Bob Elliott, master of satire, dies at 92

[mac56]

Source: Washington Post

"In a career that was as ridiculous as it was sublime, Bob Elliott, who died Feb. 2 at 92 in Cundys Harbor, Maine, was half of the comedy team Bob and Ray. He and the late Ray Goulding were among the drollest and most inventive pop-culture satirists of their generation as writers, producers and actors."

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/pop-culture-satirist-bob-elliott-dies-at-92/2016/02/03/9ec0f682-ca98-11e5-ae11-57b6aeab993f_story.html

[elleng]

1. Bob and Ray "Most Beautiful Face Winner"

[djean111]

9. Thank you! Laugh out loud funny. Every time.

No matter what.

[elleng]

29. Yes they are/were,

and just THINKING of them brings

[mahatmakanejeeves]

26. That was great. Thanks for posting it. NT

[HassleCat]

2. Thought about Bob and Ray last night.

Saw Chris Elliot on some sitcom and immediately thought of Bob and Ray.

[red dog 1]

11. Was it "Get a Life"

I loved that sit-com.

It was the first time I ever saw Chris Elliott, and, IMO, it was very funny.

Chris' dad, Bob Elliott played his dad in "Get a Life"
Just about every line Bob Elliott had in that sit-com was hilarious.

[Roy Rolling]

14. Get a Life was great

Chris is now on "Schitt's Creek".

[ybbor]

34. I hope he brought a paddle

Chris was so great on the early Late Nite with David Letterman shows.

Bob was great playing his dad on Get a Life, and his mom was played by one of my early crushes from the Andy Griffith Show, she was Andy's early girlfriend, Ellie. She was the pharmacist at the drug store in Mayberry.

And on another note, I was the Bob in my very funny friend, Joe who went by Ray (very long story there) and my amateur Bob and Ray comedy troup. We mainly cracked our close friends up with our stupid antics. Oh memories...

RIP Bob! You were an awesome talent!

[reflection]

3. Aw man. I grew up reading "Write If You Get Work."

a teenager in the 80s, my friends were completely flummoxed as to why I found that book funny. They couldn't wrap their heads around the concept that anything older than they were was "cool." Their loss.

[virgogal]

4. I remember their Boston radio show. Tempus fugit.

[FSogol]

5. Damn. I was a huge Bob and Ray fan. They were the funniest guys ever.

Here's a classic routine about a sore loser after a political loss

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4cxtq_sore-loser_fun

[classof56]

6. Back in the radio-only days of my youth, I loved Bob and Ray

One of the brighter spots in my rather dreary life.

RIP, Bob. You'll never know the good you and your partner Ray did whilst on this old earth.

[mac56]

7. I wrote this a while back.

http://namebrandketchup.com/2011/07/21/bob-and-ray-the-komodo-dragon-expert/

[Kalidurga]

8. Not fair

I just recently learned about these guys. They were a hoot.

[Jack Rabbit]

10. RIP

[center]

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[2naSalit]

12. Really liked him/them...

[7962]

13. So many that I remember growing up are leaving us. Sad.

They were always so funny

[Gregorian]

15. Aw.

I saw them live in the 70's. I think it was at Stanford university. The days of McGovern, and Pat Paulsen doing his crazy run for president. Wacky.

Oh no, the old guard is going. Life.

[peacefreak]

16. He was a lovely man.

I had the pleasure of knowing him. He used to come to the bookstore where I worked. I was in awe of him at first, but as time passed I would tell him Bush jokes during the Dim Son years.
After the bookstore closed my phone rang one afternoon. It was Mr. Elliott. He called to wish me well. It was the kindest thing.
May he rest in peace.

[mac56]

20. Aw, wow. Something in my eye.

Indeed, may he rest in peace.

[Gregorian]

33. Amazing.

That's like the time my sister wrote Jimmy Carter, and he wrote her back.

It hurts to lose wonderful people.

[shenmue]

17. Rest in peace

[roguevalley]

18. between car talk and Bob and Ray

Life was good. Some people need to be immortal.

[Miles Archer]

19. Bob & Ray had a rare gift...

...many of their characters said terrible things, but it was never mean. There was always a light-hearted sweetness at the foundation of all of their satire.

Example: The ongoing "Tippy The Wonder Dog," a spoof on Lassie. In one episode Ray goes up in a helicopter with Tippy to search for a missing kid or something and it ends with Ray leaving a note saying "PS: Your dog bit me, so I threw him out."



R.I.P., Bob. The greatest comedy duo of all time has been reunited in the next world.

[DaveT]

21. Radio's highly regarded

Wally Ballew.

Signing off.


An all time great.

[mac56]

22. "....ly Ballou."

[bvf]

24. Beat me to it! n/t

[FSogol]

36. ...ly Ballou. Remember when he covered the President's Day Parade by describing a brick wall?

Turn around Wally, the parade is behind you....

[bvf]

23. "---ly Ballou here, reporting from..."

Bob and Ray were treasures. I was so sad when I heard about Ray Goulding's passing some time ago. This is just as sad.

By sheer coincidence, I was just going through a large collection of their old radio show just yesterday. Bob and Ray are timeless.

(They had small roles in the movie Cold Turkey, a little-known gem in itself.)

[dflprincess]

38. "Cold Turkey" is a wonderful movie

I watched it not too long ago and it still makes me laugh.

You have to be old enough to remember Huntley-Brinkley and Walter Cronkite (and how TV anchors were once respected) to really enjoy the parts Bob & Ray play in the movie. I especially liked when "Walter Chronic" arrived in town (I think he just walked into the operating room) and everyone gasps in awe - as he stands under a round florescent light that looks like a halo around his head.

[bvf]

39. True, wrt the respect we once held for Cronkite et al.

And I love that scene, too. Your description was spot-on!

[dhill926]

25. aw man...

just LOVED Bob And Ray. 2 kinds of folks...those who got their humor...and those who didn't...

[olddots]

27. every humorist out there was

effected by Bob & Ray .

[bvf]

40. Yes! There are large parts of

Firesign Theatre and the old National Lampoon Radio Hour that I swear were directly inspired by/lifted from them.

At the risk of sounding like the old fart I am, younger people generally seem to think of humor from the radio era as corn. Bob and Ray were anything but, and poked WTF-level great fun at their own medium.

Goodbye, Bob, and thank you both for your genius.

[RufusTFirefly]

28. How sad! I am a GIGANTIC Bob and Ray connoisseur

I'm sure that Keith Olbermann, who spoke at Bob's birthday a few years back, might claim that he's an even bigger one (and he may even be right), but there's seldom a day that goes by when I don't listen to some of their material. Even though I'm not old enough to remember them when they were broadcast, my favorites are the 15-minute daily shows they did on CBS during 1959 and 1960.

One of my favorites (and one of the strangest) was a show from Oct. 22, 1959, when reacting to the phoniness of game shows, they feel the need to come clean and inform their characters (Wally Ballou, Mary McGoon, Webley Webster, et. al) that they aren't actually real. Some of them handle the news a little better than others.


https://archive.org/details/BobRay--bobRayPresentTheCbsRadioNetwork1959-60
The show is known as "Setting the Record Straight," and it's B and R at their surrealist best.

Although many people know Wally Ballou, some of my favorite Bob Elliott characters were the secondary ones:

Mug Mellish, the gravel voiced companion of Lawrence Fechtenberger, Interstellar Officer Candidate, who always had to be reminded not to sneer.

Aunt Penny's second banana, Danny, who was forever snacking on her cookies and adjusting the Venetian blinds, often with disastrous consequences,

and Eddie, the clumsy drummer for song-sayer, Natalie Attired.

[Paladin]

30. RIP to one of the great ones. (nt)

[underpants]

31. The Great Lakes Paper Clip Company - how foretelling was this?

There are reports of your employees foraging for food at the dump.

Well, we try not to delve into their personal lives.

Actual bit here.

[rurallib]

32. my early introduction to satire

through MAD magazine.

Thanks for your gift to the world, Bob Elliot.

ETA - I slip into "The Slowest Talking Man In The World" just to drive my family nuts once in a while

[red dog 1]

35. R.I.P. Bob Elliott

I've been a fan of Bob & Ray for decades.

I guess I first saw them on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
(They always cracked Johnny up)

My two favorite Bob & Ray bits were:
1) - The Kimono Dragon
2) - Slow Talkers of America

I also loved seeing Bob Elliott on his son's sit-com "Get a Life"

He will be missed!

[Duppers]

37. "What are they doing in there?...

I don't know but I have my suspicions."


Aww, the implications.