A word about Jack Benny

Today On this date in 1974 the world lost Jack Benny.

It might be hard to imagine that a guy who writes a series such as Arsenic Lullaby would know anything about a radio comedian from the 1940's and harder to imagine that such a series would owe much of itself to that show. 

The truth of it is that if you could somehow strip away all subject matter and characters and somehow could make a grid of timing, rhythm and structure...often Arsenic Lullaby and the Jack Benny program would match up pretty closely.  and there is no shame in that, nor perhaps anyway to avoid it.

90% of comedy owes itself to the foundation and techniques perfected on Jack's radio show. All modern sitcoms, anyone who learned comedy from Loony Tunes, any movie or show that breaks the fourth wall have only one degree of separation from The Jack Benny Show.

When he started, comedy was attempting to learn it's way into the new media...to figure out how to transition from from stage to screen and radio...to outgrow vaudeville over the top slapstick and imagination-less schlock.  Before Jack there was a style of comedy suited for the live stage, and a style suited for reading.  There was no style, no roadmap, no template, no recipe, no path or trail worthwhile on how to make people laugh with only sound, or with sound and "moving pictures". 

Jack Benny showed us all how.  and he didn't do it alone.  He found like minded talent and pieced it all together along with them.

His body of work spanned decades. He started in Vaudeville, moved onto radio, moved onto T.V. and movies.  If he were still alive and working today streaming entertainment may well be dramatically different....of maybe it wouldn't, as we have all learned so much from him, some of us not even knowing it.

I know it full well. As much as I pride myself on being an innovative joke teller, I learned a lot from Jack Benny.  How he wrote, how he managed, how he rolled with the punches, that he would let supporting characters have the best lines or even get the most time- all that mattered was the show being funny. ...and I probably learned most of all from his sense of timing.

He was the master of the pregnant pause and a master of timing and a master of comedy...and arguably the most innovative and important comedian of the last 100 years. 

He died on Dec.26 at the age of 39
Thank you, Mr.Benny

Here's a few comics that, while bizarre and maybe cutting edge are thick with Jack's influence, a radio comedian from the 1940's

...and last but not least... the ole "reaction to the punchline by the subject"

 Thank you Mr.Benny.

If you are tragically unfamiliar with the Jack Benny show...here's a link to one of my favorites.  You may notice some familiar characters and archetypes as you listen.