he did the laugh), Warner Bros. cartoon characters (Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales and many more) and of Barney Rubble, the parrot and Dino the Dino on The Flintstones and many many more.
The short routine below as done by Benny and Blanc many times over the years. It was reportedly one of the great Benny’s favorites — because the great Blanc cracked him up (watch Benny close and you can see him). Here’s a black and white version done in the 50s of this routine performed over the years on his radio show during the 40s:
Here’s when he did it in the early 60s on TV. Again if you’re a comedy buff watch Benny and Blanc closely:
And here they are doing it in the late 60s in color on a taped Benny special:
And — here is a treasure — Benny and Blanc on the Johnny Carson show where you can see how Benny loved Blanc. And they do a bit of the routine again (Benny still cracks up):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ6-y_aMLhw
FOOTNOTE 1: As someone who does comedy, Benny is my all time favorite due to his impeccable timing. When he went from a dying vaudeville to pioneer comedy on radio he created a character — Jack Benny, a cheap, vain comedian. From a comedy standpoint, however, he perfected the technique of prolonging a laugh by scanning the audience. This became most evident on TV. Note how he will look around the room. It’s his facial expressions plus scanning of the audience that milks a laugh (I have watched him so much I do my own version of it in my own performances). Lots of Benny’s work is available on video.
Blanc was of the most talented voice actors of all times but — as you can see here — was as effective when a camera was aimed at him as he was when he recorded voices in a studio.
What’s most fun is watching the sheer joy of Benny as he does these bits with Blanc.
FOOTNOTE 2: Blanc did not do the voice of Elmer Fudd. That was done by Arthur Q. Bryan — and here is the face behind the voice.
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.