Bob And Ray Keener Than Most Persons (Hardcover Book)

By the established comedy conventions of their era, Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding were true game changers. Never playing to the balcony, Bob and Ray instead entertained each other. Because they believed in their nuanced characters and absurd premises, their audience did, too. Their parodies – broadcasting about broadcasting – existed in their own special universe. A complete absence of show-biz slickness set them apart from the very institution they were mocking, yet were still a part of.They resisted being called comedians and never considered themselves &l dquo;an act.”

Bob and Ray, Keener Than Most Persons traces the origins and development of the pair's unique sensibility thatdefined their dozens of local and network radio and TV series, later mo tion picture roles, Carnegie Hall performances, and hit Broadway show Bob and Ray – The Two and Only.

Together for 43 years (longer than Laurel and Hardy, Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello, andMartin and Lewis), the twosome deflected all intrusions into the person alities behind their many masks and the dynamics of their relationship, and rarely elaborated on their career trajectory or methodology. Now, with the full cooperation of Bob Elliott and of Ray Goulding's widow, Liz,together with insights from numerous colleagues, their craft and the cu lture that made them so relevant is explored in depth.