Welcome back to Chicago, Bob Newhart. Returning to the city where he had grown up, Bob Newhart returned in style, this time anchoring an already terrific TBS Just for Laughs Festival at the Chicago Theatre. The veteran comic showed that he is still as funny as ever with a collection of material that had the packed theatre laughing with little reprieve.
Presenting his angle on televangelists among many other things, Newhart showed why he is considered one of the best comedians with his humorous storytelling ability, his finesse and perfectly timed punch line delivery.
“So this televangelist, Oral Roberts, mentioned in his third book that he had actually met Jesus… I don’t know. That seems like a pretty big deal. I mean, the guy met Jesus. Wouldn’t that be something you would bring up in your first book? Maybe his wife reminded him one day of his meeting with Jesus and he said, ‘Oh yeah, I should mention that in my next book somewhere.’”
He included a classic war story where he suffered a paper cut, a collection of “true” stories, one of which included a chicken being fired at a train as a test weapon in which when told to NASA it went through the front windshield and embedded itself on the back of the cab, they replied, “Well…defrost it.” Newhart also included the legendary bit “Driving Instructor” from his bestselling comedy album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart”, an album that outsold Elvis Presley and ranks 20th bestselling all time on Billboard’s charts.
Newhart strolled onto the stage to the theme of The Bob Newhart Show, one of the greatest sitcoms of all time and one that was based in Chicago (the apartment building in the opening credits is located in Edgewater on Sheridan Avenue). Audience members ranged from teens to seniors and no one was without hearty laughter. Newhart narrated a video montage of the history of the Newhart’s in America that was just hilarious. Coverage started in the late 1700’s and went all the way to the final episode on “Newhart” where he wakes up from a crazy dream and Emily is in the bed – one of the greatest sitcom endings ever. Newhart then said his goodbyes, walked off the stage and returned shortly explaining that he just did a phony walk off. “This is something that entertainers call a “phony walk off”. We walk off the stage and then count somewhere between four and twelve seconds then return. Of course, there is a gamble there that if we count to high, we might return to an empty auditorium.”
It was a true thrill to see Bob Newhart perform and I can only hope there’s more Bob to come in the next couple of years.
