Remembering Comedy Legend Bob Elliott (1923-2016)
Bob Elliott’s Serious Comedy Set a Standard
Regardless of whether you know the name or not– let alone his comedy– Bob Elliott’s contribution to comedy is one not only of note, but worth celebrating. From Fernwood Tonight to National Lampoon’s Radio Hour to SNL’s Weekend Update, Bob Elliott and his partner Ray Goulding set a standard that so many comics have tried their hardest to live up to. With partner Ray Goulding, they were masters of both improv comedy and parodying the media they appeared on, while satirizing everything with signature low-key, deadpan humor.
The bit, as simple as it may seem, was brilliant. Former newsman Goulding and disc jockey Elliott would pretend to be radio hosts, doing parody radio shows and ultimately moving on to spoofing early TV in the 50s. Sometimes, people didn’t even get the joke, or know there was a joke right in front of them, the parody was so fully realizing. If Elliott or Goulding ever winked, the audience didn’t see it. The closer you got to the thing they were mocking, the funnier they thought it was. And that seems to be why their footprint is even larger today, than it was at the time.
Both played plenty of characters on TV, finding themselves in demand as a comedy duo guesting on sitcoms, variety shows, specials, and in a variety of other fields such as commercials, stage shows, and books. But the shadow they cast on younger comedians who saw their brilliance is clear. Parody is challenging, the line between comedy and simply remaking the target sometimes is blurred. But the brilliant way they embraced that blurred line is why they made an impact. The closer a comic could get to doing what was parodied, the funnier and smarter it was. Comedy stylings of Bob Newhart (especially his comedy albums), Andy Daly (Review or his Podcast Pilot Project) and films of Christopher Guest feel like the spiritual successor of the lessons Elliott and Goulding taught on the beauty of the balancing act of parody…play it deadpan and trust the joke will land.
It would be hard to imagine that David Letterman, sometimes parodying the genre of talk shows, wasn’t a fan of Elliott and Goulding…which makes sense, considering the delight he took in Chris Elliott’s appearances on the show. Chris was the weird offspring of the buttoned up Bob, and the two’s occasional appearances together became pure delight. Each seemed delighted by the other, and understood the art of what they were doing as comics. Chris Elliott’s comedy is certainly more surreal than Bob Elliott’s, but the lesson of how serious one has to play comedy in order to hit that mark was passed down to the next generation.
Bob Elliott died yesterday at the age of 92, having survived the death of his wife Lee Peppers (4 years earlier) and comedy partner Ray Goulding (25 years earlier). Along with his son Chris Elliott, the youngest of Bob’s five children, he was the grandfather of two of comedy’s new generation; Abby and Bridey Elliott.
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