Comedy Central's Top 100 Stand-ups of all time

[Big Al]

I got for my birthday a 2-CD set of Newhart's most famous routines. I'm slowly working my way through it, listening to one at a time. Every one has been great so far, but his style is nearly fifty years old, and it is a little bit like watching a TV rerun too many times.

Not for me! Every time I listen to that CD set, I laugh as hard as the first time I listened to it. The compilers really got it right on this one, because of all the tracks that were left off, none of them are missed terribly. My favorites are "Introducing Tobacco to Civilization," "Defusing a Bomb," and "The Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company." And, of course, "Driving Instructor!"

BTW, the compilation is called Something Like This: The Best of Bob Newhart. I don't know that I'd call Bob Newhart a stand-up comedian. His style seems more like "sit-down" comedy.