# How would you rate Tim Conway as a comedian? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948 "2014-09-30T07:35:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/41 "2014-09-30T18:19:39Z")
I do respect any performer who commits to the material as much as he did. But I’ll have to be in the minority here: he shouldn’t have accepted his partners cracking up. All the other great deadpan commedians would have demanded re-takes. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/42 "2014-09-30T18:35:20Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I do respect any performer who commits to the material as much as he did. But I’ll have to be in the minority here: he shouldn’t have accepted his partners cracking up. All the other great deadpan commedians would have demanded re-takes. The live break-ups of the cast was one of the major attractions of the show. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/43 "2014-09-30T18:35:45Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I do respect any performer who commits to the material as much as he did. But I’ll have to be in the minority here: **he shouldn’t have accepted his partners cracking up.** All the other great deadpan commedians would have demanded re-takes. That was his _goal_. He would have accepted nothing less. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/44 "2014-09-30T18:58:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Another classic, the [dentist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk92O0SEjXc) sketch. This is my favorite; thanks! It has been reducing me to tears for more than 35 years now. Mr. Conway, if you ever read through this thread, thank you; you totally fucking rock! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/45 "2014-09-30T18:58:21Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I do respect any performer who commits to the material as much as he did. But I’ll have to be in the minority here: he shouldn’t have accepted his partners cracking up. All the other great deadpan commedians would have demanded re-takes. Was some of that done live? ---
**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:** [September 30, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/46 "2014-09-30T19:04:16Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Was some of that done live? Aye, TCBS was done live in front of an audience. IMO it’s part of the charm of the show that all these other seasoned comedians are so often reduced to laughing tears themselves by Mr. Conway. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/47 "2014-09-30T19:38:56Z")
I love Tim Conway-his humor isn’t mean like a lot of today’s comedy. I was sick earlier this year and binge-watched a lot of the Carol Burnett Show clips on youtube. This one’s hilarious, mainly because of course Harvey’s cracking up: Harvey can barely say his lines in parts of this one: :D ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/48 "2014-09-30T19:57:35Z")
Frankly, I don’t see Tim Conway as a stand up comedian. As a comedic actor, he was perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/49 "2014-09-30T20:04:27Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Frankly, I don’t see Tim Conway as a stand up comedian. As a comedic actor, he was perfect. I don’t either, but he could be great at it. I see him a lot like Bob Newhart, who I also don’t really think of for standup, but he was brilliant at it. Come to think of it, Tim Conway and Bob Newhart could have been the best comedy team ever! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/50 "2014-09-30T20:38:31Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > I do respect any performer who commits to the material as much as he did. But I’ll have to be in the minority here: he shouldn’t have accepted his partners cracking up. All the other great deadpan commedians would have demanded re-takes. In rehersal he would run through the sketch as written. No ad libs. No physical humor. Sometimes in front of the audience he would completely go off the rails. Often he would know exactly what he was doing and collaborated with the director and the sound effects guy. For instance in the dentist sketch Harvey had no idea what he was going to do. You try to keep a straight face then. And it was in front of an audience. They tried to get the first reaction for the show. They were trying to do the exact opposite of what you were thinking they should do. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/51 "2014-09-30T20:59:25Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > In rehersal he would run through the sketch as written. No ad libs. No physical humor. Sometimes in front of the audience he would completely go off the rails. Often he would know exactly what he was doing and collaborated with the director and the sound effects guy. For instance in the dentist sketch Harvey had no idea what he was going to do. You try to keep a straight face then. And it was in front of an audience. They tried to get the first reaction for the show. They were trying to do the exact opposite of what you were thinking they should do. Right! Tim Conway deliberately tried to make his colleagues break character. Doing that then demanding re-takes would have made him a colossal ass. > [@cochrane](#): > > Absolutely hilarious on _The Carol Burnett Show_. His Mr. Tudball character, the boss, with Carol as his dim-witted secretary Mrs. Wiggins is one of the classic comedy segments and never failed to make me laugh. Those segments may have been the closest he ever got to breaking up Carol. The moments when she appeared to be biting her nails? She was actually biting her finger to keep from laughing! ---
**Author:** ![Vashbul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vashbul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vashbul)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/52 "2014-09-30T21:08:15Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Frankly, I don’t see Tim Conway as a stand up comedian. As a comedic actor, he was perfect. Really, he did stand up comedy? I don’t know anything about his biography, for me he just sort of came out of nowhere, playing this dopey junior officer in a half-hour scripted service sitcom. And he was great in it, even though the format left no room for improvisational hanky-panky. (Though it wouldn’t surprise me to learn he contributed some of the best lines.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/53 "2014-09-30T21:25:25Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I don’t either, but he could be great at it. I see him a lot like Bob Newhart, who I also don’t really think of for standup, but he was brilliant at it. > > Come to think of it, Tim Conway and Bob Newhart could have been the best comedy team ever! I would have loved to see Robin Williams and Tim Conway together. I’d even be willing to bet Williams couldn’t get Conway to crack up, but Conway would have Williams laughing himself silly. ---
**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:** [September 30, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/54 "2014-09-30T23:27:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Aye, TCBS was done live in front of an audience. IMO it’s part of the charm of the show that all these other seasoned comedians are so often reduced to laughing tears themselves by Mr. Conway. > [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Frankly, I don’t see Tim Conway as a stand up comedian. As a comedic actor, he was perfect. > [@Vashbul](#): > > Really, he did stand up comedy? I don’t know anything about his biography, for me he just sort of came out of nowhere, playing this dopey junior officer in a half-hour scripted service sitcom. Okay, no, to the best of my knowledge Mr. Conway never did stand-up comedy. I was using “comedian” there very deliberately. I know that Mr. Conway got his start working on various TV shows in the Cleveland area. Rose Marie visited the station where he did the majority of his work and saw tapes of a show he had a hand in. Eventually, she helped him move to NYC where he landed a gig on The Steve Allen Show. That’s the TV equivalent of “ex-Frank Zappa band member”. The rest is our good fortune. Ddamn that man is funny. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/55 "2014-10-01T01:36:45Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Okay, no, to the best of my knowledge Mr. Conway never did stand-up comedy. I was using “comedian” there very deliberately. Conway did not come to national prominence as a stand-up comic, but he sure as hell could do stand-up comedy. I once saw him doing a cow being milked for the first time, and ended up rolling on the floor laughing! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/56 "2014-10-01T02:17:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Conway did not come to national prominence as a stand-up comic, but he sure as hell could do stand-up comedy. I once saw him doing a cow being milked for the first time, and ended up **rolling on the floor laughing!** With this being mentioned several times, I wonder if Mr. Conway trademarked ROFL. ---
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/57 "2014-10-01T13:28:10Z")
> [@Vashbul](#): > > Really, he did stand up comedy? I don’t know anything about his biography, for me he just sort of came out of nowhere… Tim got his start in the early 1960s on local television in Cleveland, back in the days when local stations actually originated live programming. He did [sketches with straight man Ernie Anderson](http://media.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/photo/2013/01/12103848-standard.jpg), who later came to fame as the legendary late-night horror host [Ghoulardi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoulardi). Tim and Ernie also recorded a couple of [comedy albums](http://www.wksu.org//news/images/37447/DSC1243.JPG) together. And by the way, his real name is Tom Conway. He had to change to Tim because there was an actor of that name. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/58 "2014-10-01T14:36:31Z")
Okay, maybe I should explain my comment upthread. I think of a comedian as someone who goes on stage and tells jokes, funny stories, and/or makes observations with a humorous twist. And I don’t picture Tim Conway as doing stand-up. I think of a comedic actor as someone who does funny stuff in an acting role, often someone who plays a fool. Think of the Three Stooges. I can’t see any of them doing stand-up, but damn, they were hilarious (albeit low brow). And Conway excels at that. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/59 "2014-10-01T15:07:24Z")
I read somewhere that they usu did two live audience takes for the CB show. For the first they’d try to get the TV version nailed down; timing, censors, that sort of thing. If there were problems they’d have to clean them up on the second take, but if the episode was in the can, they’d let Conway off the chain for the second take. Would’ve loved to have been around for some of those. ---
**Author:** ![Dustin\_the\_Wind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f1d935/32.png) [@Dustin\_the\_Wind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dustin_the_Wind)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948/60 "2014-10-01T15:34:08Z")
I absolutely loved him on Carol Burnett. As a young adult, on Saturday nights I would stay home until after the show aired. There was an episode I swear I remember that I’ve never been able to find on youtube. In it, he plays a midget, I believe with Korman also in the scene. He is straddling a door knob and slowly slips to the side. If anyone knows what I am talking about and can find a link, I’d be ever so grateful. The elephant skit is one of the funniest things I have ever scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-rate-tim-conway-as-a-comedian/699948.md?page=4)