FIREZINE #5: Bob & Ray

PHIL AUSTIN: Bob and Ray are the sweetest and slowest comedians of our time. (The only thing close to them I can think of is the wonderful team that dominated radio in L.A. in the sixties, Lohmann and Barkley.) You might be tempted to equate Bob and Ray's pacing with that of Laurel and Hardy, but Laurel and Hardy begrudge slowness, fight and rage against it like men trying to extricate themselves from evil molasses, whereas Bob and Ray master slow-ness, love it, seem to have sore basic understanding that the dogged pace of their humor is their humor. They are never rushed and you always feel completely at home with them, which is not the same thing as listening to Reiner and Brooks, brilliant as they can be. I love Bob and Ray probably as much as I love Spike Milligan and it seems to me that the comedians whom you love are not loved because they make you laugh so much as because they have formed a brotherhood with your sense of humor and since your sense of humor is your best self, they are somehow allied with the best of you and what more can you ask from friends? Bob and Ray are the friendliest of comedians and friendship is not a shallow thing. It's deep and so are they.

DAVID OSSMAN: These men, with their state-of-the-art precision timing and wise wiseacre comedy writing, really defined the art of media satire. They played a gentlemanly game of radio tennis with one another, and Firesign eventually started a rowdier doubles match in the next court.
   Bob & Ray's mock aplomb and/or professional anxiety about "being on the radio" was shared by all the great radio comics, but with pieces like "Slow Talkers of America" they distilled the essence of discomfort from the interview form. They did relentlessly good-natured commercials and parodies of Philco-era radio shows, too. So did the Firesign in their wake, especially at the beginning; "Mutt n' Smutt," "Gramp's World," "Forward, Into The Past!" Sgt. Schvinkter of the Dirt Patrol, Fantastic Cigarettes, Funny Names Clubs of America. . . Hal and Ray…
   On our live radio shows Proctor in particular would be apt to turn into a Bob & Ray character, Mrs. Preskey (who wanted to have her husband frozen - but he's not so sure) was a great one. Both Phils in their "Finger Brothers" act. doing "Mutt 'n' Smutt," were Bob & Ray classic. All our "inside radio" satires owe a great debt of gratitude to Bob & Ray's commercials and news spots.
   I never met either Bob or Ray, but I did have the good fortune on behalf of all their fans to effect their return to radio via "The Sunday Show", a weekly broadcast I hosted for NPR in 1982. Talking with their producer about a regular spot on our show. I wanted to make sure Bob & Ray did some brand-new material. (Radio producers always want great older talents to write some equally terrific new stuff!) Bob & Ray came up with "Garish Summit," and very shortly found themselves with their own show over a lot of public radio stations. Thanks, Bob! Thanks, Ray!

PETER BERGMAN: Bob and Ray were probably the greatest surreal influence on my life as a comedian. Because I knew them almost exclusively through the radio, they can also take credit for influencing my style of radio humor. I don’t believe any one was in their league at the time and I also believe that the Firesign probably is the foremost standard bearer of the Bob and Ray tradition. I still remember being mesmerized and delighted by "Matt Neffer Boy Spot Welding King Of The World." All hail to Bob and Ray!

PHIL PROCTOR: In a nutshell, Bob & Ray and Ernie Kovacs were the main media influences on my young spongey brain, and I adored the surrealism and the "backstage" aspect of their work. Kovacs broke the TV "proscenium" all the time as did Bob & Ray, by breaking one another up and doing the same to poor Peter Roberts, the WNEW newsman, and other announcers on the station. They also had on-air interviews with staff members and live interviews with bizarre performers like Leona Anderson, who had two horribly funny records out called "Popocatapetl" and "Rats In My Room". They also played a lot of strange records by "amateur" performers and rigged a cannon sound to blow them off the air. My mom and dad were great fans as well and probably introduced me to the boys, and since they were on in NYC from 6-9 every day. Mom used to record them on our reel-to-reel when I left for school. When I got home, I’d listen to the rest of the show and edit out my favorite bits. Those tapes later became part of Larry Josephson’s Bob & Ray releases, soon available from LodesTone, I hear! I also sent them some notes which they read on air! First time my "writing" was "performed" on the radio, I guess...They are simply geniuses, but I did hear that a writer was ghost-writing much of their material. I don’t care. The performance was everything!