I’ve been thinking a lot about my friend who rents a small place in the basement of KCOW, the enterprising weirdsmobile himself, Bob S. Bestos. Bob has been making regular appearances on my morning program again after a long sabbatical in Antarctica. And I have been coercing otherwise sensible people into taping cameo guest appearances on Bob’s annual KCOW Halloween special (date and time to be announced, because sports!).
Now…since you’re reading this blog and are therefore part of our Wentyworld secret society, I will reveal a shocking fact to you….I hope you are not disillusioned. But Bob S. Bestos is a fictional character. If hearing this news upsets you, well…forget it. As far as I’m concerned, Bob is a living, breathing almost-human being. When I talk to him, I’m not talking to Herr You-Know-Who, I’m talking to Bob–and his pets. When I write Bloedorn Lumber commercials or things like our Halloween special, I always consider: What Would Bob Say Or Do Here? Bob and I have been doing this nonsense for over fifteen years…I know how to write for him, and he knows how to sucker-punch me during our live morning show visits by name-dropping random people and other chicanery.
In every comedy duo, there is generally the funny one and the “straight man”. I’m the straight man, which I have gotten pretty good at over the years. I feed Bob questions, argue with him, basically just exist as something for him to bounce off of.
The particular type of bit that Bob and I do goes back many, many years…and here is your guide to The Comedy Duos Consisting Of The Funny Fictional Character And The Straight Man Hall Of Fame. (The board of directors is working on shortening the name.)
Funny Guy: Crazy Guggenheim (played by Frank Fontaine)
Straight Man: Jackie Gleason
In a 1960’s reworking of the “Joe The Bartender” sketch from Gleason’s 50’s variety series, Crazy Guggenheim is added to the mix as a loopy bar patron who comes in and chats with Joe before singing a song.
Funny Guy: Rowlf The Dog (performed by Jim Henson)
Straight Man: Jimmy Dean
Rowlf was the first Muppet to hit it big, via weekly appearances on “The Jimmy Dean Show”. Jim Henson and Frank Oz spoke in later years about the many lessons learned from working with the variety show writers and learning the basics of comedy.
Funny Guy: The 2000-Year-Old-Man (played by Mel Brooks)
Straight Man: Carl Reiner
This classic bit began as something Brooks and Reiner did in the “Your Show Of Shows” writers’ room….became an act the two did at parties…and eventually, at the urging of show biz friends including Steve Allen, was put on record. The two men were best friends, and in their golden years spent many an evening eating dinner and watching “Jeopardy!” together. Now that’s a nice friendship. Carl Reiner is the best there is at this kind of thing. By the time they made the record the routines were fairy well laid out, but Reiner could always handle a curve ball from Brooks or sneak in an unexpected question or comment on the sly,
Funny Guy: Frank Nelson (travel agent, department store clerk, dept. of motor vehicles clerk, etc etc etc,)
Straight Man: Jack Benny
I couldn’t do this article without Jack Benny. He and his writers figured out early on that Jack was a great reactor; he was at his best when reacting, with wounded pride, to a wisecrack from Rochester or Mary or Dennis or Fred Allen or his violin teacher or…well, darn near anybody. One of Jack’s frequent foes, in radio and later television, was Frank Nelson. Wherever Jack went, there was Frank with his trademark “Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssss?” (Accept no substitutions!) Their interactions were eagerly awaited, and Nelson always received “entrance applause”.
Funny Guy: Bob S. Bestos
Straight Man: Wenty
As Bob’s theme song (words and lyrics by Irving Cohen) says:
“One day while I was on the job
from our basement came a brain-dead slob
He said ‘Hello, my name is Bob!’
That’s how I met Bob S. Bestos.“
And then, Bob got a pet pig. Which he named Hot Dog. And a pet chicken, which he named Ranchy. And in 2018. Bob and the pig went to the Olympics.