These are 6 great Bob Newhart performances
“The Button – Down Mind of Bob Newhart”: His Favorite Comedy Prior to the Greatest Comedy Moments in America
Before he created the hit stand-up special with “The Button- Down Mind of Bob Newhart” in 1960, he was a really soft guy. It’s one of the great miracle that he made a classic with so little preparation.
Newhart first made good use of that understanding onstage in comedy clubs, where he became a phenomenon in the early 1960s, setting him up for a thriving career in that decade as a variety show and talk show guest. The character he played on the sitcoms “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart” was variations on his stand-up.
The story is not true. Newhart worked in advertising for longer than he did in accounting; and his showbiz ambitions were never just an afterthought. 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:
He did not show anger, curse, or bust taboos. His style was not too aggressive. 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 didn’t belong to the great branches of American humor, which are Jewish or Black comedy. A Roman Catholic from the west side of Chicago, Newhart came off as an entirely respectable example of Midwestern nice.
Comedian Bob Newhart, who passed away on Tuesday aged 92, made his comedy debut in 1960 with a stand-up special called ‘The Button- Down Mind of Bob Newhart’. “I did it because I really liked it and it was fun,” he said. Newhart also starred in shows like ‘The Letterman Show’ and ‘The Bob Newhart Show’.