# Bob Newhart's standup comedy. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396 "2013-10-04T21:13:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/21 "2013-10-07T16:16:33Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > And is his mind still buttoned down? A lot of people don’t remember Bob Newhart as a standup comedian. And a lot of people don’t remember comedy albums period! But Bob Newhart actually won one of the first Grammies ever given out for Best Album, for the record you allude to: _ **The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart** _, from 1961. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/22 "2013-10-07T16:48:06Z")
I’d love to see him. A coworker once said my deadpan demeanor reminded him of Bob Newhart, which I took as high praise. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/23 "2013-10-08T18:04:12Z")
I heard an old routine of his on one of the XM channels, and it was hilarious. I checked later based on his comment during the routine that he’d got married AND had his first child that year. That year was 1963. Fifty years later that shit’s still funny. If he came to the Bay Area I’d go see him. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/24 "2013-10-08T18:10:54Z")
I was on a long drive and got to hear his interview on XM. He was asked how he came to be friends with Don Rickles. He said that the casino manager came to him and said, “Mr. Rickles has no friends. Please be Mr. Rickles friend.” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/25 "2013-10-08T19:54:40Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > A lot of people don’t remember Bob Newhart as a standup comedian. > > And a lot of people don’t remember comedy albums period! > > But Bob Newhart actually won one of the first Grammies ever given out for Best Album, for the record you allude to: _ **The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart** _, from 1961. I still have my LP of that and _Behind the Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart_ and _The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back_ and _The Windmills Are Weakening_. I used to perform _Driving Instructor_ regularly; even young folks who had never heard his stand-up loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/26 "2013-10-08T19:56:06Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > I was on a long drive and got to hear his interview on XM. He was asked how he came to be friends with Don Rickles. He said that the casino manager came to him and said, “Mr. Rickles has no friends. Please be Mr. Rickles friend.” Holy shit that’s funny! Made me Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there even! ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/27 "2013-10-08T20:31:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Don’t let Shelley Berman hear you saying that. He’s always claimed that he invented it and Newhart stole his act. > > Newhart has acknowledged that Berman and other comedians were doing a similar act before he did. That’s why I qualified it. Comedians are really territorial about who did what bit _first_, but I think they get really annoyed when someone else does it _better_. For the life of me, I can’t recall a Shelly Berman phone bit. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/28 "2013-10-08T21:06:17Z")
I still have and listen to _The Button Down…_ LP. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/29 "2013-10-09T01:18:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m not sure if Newhart’s a comedian, or just the best straight man in the history of the world. That’s his way of being alone on stage and still giving the other guy all the funny lines. This. Absolutely brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/30 "2013-10-09T02:01:43Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Holy shit that’s funny! Made me Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there even! Let it go, Bo. This is really getting old. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396/31 "2013-10-09T03:00:27Z")
Sssh. It just encourages him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bob-newharts-standup-comedy/670396.md?page=1)