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Posted (edited)

Just read on FB that he passed away at 92, a nice long run.

Bob: The slooooooowwww taaaaaaaaaalkers of (pregnant pause during which Ray, who can no longer stand the slowness of delivery, finally angrily interrupts with America! The Slow Talkers of America!) Aaaaaaaameeeeer (another pause)iiiiicaaaaa.....

Will miss you, Bob. You were a class act... 

 

Edited by fasstrack
Posted

 --ly Ballou has signed off.

While not unexpected, this is very sad to hear.  I adore the comedy of Bob & Ray and have recordings from all stages of their career.  It's a kind of gentle & intelligent comedy which could never take hold today.

He was also the father of Chris Elliott and co-starred with him in the TV series Get A Life. 

Thank you Mr. Elliott for a ton of laughs.  In lieu of RIP, it may be more fitting to say, "Hang by your thumbs and write if you get work".

Posted

For Christmas a few years ago, my wife gave me a USB thumb drive from BobandRay.com, containing every authorized recording in their catalog - 90 hours of material. I assumed that I had heard it all by now, but it was impossible to be sure. On a long drive today, I found a "disc" which, sure enough, I had never heard. I like to think that Mr. Elliott led me to it. (Not seriously, but it's a nice thought.)

 

Posted

I used to listen to them in New York (WOR, 710, I think) with my dad.  They were a riot in their special, understated way.

I also remember seeing a program about them at the Museum of Broadcasting in NY.  Probably still have the program somewhere in my files.

One of my favorites is the Slow Talkers of America routine.

I'm going to polish my Monongahela steel ingot tonight.

 

Posted
18 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Ha. He appeared in Chris's sitcom with him. I guess no good deed goes unpunished...

Posted

One of my favorite Bob & Ray moments came from their old "Matinee With Bob & Ray" show on WHDH in Boston.  They were interviewing some touring band leader -- I forget who exactly, but it was not a top name, but maybe a second tier name like Russ Morgan or somebody -- and he was on their show to promote his gig in town at that time.  What they did to him, and this was back in the late 1940's already, was a kind of "Komodo Dragon expert" interview, where they would ask him questions about which he had already supplied the answers in his previous statements.  Since he was an out-of-towner and probably not familiar with these guys or their program, its not clear at first if he was getting the joke.  He seemed a bit perplexed but polite because he didn't want to be rude to his hosts, but after awhile it sounded like he realized they were pulling his leg.

The "Matinee With Bob & Ray" shows are really fun because it was just them riffing and having a half-hour of airtime to fill everyday.  With no scripts and no rehearsal, they would just launch into a sketch when the inspiration struck them and end it when they got tired of it.  And Bob Elliott did a great Arthur Godfrey impersonation.

Lots of great Bob & Ray can be heard here:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=bob %26 ray

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