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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic low-key comedy, May 12, 2003
This review is from: Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart (Audio CD)
The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart is a classic for a reason--it's still funny. But timelessness is a hallmark of Newhart's brand of comedy, however. Otherwise, people would not still have been watching his hit sitcoms The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart all these years. The format of this album is simple: Bob on stage in front of an audience, generally enacting one side of a conversation. His ideas are what is termed "high-concept," which means they can be summarized in one sentence, or in his case, in a few words. Case in point, track one, "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue." Now from the beginning you know exactly what this is about, and just in case Bob introduces each skit with an explanation. It's low-key (hence "button-down") and it's clean, so the whole family can listen (although as you can tell from the track listing, a basic knowledge of history is helpful). Only the Krushchev skit may be entirely unfamiliar to modern listeners. Button-Down Mind holds up to repeated listenings, but at just over 30 minutes, this price may be too much to spend. Something Like This...The Bob Newhart Anthology is a much better deal, as it contains a lot more material and is not much more expensive.
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Pleasant Surprise for a Younger Generation, February 12, 2005
This review is from: Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart (Audio CD)
Unlike many who have commented on this CD, I am not familiar with the Bob Newhart show simply because I am only twenty one years old. When I received this album, I was skeptical at first. The title sounded dry and the picture of Bob Newhart on the cover led me to believe that I was in for some of the most conservative comedy I'd ever listened to.
I must say that, after listening to the album half a dozen times, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" is a comedic smash. For someone who grew up listening to Bill Cosby, Bob Newhart's hilarious "one-sided conversational" style of comedy is a scream. While an understanding of history is necessary in order to soak up every ounce of this album, even one who is not familiar with, say the Kruschev landing, will enjoy Newhart's style and absolutely perfect sense of timing.
This album has truly sparked my interest in his work and I hope to soon be adding more Bob Newhart albums to join my already growing collection of Bill Cosby.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Standup from Another Era, October 17, 2002
This review is from: Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart (Audio CD)
Recorded more than forty years ago, "The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart," will not be a big surprise to anyone who anly knows Newhart as a television actor. Newhart's standup routines had the same kind of dry wit that he would later use to perfection as a comedic actor. The six lengthy stories included on this album all have the same basic structure. One character is speaking while others are engaging in unheard conversation or just listening. The high point comes with "Nobody Will Ever Play Baseball," in which a befuddled Abner Doubleday tries to sell the unknown game to a modern toy company executive. The brilliance of the piece is that we only hear the toy executive's end of the telephone conversation. "Abe Lincoln Vs. Madison Avenue" and "Merchandizing and the Wright Brothers" both have a similar themes. The album's only drawback is that parts of it are quite dated. The Krushchev bit will baffle anyone under age fifty and the Driving Instructor routine is quite sexist. Nevertheless, this recording is a great relic for fans of Bob Newhart.
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