[Music]
Hello friends and welcome to this day in
Jack Benny I'm John Henderson today
we're launching into the audiobook of
Jack Benny and the Golden Age of
American radio comedy and I have with me
the author Catherine H Fuller Seeley hi
Kathy how long did it take you to write
the book about 10 years from 2007 when I
said Gee I'd like to
write this book but I had to learn
everything about radio and everything
about Jack Benny I can't start writing
until I've learned most everything
well let's get to the first chapter
fantastic chapter one's my favorite
chapter but every chapter is my favorite
chapter so
enjoy the show
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foreign
becoming Benny the development of Jack
Benny's character-focused comedy for
radio
anticipation mixed with anxiety in the
small glass enclosed broadcasting Studio
installed in the old roof Garden
situated atop Broadway's New Amsterdam
theater on Monday night May 2nd 1932.
beginning at 9 30 PM Eastern the
inaugural episode of Canada Dry Ginger
ale's half hour radio program aired live
carried over a network of NBC blue radio
stations covering the Eastern United
States the only audience members were
representatives from the show's sponsor
advertising agency and network the
program's concept and cast had been
assembled for Canada Dry by NBC
executive Bertha Brainerd as a new
Direction in sponsorship for the company
which had previously underwritten a
dramatic and violent Adventure series
set in the Canadian Rockies Canada
drives advertising agency NWA are in Sun
build the new show as 30 minutes of
music and quips featuring six numbers
played by New York bandleader George
Olson and his orchestra and sung by his
spouse siegfeld Follies star Ethel
shooter already widely familiar to radio
listeners they were considered to be to
be the main attraction of the show the
music would be interspersed with brief
monologue segments performed by 38 year
old Vaudeville veteran Jack Benny who
was introduced as that Suave comedian
dry humorist and famous Master of
Ceremonies in his first performance for
Canada Dry Benny told a series of jokes
drawn from his well-honed stage routine
offering informal and genial
self-deprecating comments on personal
experiences such as his Hollywood
adventures and the mediocrity of his
girlfriend who posed for the before in
before and after photos by the
conclusion of his fourth bi-weekly
episode Benny queasily realized he had
used up nearly every monologue he had
perfected over 15 years in Vaudeville
and more broadcasts lay ahead of him
the new Canada Dry show joined a rapidly
increasing number of variety comedy
programs on Prime Time network radio
while music had been the dominant
program form of the previous five years
the entertainment trade press noted that
comedy was growing as a less expensive
option for sponsors weary of paying for
high-priced orchestras and temperamental
crooners new shows in the 1932 season
featured not only newcomer Jack Benny
but also other vaudevillians such as
George Burns and Gracie Allen George
gessel Fred Allen and Jack Pearl most
like Benny were serving as MCS short for
MC or Master of Ceremonies for programs
that mixed music comedy and advertising
messages the new entrance joins such
already popular variety programs as
those hosted by Rudy Valley for
fleischmann's yeast Edwin for Texaco and
Eddie Cantor for Chase and Sanborn
coffee
the burgeoning popularity and financial
success of commercial Network radio was
the one bright spot in an American
economy sliding even further into the
Great Depression the unemployment rate
was nearly 25 percent Banks were closing
left and right and major industries had
ground to a standstill the entertainment
world was hit especially hard the
majority of Broadway theaters were
shuttered major league baseball teams
were playing in stadiums emptied of
Spectators and vacation resorts appeared
abandoned even the movie studios and
picture palaces which with the
tremendous popularity of talkies had
seemed immune to the economic crisis now
experienced a devastating downturn in
business the advertising business also
tremendously hard hit found that clients
who promoted their products on radio
programs especially in expensive
consumer goods like tobacco soap and
coffee were seeing enormous sales gains
the speed and extent to which previously
unknown Farmers like Freeman Gosden and
Charles Carrell had become nationally
famous as Amos and Andy astonished
entertainment veterans like Benny The
Duo hadn't paid their dues by honing
their act for years in theaters in the
Hinterlands the gloating of the pepcidin
company whose toothpaste's previous
meager sales skyrocketed when it began
sponsoring the Amos and Andy program in
1929 were impossible to ignore the pull
of this growing entertainment medium
coupled with the push of a steeply
declining opportunities on Broadway and
in Vaudeville due to the depression
propelled the apprehensive Benny to try
his hand in radio
facing the daunting challenge of filling
radio's unprecedented ferocious demand
for new content Jack Benny initially
struggled but ultimately thrived in the
new medium by developing new approaches
to Comedy Benny and scriptwriter Harry
Conn began to craft a personality-based
radio variety program drawing on Benny's
Vaudeville style and exploring new to
them comic constructions of what
contemporary critics termed character
comedy and comedy situations
experimenting is the program progressed
from week to week Benny and Khan
expanded The Narrative world of the show
they began developing comic identities
for the major performers orchestra
leader vocalist and announcer who stood
around the microphone framing the group
as workers putting on a radio show Benny
and Khan developed a personality for
each of them that Blended reality and
fiction the cast became as stable of
recognizable quirky yet likable
continuing characters who could bounce
off each other in informal exchanges in
the studio or interact in situations
from visiting the zoo or having dinner
at a cast member's home to performing a
parody of a popular new film this
variety greatly reduced Benny and Khan's
Reliance on Pat monologues and standard
joke telling what they developed was a
forerunner of the situation comedy a
genre that would become much more
prominent only 15 years later in radio
and television broadcasting in response
to changing industrial practices and
cultural norms
the duo could have created comic content
for the program while leaving the MC as
the star a dominant figure who was fed
straight lines by subordinates or by
making him a pleasantly Bland father
figure who wrote heard over his
workplace family instead over a three to
four year period Benny and Khan
gradually transformed The Jack Benny
Persona writer and performer
transitioned the role from the
Vaudeville character of a Suave but
self-deprecating monologist called by
Vaudeville critics the sleeky board
Joker to that of a vainglorious hapless
Fall Guy a negative Exemplar in
historian Stephen mince's terms roundly
and ritually roasted by his stable of
zany Stooges Fanny and Khan turned the
humor around Benny the MC became the
butt not the mouthpiece of the acerbic
comic lines The Jack Benny character of
radio Fame was their greatest creation
even when their partnership unraveled in
1936 they had solidified Benny's place
as the premier comedian an American
radio broadcasting
Benny's early Vaudeville persona
Jack Benny had already spent more than
20 years developing a Vaudeville
identity that brought him if not immense
stardom solid success as a musician who
had transitioned into a humorist who
held a violin in one hand and a cigar in
the other hand as he joked working as a
single who occasionally interacted with
an assistant or other acts on the bill
then he joined the expanding group of
informal modern Vaudeville hipsters whom
we would know later as stand-up comics
Benny's twist to the genre involved
creating a middling personality who was
neither young nor old wealthy nor poor
he was not loud or buffoonish and he
related to a homogenizing American
audience as much more anglo-american
than Jewish or ethnic he was a
Midwestern variant of what Vaudeville
historians term the voice of the city
variety critic Robert Landry later
asserted that Jack Benny's stage Manor
had always seemed big time even as it
was perfected in local theater
orchestras military Camp shows and
small-time Vaudeville in the 1910s early
1920s
Benny's style was subdued his delivery
one of the first examples of modern
throwaway he was poised unhurried
seemingly effortless he was not an ad
Liber in the general sense he prepared
his stuff ahead but changed it
frequently infused it with topical
Illusions But he sounded ad-lib Landry
acknowledged that Benny's appeal was
nevertheless somewhat limited because
his act demanded too much attention and
quiet to thrive either in noisy
Metropolitan nightclubs or among the
Rough and Tumble milieu of Vaudeville
comics in the Hinterlands reviews of
Benny's routine in the early 1920s
commended the reserve Poise and
personality of the monologist
Jack Benny with his slow easy patter
gets his crowd before he is well
underway commented a typical critic who
also mentioned the mediocrity of Benny's
jokes when he appeared in 1925 at New
York's Palace Theater vaudeville's
Pinnacle billboard praised Benny's droll
delivery but also labeled his routine as
being a cross between the Frank Fay and
Ben Bernie Styles initially as Ben K
Benny his early stage name in his act
Jack Benny had superficially resembled
deep voiced bandleader Ben Bernie who
grasped a fiddle and embellished the
punch lines of his jokes with the
catchphrase
Bernie pressure the younger Benny to
further modify his stage name to widen
the perceived differences between them
the comparisons with Frank Fay continued
however as Jack Benny unabashedly
modeled his act on that of the
well-known irish-american comic when
Benny returned to the Palace in April
1926 variety complemented his excellent
material and delivery and his witty
interplay with other performers Stanley
and burns the next ACT came out early
and asked to tell a story in Benny's
spot Benny's comments on the story were
real funny it was likable nonsense and a
yell when Benny stopped them as he
recognized it as a stag story then he
regularly reenacted this routine with a
female assistant Whispering the
salacious story in his ear so that he
could flirtatiously dance between polite
and sexually suggestive humor when he
Incorporated it into a 1928 vitaphone
talkie short a reviewer snarkily noted
its similarities to a Frank Faye routine
they can fight out who did it first
Frank phase or Bane Manor made him one
of the most prominent and highest paid
performers in Vaudeville he was one of
the first to enact the MC role at the
palace and the nation's other top
theaters MCS had existed previously in
Minstrel shows where they were called
interlocutors and in British music Halls
where they were called Compares but Faye
was said to have coined the term used in
American Vaudeville the MC role was an
outgrowth of Faye's Innovative monologue
act Faye was one of the first stage
comedians to Askew outlandish costumes
makeup props and Broad physical shtick
the Debonair redhead blue-eyed Fey
dressed with impeccable aristocratic
style and moved with feminine Grace his
timing and delivery were judged masterly
he was a boastful big city boulevardier
with a breezy delivery and relatively
restrained soft-spoken demeanor that
covered a Rapier wit fazey had a
devastating ability to ad-lib insults
that could destroy any Heckler in the
audience a Life Magazine profile
described his Cockiness and his conceit
the gentle smile the quizzical lift of
the eyebrows the sweet voice and then
the dirty crack
they did not depend on strings of
one-liners but was a Storyteller whose
collection of whimsical and digressive
tales were peopled with everyday
individuals such as a family that
obsessively saved string Fey also sang
stanzas of current songs like T for two
stopping to dissect the absurdities of
the lyrics along the way he was elegant
Suave and Superior and made sure the
audience knew it through his Wicked
repartee and stinging quips perfecting
what a Critic called an odd combination
of humor and elegance Faye's Act was
widely admired and copied by other
Comics but off stage he was reviled for
his bigotry his alcoholism and his
massive ego he called himself Frank Faye
the world's greatest comedian fellow
comic Fred Allen once cracked the last
time I saw Faye he was walking down
Lover's Lane holding his own hand
Vaudeville acts had traditionally
followed each other on stage in quick
succession identified in printed
programs and by title cards placed based
on an easel at the side of the stage but
as attendance began to dwindle
Vaudeville managers began to add an
extra attraction a headliner such as
Faye Jack Benny Julius Tannen or George
gessel to present the show the lead
comic would appear not only in his own
spot but also throughout the bill
introducing the acts interacting with or
interrupting other performers add living
powder between the spots and filling
time if there were delays in the show
some critics complained that this
restructuring slowed the pace of the
program but the MC's performance made
the disparate parts of the program seem
more interconnected Benny approached the
MC role with a collaborative Spirit
whereas Faye took the opportunity to
turn the spotlight on himself and
dominate the entire proceedings Benny
did borrow Faye's quiet charm elegant
matter and womanly walk but lacking his
quick and inventive tongue replaced
phase arrogance and ad-libbed put Downs
with carefully crafted lines that
sounded off the cuff and included subtle
self-deprecation Benny's opening line
which he used for years was celebrated
recalled Vaudeville historian Maurice
zalatow he would casually lope toward
the center of the stage tuck his violin
under his arm brush his hair back with
his left hand and inquire of the Maestro
how is the show sign up to now the
Maestro would reply I'll fix that Benny
would say
Jack Benny rivaled Faye is one of the
most frequent MCS at the palace between
1927 and 1931. Benny knows the palace
and its audiences there as few others do
knowing what else they like besides
actor and Showbiz gags noted a reviewer
who also voiced the concern mentioned by
other critics that Benny struggled to
find enough new material to last through
repeated viewings in Chicago Jack Benny
who had acted as MC throughout the bill
was refreshingly humorous in his easy
graceful way his chatter and violin
playing both going over big
Vaudeville appeared increasingly
unstable however so Benny experimented
with other media he appeared on Broadway
in the 1927 Schubert Brothers review the
great Temptations but felt that the
predominance of blue humor did not
complement his style he also tried his
hand at the movies riding the wave of
talent from Vaudeville and the stage
flowing to Hollywood with the coming of
talkies however after playing a
prominent role as the MC of mgm's
Hollywood review of 1929. his subsequent
film roles and reviews of his
performances were lackluster
nevertheless Benny kept trying to play
up his film connections
in 1930 and 1931 Benny moved his act
between films Vaudeville venues and
cavernous picture palaces which began
adding live stage acts to their movie
shows to shore up attendance
entertainment forms were converging but
Benny did not seem to fit comfortably
into any of them playing the palace
Benny asked to be billed as the
cinemaster of Ceremonies skeptical
critics expressed concern that Benny's
work was too quiet and low-key to take
command of five thousand seat
auditoriums although he did moderately
well devising some Punchy additions to
enlarge the scale of his act Suave
soldiers Japanese acrobats comeuppance
from the abrupt start of the film
program on screen a reviewer of his show
at New York's Capitol Theater was still
unconvinced Benny is still the Suave and
clever MC working all through the show
to keep it pieced together effectively
his suavness then tends to slowness
which hardly helps a presentation in a
deluxer the type of entertainment that
goes is that which is served speedily in
pepperly Benny was at a career
Crossroads as he wandered among various
venues and media forms trying to find
the most advantageous platform for his
particular skills worsening economic
conditions of the early 1930s made the
search more nerve-wracking in 1932 radio
and advertising Executives like NBC's
Brainerd scanning The Horizon for talent
that might best adapt to broadcasting's
needs considered Jack Benny although
they were not initially very
enthusiastic about him neither Network
brass nor sponsors agencies were certain
what styles and types of performers
would work on the radio many preferred
the loud brashness and quickness of
other comics and the stentorian tones of
tuxedo denouncers NBC had actually
approached literary humorist Irvin s
Cobb prior to contacting Benny but
Cobb's salary demands were too high
Executives probably noted the affinities
Benny stage act had with oral
presentation Benny produced most of his
humor through through low-key language
and smooth superbly timed delivery of
his lines he was not a primarily
physical or visual comedian getting
laughs through broad facial expressions
costume or slapstick body movements
Benny engaged in quiet intimate joking
confiding in the audience as if it were
a small group similar to the methods of
the crooning singers like Bing Crosby
and Rudy Valley who are becoming popular
through radio appearances on the other
hand Benny's drolls stare at the stage
audience with hand to his cheek which
silently communicated his frustration
and one viewer sympathy would be lost on
radio listeners it would only re-emerge
in the early 1950s to embellish his
comedy routines on television
challenges of the initial Canada Dry
program
as Benny began the twice weekly
broadcasts of Canada dry's new musical
comedy radio show in May 1932. it seemed
that not only he but the sponsor at
agency and network were almost
shockingly naive about how much labor
Benny's role might entail the orchestra
and vocalist had large musical catalogs
from which they could draw new Tunes to
perform but if Benny was to do more than
introduce the title of the next song He
was going to need fresh material every
episode apparently no Provisions were in
the original plans for the program to
hire writers the executives must have
assumed Benny ad-libbed or wrote his own
humorous asides as a popular MC Benny
had experience in creating short gags
and exchanges with Vaudeville performers
but he was used to repeating similar
powder for different audiences the whole
week of the engagement either getting
new performers to work with or a new
city to play play in the following week
no one involved with the Canada Dry
program had entirely thought through how
a twice weekly show with the same
performers and the same audience might
work the first live episode demonstrated
the promise and the drawback of the
concept in seven short monologues
interspersed between the songs Benny
presented himself as a Suave Urban and
thoroughly Americanized fellow who is
witty and personable a wisecracker who
is self-centered but who's
self-deprecatingly understood that his
attempts at boastful egotism would end
in mild humiliation then he exchanged a
little banter with orchestra leader
George Olson and singer Ethel shooter as
he introduced them nervous awkwardness
of the new Endeavor was apparent in
Benny's doing most of the talking and
their very brief responses to standard
Vaudeville jokes such as ribbing the age
of Olson's automobile Benny worked from
a script he wanted a written structure
to guide him to make sure he was
organized and that the jokes could be
carefully poured over and crafted into
polished gems he delivered his lines
though in such an easy nonchalant manner
that listeners may have thought he was
speaking off the cuff studies of Benny's
career usually point out the assertive
way that even in this first episode he
wove the middle of the program
advertising messages into his monologues
entwining a playful and fairly unusual
mocking tone toward the product in the
same way he told self-deprecating
stories about himself Benny's
introductory monologue was probably
drawn from when he played at the palace
but with the added Twist of a backhanded
plugging of the sponsor's product
ladies and gentlemen this is Jack Benny
talking and making my first appearance
on the air professionally by that I mean
I am finally getting paid which will be
a great relief to my creditors I really
don't know why I am here I'm supposed to
be a sort of Master of Ceremonies and
tell you all about the things that will
happen which would happen anyway I must
introduce the different artists who
could easily introduce themselves and
also talk about Canada Dry made to order
by the glass which is a waste of time as
you know all about it you drink it like
it and don't want to hear about it so
ladies and gentlemen a Master of
Ceremonies is really a fellow who is
unemployed and gets paid for it in the
second and third episodes of the Canada
Dry program with a dash of desperation
then he provided brief descriptions of
his fellow radio performers that again
Drew on the standard Vaudeville insult
humor pattern George Olson was penurious
Ethel shooter lied about her age
the boys in the band were drunkards and
announcer Ed thorgerson resembled a
Hollywood Playboy with slicked back hair
and a Thin Mustache it looked like he'd
swallowed all of Mickey Mouse but the
tail then equipped but the others were
given few lines to speak then he
appealed to his unseen listeners
directly asking if there was anybody out
there and reintroduced himself halfway
through the show in the second week he
opened the program with hello somebody
this is Jack Benny talking there will be
a slight pause while you say what of it
after all I know your feelings folks I
used to listen in myself he closed with
that was our last number of our fourth
program on the 11th of May are you still
conscious hmm
varieties reviewer in May 1932 sensed
Benny's nervousness but tried to be
encouraging noting there's no reason why
a clever intimate comedian of Benny's
type shouldn't hit over the air
essentially he has everything it takes
from an excellent speaking voice to the
right kind of delivery nevertheless the
reviewer was unenthusiastic about the
integration Benny was trying to bring to
the separate elements of music comedy
and advertising in the show recommending
that Olsen should leave all the talking
to Benny the comic advertising was also
disturbing plug angle was considerably
overdone here with Benny handling it
throughout he pulled some pretty obvious
puns such as drinking Canada Dry right
now the subtle spotting of the plug
should be handled with silk gloves
Billboard's review of the program noted
that Benny's nonchalant style of humor
and delivery was different from what
other Comics were offering on air a
taste for his style has to be acquired
caution the reviewer who also noticed
the Reliance on Old Vaudeville powder on
this particular program he rang in some
of his old material but no doubt new to
radio fans
years later Jack Benny confessed his
panic in Vaudeville you had one show and
that was it you changed it whenever you
felt like and in this when you realized
that every week you needed a new show
this got a little bit frightening in
another interview he recalled I didn't
have any idea how important it was to
have good material and how hard it was
to get the first show was a cinch I used
about half of all the gags I knew the
second show consumed all the rest and I
faced the third absolutely dry
established performers appearing on the
airwaves similarly expressed Terror at
the speed with which the live broadcasts
to huge audiences consumed a career's
worth of material in just a few hours
the scourge of the amusement field is
Radio warned variety radio is devouring
too much music eating up the stage too
cannibalistically and burning out all
Talent too fast so that it may undo
itself about as rapidly as it made
itself prominent in its relation to the
masses Edwin complained that the gags
used in four half hour radio programs
would provide enough material for a
full-length Broadway play while variety
acknowledged that radio had made
nationally known stars of Niche
performers like Wynn and Jack Pearl as
well as previous unknowns like gauzden
and Corel it cautioned the very biggest
on The Ether today soon become boursome
simply because it's not showingly to
Dish up a new act 52 times a year Comics
used to be able to test out their new
routines in smaller towns like
Plainfield in Union City now can kill
their careers with a bad routine in
front of 20 to 50 million listeners in
one night
performers and program producers
struggled to adapt old business models
to this new mode of communication the
Radio Networks had Consolidated the
breadth of the Vaudeville system into
just a few broadcast Outlets to serve a
nationwide audience the networks
demanded that broadcasts be live each
week program producers could not use
previously recorded performances or
reruns options that might have made the
search for fresh material the pressure
to perform at peakability and the chase
for high ratings less fearsome
during his years in Vaudeville then he
had regularly enhanced his routine by
purchasing jokes and routines from gag
Riders such as Al bosberg Dave Friedman
Sid Silvers and Harry Conn he turned to
them now in the 1920s Burns and Allen
that paid bosberg a continuous 10
percent of their 1750 weekly Vaudeville
salary in exchange for his creation of
individual routines such as lamb chops
which they performed for years the duo
asked him to write material for their
weekly radio broadcasts on the Robert
Burns cigar program but boseberg bulked
at how much more work was involved in
creating the seven to eight minutes of
new material they required each week for
only 10 percent of their one thousand
dollar radio salary bosberg quit and
moved to Hollywood to take film writing
jobs Burns and Allen and the radio
producers soon assembled a staff of five
writers to turn out all the necessary
material
Dave Friedman devised an alternate
method to address radio Comics endless
need for material Eddie Cantor was one
of his major clients Friedman hired a
staff of young assistants who combed
through every source of humor in the
library joke books magazine articles and
19th century literature to call every
possible jest quip and comic exchange
they organized these jokes into vast
files on every conceivable topic that
Friedman could then dip into rearrange a
few particulars and assemble into
scripts churned out for half a dozen
different radio comedy shows each week
by the end of the second week Benny
sought out Harry Conn a tap dancing
former vaudevillian who would turn to
full-time writing pending routines for
dozens of Comedians and for May West's
Broadway shows in the 1920s in the
spring of 1932 Khan was working on the
Burns and Allen staff Benny decided to
rely solely on Khan paying Khan's salary
out of his own pocket the two quickly
became Partners working closely together
week in and week out to create edit and
perfect the dialogue to Khan's Chagrin
the radio network would not allow
writers to get on Air Credit however so
Benny always remained the focus of
public and critical acclaim then he was
as financially generous with Khan as he
was dependent on him paying Khan one of
the highest salaries earned by a radio
writer by the end of the third week on
the air with Khan on board the Canada
Dry program scripts started to become
more adventurous George Olson now was
given more straight lines as he and
Benny engaged in conversation everyone
else in the studio from Orchestra
members and con to Benny's personal
assistant Terry Baldwin was pulled to
the mic to voice fictional guests in
brief one-time appearances Benny and
Khan began experimenting with creating a
richer fictional world for the program
creating sketch routines that briefly
moved away from the microphone on May 23
1932 they finessed the problem of
sagging by endowing announcer Ed
thorgerson with a magical ability to
tune an on-air radio into a conversation
made by the characters at a soda
fountain located in the building's lobby
at mid-show thorgerson asked where Jack
was and band member Bob rice responded
that he just left
Ed but who's going to take charge of the
program Bob I don't know
Ed I think I'll tune in the soda
fountain to see what's going on there
ad-lib tuning noises and Fade Out
fade in Scenic soda fountain sound
effects clink of glasses faces of
charged water Babble Of voices
requesting drinks Etc
Alan and I'll have a chocolate malted
milk Ethel make mine a made to order
Canada Dry
Fran there you are and what'll you have
sir band member Fran Frey played the
soda jerk Jack give me two nickels I
want a telephone Fran say this is a soda
fountain Jack I'll have a glass of
Canada Dry Ginger Ale made to order by
the glass at all soda fountains
Fran do you know the chorus Mr Jack oh I
see now just give me a glass of Canada
Dry Fran would you like a little flavor
in it sir say a little Cherry Jack no no
just plain Canada Dry Fran how about
putting some ice cream in it it's swell
with ice cream Jack yes I imagine it is
very good but if you don't mind I'll
have just the plain Canada Dry see Fran
would you like toast with it Jack no say
were you ever a barber Fran who wants to
know Jack Jack Benny Fran are you Jack
Benny Jack yes yes Fran The Jack Benny
who broadcasts for Canada Dry Jack yes
Fran every Monday and Wednesday Jack yes
Fran and if you ask me if I was ever a
barber gee that's hot Jack will you
please give me a glass of Ethel enters
and interrupts Ethel oh Jack Jack hello
Ethel Ethel you'd better hurry back
George is getting ready to play a number
Jack come on let's have a drink first
Ethel no thanks I don't want Jack come
on Ethel I'll pay for mine Ethel laughs
at this Jack oh I'm only kidding come on
Ethel I'll buy them hey give us two
Canada drives and make mine large Fran
okay say do you want a piece of cake
with it Jack come here lean over a
minute sound effect crash of plate and
now give us two glasses of Canada Dry
sound effect fizzes of charged water
Ethel what's he doing Jack that's the
way you make it first put just the right
amount of syrup in then add the charged
water and there you are well here it is
Ethel good luck Ethel and Benny singing
how Canada Dry I am how Canada Dry I am
they both start to laugh fade in piano
music opening bars of the song tender
child Ethel what's that Jack say that's
George beginning to play the next number
Ethel gee I'd better run back I have to
sing it with Fran
the show staff created sound effects of
glasses clinking and ginger ale fizzing
the scene may have only lasted two
minutes but when Benny returned to the
studio after the next song He jokingly
assumed that he had to explain to the
audience what they had done well folks
this is Jack Benny back at the studio
well to tell you the truth we never even
left here Olson's bass drum was the
counter and the Fizz you heard was one
of the boys sneezing subsequent episodes
contained a three to five minute sketch
occurring in a fictional Place away from
the immediacy of the studio space some
involved Jack traveling to a special
event and Reporting on it essentially
performing a monologue Jack attended the
Dempsey Sharkey prize fight at Madison
Square Garden and parodied radio sports
coverage giving play-by-play action
another time Jack and George Olson were
arrested for speeding and broadcast the
program from jail and on July 6 the cast
visited the zoo and gathered
testimonials from the animals about how
much they enjoy drinking Canada Dry
meanwhile Jack continued to rib George
Olson about being a spendthrift back at
the soda fountain George offered to
trade jack to a glass of ginger ale but
had forgotten his wallet so Jack ended
up picking up the check for the entire
orchestra's order
a period of experimentation with topics
and characters
Benny and Khan strove to avoid a rigid
formula in constructing the radio
program's humorous segments devising a
mixture of comic monologues repartee
patent tossing and fictional Adventures
between the musical numbers some of
their experimental ideas were solidly
successful while some were problematic
and abandoned as unworkable others ended
perhaps at the behest of their sponsor
topical humor that satirized current
radio programming fads was one of the
first experiments on May 9 Jack
announced the beginning of a write-in
contest in which listeners would submit
testimonials to the deliciousness of
Canada Dry Ginger Ale Benny's radio show
is followed by a musical program for San
Felipe cigars which was then currently
conducting a jingle writing competition
with prizes valued at seventy thousand
dollars advertising agencies who created
the radio programming Loved These
contests for they generated thousands of
listener responses that agencies could
use to demonstrate the radio program's
popularity and justify the hefty expense
of radio sponsorship to their clients
the federal radio commission and NBC
worked to eliminate contests however as
they added a tawdry huckster-ish element
to a network broadcasting that was
trying to see more culturally elevated
Benny's increasingly absurd Contest
rules exposed to the craftsness of these
gimmicks and made his sponsor seem
insincere and foolish
radio reviewers praised Benny for his
clever parodies calling them a
delightful new twist in radio humor on
May 11th Benny announced his latest
contest wrinkle walk up to your favorite
soda fountain order a glass of Canada
Dry Ginger Ale made to order by the
glass and sip it through a straw of
course this is optional you can either
sip it through a straw or drink it right
out loud but if you do happen to sip it
through a straw save it don't go
illusion it why send it to your Canada
Dry Cleaners to be pressed then on one
side of the straw write us why you like
Canada Dry made to order by the glass
and on the other side write the
Star-Spangled Banner mail your straws to
us at your earliest convenience as the
straw hat season opens next week we will
not tell you what the prize is yet but
keep a scallion in mind
in the first months of the program Benny
and Khan dipped a toe into political
satire the upcoming presidential
election must have been a topic
difficult for radio jokesters to avoid
as the candidates sloveneering filled
the newspapers Khan and Benny brought a
touch of cynical humor and an absurdity
to their political skits leaving
Roosevelt and Hoover's names into
Benny's monologue similarly to the way
they talked about Clark Gable and Greta
Garbo in early June Benny made a mild
joke about ex-servicemen descending on
Washington in the bonus March and at
least one newspaper critic took him to
task for making fun of a serious subject
on June 20th at mid-show Benny announced
ladies and gentlemen we have been
singing and joking tonight but we
realize our mistake and your minds are
at present concentrated on the political
situation what you want is politics not
Holcomb so politics you'll get after a
barrage of digressive jokes and puns and
a song Olson's band performed a tune
entitled everything's going to be okay
America
Denny introduced the Canada Dry
candidate for president Trafalgar B
fuddle the man who broke his umbrella
and is neither wet nor dry he is a
friend of the farmer and is also a
friend of the traveling salesman and the
farmer's daughter he is a soldier a
scholar and a citizen and has proved his
worth at Leavenworth
be funnel between bouts of coughing if I
am nominated at this convention for the
highest honor that can ever be bestowed
upon an American citizen I will
um I will that is er I will be for the
People by the people of the people with
the people on the people and in spite of
the people befuddles hysteria escalates
and then a pistol shot was heard
followed by silence
Jack ladies and gentlemen there is
nothing to worry about the late
Trafalgar be funnel will not run for
president but no matter who's elected
Canada Dry Ginger Ale will be sold by
the glass add also to fountains to the
People by the people and for the people
and it's darned good several people told
me
on October 19th Jack performed one of
his prize fighting play-by-play
monologues this time about between
battling Herbert Hoover and fighting
Franklin Roosevelt
Hoover has trained Faithfully in
Washington skipping the Rope balancing
the budget and doing some road work in
Iowa and Cleveland Roosevelt has trained
in Albany and has done his road work in
18 different states we haven't seen a
fight like this in four years gong they
both meet in the center of the Ring
Hoover steps in with a light Rhode
Island and Roosevelt counters with a
hard Massachusetts to the jaw Herbert
comes back and flings a Michigan and
Franklin blocks with Oregon they are now
both throwing Iowa's at each other so
far it is a pretty even fight there they
go dancing around taking their time but
looking for an opening ah Franklin now
comes in and hooks light Delaware to the
ear herb now counters with a Nebraska
and Frank drops one knee to the Kansas I
mean canvas and is up again from the
Florida brushing off his Pennsylvania
gong and the bell sends them both to
their corners
Benny and Khan also experimented in
those first months on the radio with
ways to add additional voices on May
25th Benny interviewed the janitor of
the building Mr philander kvech played
by band member Bobby Moore who only
responded to questions and gurgles of
baby talk on June 1st cavach briefly
returned speaking in a heavy German
accent this time the part was probably
played by Harry Conn on June 15th Khan
was an Italian-American tough guy
attending the boxing match on July 13th
Jack talked to a group of Scottish
gentlemen who would be judging the
latest Canada Dry contest all the Scots
were played by Khan including a Scottish
Terrier who simply woofed ethnic
characters were a favorite Staple in
Khan's bag of Comedy writing tricks
although use of Foreign Accents was a
creaky throwback to earlier Vaudeville
days of Gallagher and Sheen or an
insensitive burlesque of immigrants it's
probable that Khan saw the ethnic
accented caricature of American voices
to be a bit of verbal slapstick or
unexpected oral comedy costuming for the
airwaves
despite Khan's favoring of ethnic voices
he rarely appeared on air as a performer
again the Benny show instead hired a
range of ex-vardville comics as dialect
Specialists to play occasional small
parts
in the show's second month Jack began to
talk about hiring an assistant to handle
all the mail the program was receiving
in response to the outrageous Canada Dry
contests this search continued over the
next month as Jack acquired first an
inefficient male secretary then an
incompetent female secretary named Garbo
the next chapter details how Benny's
wife Sadie marks Benny is sometime
assistant on the Vaudeville stage became
incorporated into the radio program as a
young woman named Mary Livingston a fan
of the program from the Small Town of
Plainfield New Jersey she assumed the
role of Jack's lackadaisical part-time
secretary on the radio show and soon
became a central character
along with adding Mary to the show came
Benny and Khan's brief experiment with a
serialized narrative several comic radio
shows had ongoing plots for their
characters Amos and Andy had a 15-minute
comic melodramatic plot that played out
five nights per week Eddie Cantor
experimented with fictional narrative on
his show with mixed results a few
critics complaining about too much plot
Fred Allen placed his character into
constantly changing series of situations
running a night court operating a
department store which introduced new
characters every episode Edwin parodied
Opera librettos a different one each
time Khan and Benny aimed for a
continual mixture of different show
formats a situation or sketch one week a
parody of a film or standing around the
microphone another still the pair toyed
with a romantic comedy subplot episodes
in September and October 1932 played out
Jack and Mary's flirtations and comic
misunderstandings and climaxed through
the scene of them espousing their love
for one another Benny and Khan had
written themselves into a Corner would
the show now be dominated by a love
story where would the comic conflicts
arise they quickly decided to move in
another Direction however backing away
from romantic complications or a
continuing plot Mary returned to
flirting with the band mates and ribbing
Jack's Small foibles
sponsor upheavals and comedy polishing
after several months of twice a week
programs Benny and Khan began to Garner
critical notice for their
experimentations with advertising in
comedy situations variety reported in
August Jack Benny was in good form on
last week's program having evolved
sundry effective gags for plugging
Canada Dry in line with the recent Trend
toward a humorous plug for the sponsor
he is sugar coating and making palatable
what is usually a borsom interlude in
the best of programs in October it
commented Jack Benny is improving on his
Canada Dry humor then he has built up a
unique style of Comedy especially with
those puns which however are not in
judiciously primed for strong returns
just when Benny and Khan thought they
had achieved a solid successful mixture
of comedy and music with distinct
characters situations and parody
sketches their program was appended in
October 1932 Canada Dry and its Ad
Agency abruptly declared their
displeasure with many aspects of the
program
NWA are in Sons found what it considered
to be a more propitious broadcasting
time at CBS where a larger number of
stations 27 were available to carry the
half hour program on Thursdays at 8 15
pm and Sundays at 10 pm however Benny's
band leader George Olson his orchestra
and Ethel shooter were all under
contract to NBC and couldn't move the
sponsor and Ad Agency in new network
also changed the intimate setup of
Benny's rooftop recording studio into a
broadcast performance emanating from a
cavernous stage before a large studio
audience even worse they hired an
additional actor writer Sid Silvers to
improve what they thought was Benny's
flat comedy Benny and George Olson
stormed into Bertha brainerd's office at
NBC on October 7th Brainerd reported
that Mr Benny expressed himself as
decidedly unhappy and uncertain about
the future success of the program he
objected to the changing orchestras the
additional writers different broadcast
set up Benny certainly did not want
Silvers added to the program but his
lawyer had informed him that he had to
give it a chance the lawyer also
reminded him of the cancellation Clause
he could toss at the sponsor if need be
Brainerd continued I told Mr Benny and
Mr Olson how very unhappy we were at the
loss of such a splendid program which
was building weekly and that the feeling
was that it was a gamble as to its
popularity when Mr Olsen left the
program Mr Olsen told Mr Benny that if
anything should come up which left Mr
Benny free we at the NBC would no doubt
agree to combining the Benny Olson
combination again and continuing it on
the air perhaps sustaining if a client
were not immediately available then he
left saying that he was glad to know the
door was wide open and that we gave him
a much clearer picture of how he might
proceed his statement was now I can use
a blackjack meaning I assume that unless
things are decidedly as he wants them he
will give his notice and offer his
services to NBC
Benny and Khan were saddled with Sid
Silvers and had to start over from
scratch teaching a new band leader
singer and announcer how to become
Comedians and fighting off the
intrusions of silvers who turned the
show into the Continuing Story of a
befuddled Broadway producer and his
smart alec assistant played by Sid
Silver's filled the scripts with Zippy
one-liners instead of dialogue made
himself a comic equal to Jack and left a
little room for Mary there were no more
parodies of movies or informal real-life
exchanges around the microphone and
Canada dryads were much less integrated
although Benny Khan and Livingston held
no personal animus against Silvers they
would work with him in later years in
film and Friars Club performances within
a few weeks the three staged to Showdown
with the sponsor demanding that Silvers
be removed and creative control of the
program be returned to them or they
would quit by December 8th Benny
Livingston and Khan emerged Victorious
from the debacle Sid Silvers was gone
and the show returned to its previous
Style
in his opening monologue Jack welcomed
listeners back you know I tell a joke in
Ted Weems plays I tell a joke in Andrea
Marsh sings and I tell another joke and
you laugh and if you don't I hear about
it
although critics had praised him one
writing that Benny's Heir appearance has
brought forward much of the present
style of radio humor exasperated Canada
Dry Executives judged radio sponsorship
to Troublesome canceled Benny's show in
January 1933 and withdrew from broadcast
advertising
Jack Benny went through a stressful
period as the producer and star of his
comedy program over the next 24 months
as he was picked up and dropped by
several sponsors the story of his
management struggles is told in chapter
6. despite the many challenges of
persevering through changes in cast
members sponsors advertising agencies
networks and broadcast nights and times
Benny's radio audience has followed him
and stuck with him the program steadily
Rising ratings were one indication that
Benny and Harry Conn had developed a
winning comedy formula drawing from the
strong framework they had created in
1932 when the program returned to the
air sponsored by the Chevrolet
automobile Manufacturing Company in
March 1933 Jack was the program's
acknowledged main focus and it was
billed as a comedy program that
contained music Mary assumed a much more
prominent role on the program as Jack's
companion the only female character on
the show and the program's main stooge
political humor played a significant
part in episodes that month as Benny and
his troop joked regularly about Franklin
D Roosevelt's inauguration the bank
holiday and other aspects of the New
Deal initiatives Roosevelt rolled out in
his first hundred days on March 17th
while doing his radio columnist skit as
the Earth galloper Jack announced that
Banks were reopening three of them in
Hollywood Tallulah Bankhead Douglas
Fairbanks and George Bancroft in another
episode Mary compared Francis Perkins
appointment to the cabinet with her own
time spent in esteem weight reducing
cabinet this was all the lightest kind
of topical humor neither supporting nor
criticizing the New Deal reducing
political news to the foolishness with
which they portrayed Hollywood celebrity
gossip but nevertheless by the end of
their first month broadcasting for
Chevrolet every reference to politics
was removed from the program given
Chevrolet's financial difficulties its
problems with labor unrest and its
upcoming negotiations with Roosevelt's
National Recovery Administration company
Executives and Ad Agency staff were
probably very nervous about their
sponsored radio show Raising anyone's
hackles
critical Acclaim for the show continued
to grow the Ottawa citizens reviewer
complimented Benny for the quality of
humor he created with his cast of
characters Jack has The Knack of making
everyone on his program real and human
instead of just a lot of radio voices
that summer when Chevrolet put the radio
show on Hiatus retreating from National
advertising when their revenues lagged
so badly Benny and Mary Livingston
returned to the stage in a personal
appearance tour and Vaudeville critics
remarked on Benny's new level of radio
fueled stardom his popularity was never
so frankly confessed by the public prior
to his radio career what the heir did
for Benny was to make him a household
character a Chicago reviewer noted
by Spring 1934 despite the continuing
turmoil of changing cast and broadcast
times and rancorous relationships with
sponsors the humorous content of the
Benny show remained Rich the show's
narrative formula and characterizations
were evolving into the forms Benny would
rely on for the rest of his career Harry
Khan concentrated even further on
developing the personas of the cast's
other performers as Quirky individual
characters band leader Don bester was a
highbrow tenor Frank Parker was a
sophisticated young smart alec Mary was
boisterous but not very bright Jack was
making fewer of the jokes and more often
it was the Stooges who got the laugh
lines by ribbing Benny more than ever
Benny became the poor Shmo The Unlucky
fellow to whom humiliating things always
seemed to happen on the May 11 1934 show
to make a peace offering after they'd
had an argument at the show's opening
Dawn Wilson invited Jack out to his
mother's home in the Bronx for the
weekend Jack suffered numerous
Misadventures on their Journey getting
robbed three times and gladly handing
over his money in each instance the
thief even awarded Benny a card
identifying him as a frequent customer
when the pair finally arrived at the
Wilson home there was no food no spare
bed and no luck for the hapless Jack
Benny's character began to shift further
from being just the likable
self-deprecating but professional MC of
the program to develop more personality
quirks and flaws cheapness boastfulness
his poor violin playing skills his
vanity his advancing age and his lack of
masculinity the list steadily grew
longer as the Jack character lost most
of that assured Broadway Romeo Suave he
demonstrated during his Vaudeville
career and was now depicted as inept at
interacting with the opposite sex his
patriarchal Authority as star of the
show was more frequently challenged by
his mocking radio employees while
standard joke book style insults about
cheapness and stupidity were still
bandied about by the entire cast the
Jabs were refurbished so that the
charges were now often made by others
egged on by Mary and aimed at Jack a
significant turning point for the Benny
character occurred in his skit about
Jack's Hollywood screen test on the June
8 1934 program Benny had taken His Radio
cast out to California
as he was appearing in transatlantic
Merry-Go-Round a film about criminal
Intrigue set on an ocean liner produced
by Edward small at RKO as Benny had done
since the beginning of His Radio Show he
entwined references to his movie making
work and personal details of his life
into his scripts blurring the lines
between fictional and real Jack Benny
personas Khan and Benny Drew on his
self-deprecating traits and pushed them
further now enacting professional
incompetence Khan created a skit in
which Jack was at the film studio where
he has been compelled to submit to a
screen test to secure the role of
romantic leading man as scripted Mr Kane
the director was trying to complete the
test and a nervous Benny was making that
difficult
Kane now for the first line say ah
Christina your Royal Highness thou are
ravishing this evening what's that thou
favor me with thy Presence at lunch and
forthwith
Jack I have been waiting for a Jimmy
Cagney part like this
jack's first stumbling attempt to read
his line is Oh Christina ER ah Christina
or can you cash a check
Kane now Mr Benny I think we better
rehearse this first you walk up to miss
Hill and say Christina I love you
Jack I see okay sound effects heavy
clump of footsteps Kane not so heavy on
the walk
Don Wilson the announcer interjects a
reference to sponsor General Tire
Dawn
Jack I think he means the silent safety
tread Jack you would Don
Kane yes that's it now come on read your
line Jack all right very flatly
Christina I love you
Kane how do you expect her to believe
that come on put some passion into it
try it again
Jack Christina I love you pants how's
that Mary
I still like Robert Montgomery
Kane a little more fire now ask
Christina for her hand in marriage Jack
will you marry me
Beverly Hill I should say not Jack now
what do I do Kane register surprise Jack
why Christina I'm surprised at you
Beverly Hill I never want to see you
again Kane register grief Jack gee whiz
G whiz Kane For Heaven's Sake is that
grief Jack that's grief where I come
from Kane where do you come from Jack
Waukegan
Kane that is grief
Jack oh yeah cut Kane wait a minute
that's my line cut
the scene devolved into further
humiliation for Jack as the Director
called Don Wilson over to demonstrate
appropriately virile histrionic skills
Wilson passionately extolled the virtues
of General Tire's blowout proof tires to
the heroin while Jack fumed on the
sidelines
after another sponsor switch to General
Foods Jello product and several worries
the months of low product sales the
stars of both the business and humor
sides of the production aligned for
Benny in late 1934. his sponsor was
happy and Benny's program topped the
ratings charts journalist oh oh McIntyre
lauded the show Benny's humor has the
dry crackle of sunburned Twigs never
explosive he bungles along firing the
arrows of contempted himself he brought
to the business of being a comic a
combined restraint a suavity that was
something entirely different and it
clicked radio guide agreed noting
comedian Benny learned long ago that the
way to make people laugh without
straining is to create a comical
situation not to redress old jokes and
party clothes and rely on Studio
Applause to get them over Jack also
learned that the public loves to see the
head man made the Fall Guy
the trouble with Harry Conn
as the fall 1935 radio season opened the
collaboration between Jack Benny and
Harry Conn appeared to be golden the
show was ranked number one in the
ratings and accolades showered down upon
the pair they were considered the
closest creative team of performers and
writers on the air after Don Quinn and
Jim Jordan of Fibber McGee and Molly and
gazdan and Corel of Amos and Andy
variety's review of the jello program in
late September was lavish in its Praise
of the show's writing and performance
Harry Conn who authors this program
seemingly has struck upon the happiest
formula yet found for commercial comedy
on the air Khan's method is to First
establish his characters then build his
laugh directly through or with the
character itself where Khan also shines
as in the blending of his writing style
with the delivery of Jack Benny no
better example of perfect actor writer
mating is to be found in Show Business
Khan writes the way Benny talks and vice
versa
strain between the collaborators began
building however due in no small part to
the constant effort it took the two to
keep their popular show on the air an
indignant Harry Conn saw Jack Benny reap
all benefits and salary of stardom while
Khan labored behind the scenes script
writers for all major radio programs
were frustrated by their meager status a
1935 variety story asserted writers two
percent of budget sponsors rate scribes
low NBC until very recently had refused
to give writers on-air credit for their
work variety reported the network
claiming that sponsors did not want
precious Air Time given over to lengthy
film-like credit sequences
screenwriters in Hollywood earned
salaries equal to about 10 to 15 percent
of the budgets of the pictures they were
contracted to write radio writers on the
other hand earned a pittance often only
between fifty dollars and two hundred
dollars per week for a show that cost
thousands of dollars Khan was the
highest paid writer in radio the article
acknowledged now Harry connzego swelled
while his resentment grew he enmeshed
Benny in an increasingly bitter struggle
over the question of who was responsible
for the radio program's success was it
Khan's authorship of the script or
Benny's sense of timing and performance
while Jack Benny rarely detailed his
creative input into the radio program
his contributions to the show's writing
and production were enormous Benny's
role was Far More Than Just a dialogue
reader while Benny acknowledged that he
was no ad Liber and that he was not
quick to invent a steady stream of comic
situations or one-liners to fill the
weekly scripts he was a superb editor of
comic dialogue he possessed a keen sense
of language Rhythm and timing and he
constantly tinkered with scripted lines
for himself and the cast right up until
the moment of live broadcast he
condensed and sharpened the jokes their
build up and responses eliminating
unnecessary words and polishing the
lines as if they were song lyrics to
compliment a tune Benny's other major
contribution was in the performance of
The Script he was brilliant at adding
emotional and comic emphasis to line
readings with his tremendous sense of
timing and he could coach it out of
other performers and non-professionals
Benny conducted his rehearsals and
broadcast like a symphony Maestro
without a baton with looks nods and
fingers pointed at performers to key
their lines and to direct the sound
effects Engineers Harry Khan considered
himself the creative force of the radio
program the person who invented the
original characters skits and dialogue
for the show he gave little credit to
that Alchemy of talent and public appeal
that made Jack Benny a star in 1935 Khan
began a public relations campaign in
newspapers and magazines giving
interviews about his contributions to
the jello program reframing the group
project to emphasize his lead role as
writer and insinuating that Benny and
his cast merely read his scripts
one story published in the Los Angeles
Times was accompanied with a large photo
of Khan perched confidently at the
typewriter and Benny looking on from
behind like an enderling another in the
Boston Globe featured sad face Harry
Conn radio's little-known Mogul of Mirth
radio's number one wit is a man who has
never appeared before the microphone
Meet Harry W Khan Jack Benny's Ghost
Writer Khan was famously known to joke
about Benny's lack of spontaneous
creative ability claiming that Jack
Benny couldn't adlib a belch after a
Hungarian dinner his flippant
pronouncements about Mary Livingston's
acting skills also danced on the edge of
being insults Khan calls Mary Livingston
Mrs Benny an indifferent comedienne one
interview noted continuing he has
written a Mother's Day poem for her to
entone today I don't care how I write
them he said and she doesn't care how
she reads them so between us we get a
laugh
for the fall 1935 season Khan demanded a
significantly larger share of the Benny
Empire not only a doubled weekly radio
salary from 750 dollars raised to
fourteen hundred dollars and extra money
for polishing the dialogue in Benny's
films twelve hundred dollars per week
when they worked at MGM but also five
percent of the income earned from
Benny's live stage show appearances and
five percent of Benny's film earnings
Khan further demanded a royalty of five
percent of Benny's subsequent radio
earnings for five years after the
contract whenever Khan's material was
used Benny's later manager Irving fine
recalled that this contract to which
Benny acquiesced made Khan feel only
more entitled and provoked even more
rude and arrogant Behavior one incident
which helped bring much friction to the
surface occurred when Mary Benny came in
one day with her first mink coat and
Harry Conn's wife said if not for my
husband you wouldn't be wearing that
mink coat Benny must have felt
increasingly squeezed between his
dependence on Khan to continue to
provide the material that made their
program a hit and frustration with a
partner seeming to overstep his bounds a
more cynical performer might have
brought in additional writers to spread
the responsibility and maintain
managerial control but Benny was loyal
to his tight circle of friends and
business associates
perhaps these behind the mic tensions
impacted the quality of the jello
program for in early 1936 radio critics
began finding salt with the show Larry
Walters of the Chicago Tribune claimed
that the Scripps had grown considerably
weaker laying the problems to continuing
cast turnover popular tenor Frank Parker
left and several band leaders had come
and gone Benny acknowledged only that
his scriptwriter had a Barren period and
Walters added Jack admitted that
criticism of his efforts this year has
been widespread and he is bending every
effort to restore the old Sparkle of his
program amid this turmoil Benny Khan and
the radio cast embarked from Los Angeles
in February 1936 on a grueling 12-week
road tour making personal appearances at
theaters across the Midwest and East
while performing the jello program each
Sunday Khan had fallen back into the
habit of relying on ethnic dialects to
provide the humor in many of the program
sketches disguising a lack of witty
dialogue with unexpected voices one week
the the cast performed in Northwest
Mounted Police sketch that involved
Greek and Irish characters played by
dialect comic Benny Rubin another week
it was a zoo tour in which cast members
encountered zookeepers played in Jewish
and Irish accents other skits however
such as Jack Dawn Mary and Kenny
switching roles and personalities to
break up the monotony of the program
opener were sharp the frustrations of
travel added to the general show malaise
in Cleveland Jack became so ill that the
group had to cancel its week's
appearance on stage in March the Benny
troop bounced between Pittsburgh New
York Washington DC and Baltimore
has Benny placed an acknowledgment and
variety of winning the New York World
telegraph's popularity Poll for the
second consecutive year Khan countered
with a boastful announcement printed on
the same page writer of first run
material Harry W Khan now serving fourth
year writing the radio programs for Jack
indifferent Benny and Mary careless
Livingston and my public please forgive
me I'm responsible for writing Mary's
poems and also the chicken sisters 15
minutes of torso vibrating laughs now
appearing in Mr Benny's State show state
New York this week March 6 FOX
Washington next week March 13 written by
Harry W Khan staged by Jack Benny
Benny said nothing publicly about Khan's
presumptuousness March was contract
renewal time for the next broadcast year
and Khan chose this moment to make his
most daring Demand yet presenting Benny
with his contract requirements as the
Benny troop pulled into Baltimore for a
week of shows at the lowest Century
Theater Khan requested a 50 share of
Benny's salary Jack told him that it was
ridiculous and refused to discuss such a
contract recalled Irving fine Jack was
ready to give him a handsome raise but
Khan refused holding firm in his demands
Harry Conn and his wife immediately
disappeared
as it became later and later in the week
Jack Benny fumed in his Baltimore hotel
room between stage appearances with no
con provided script for Sunday's live
radio broadcast in his hands finally
Benny was forced to plunge in and
hurriedly write a script he called his
friend radio comic Phil Baker who lent
him two writers Sam Perrin and Arthur
Phillips Benny's Vaudeville friends
Jesse block and Eve Sully attended the
Baltimore broadcast and came up from the
audience to join Jack and Mary on stage
Benny resurrected one of the program's
oldest melodrama parodies from 1932
wynell left home while the episode was
not spectacular it was adequate late the
following Tuesday night with still no
word from Khan who had decamped to
Atlantic City and then to Miami Benny's
frustration poured out in a torrent of
words in a four-page telegram sent to
Khan at his Miami Hotel the telegram's
text reveals a rare example of Benny at
his most emotional it is also one of the
few times he detailed the labor he put
into the production of his program after
rebiting Khan's complaints that Benny
did not publicly acknowledge the
writer's contributions to the program
Benny dismissed Khan's assertions that
Benny's Fame was completely the product
of Khan's script writing you have also
told many people including my father
that you made me the star that I am
today that is fine talk particularly to
my father you cannot make me a star or
anybody else in show business all you
can do is help and that is what you have
been getting paid for I am not the only
star in Show Business Phil Baker is a
star Freddy Allen is a star Burns and
now in Our Stars Eddie cancer is a star
and you have never written for them I
have paid you more money than any two
authors would get from an actor all out
of proportion to my radio salary every
move I have made whether it is pictures
stage or radio you were included can you
name one radio writer whom the public
knows as well as they know you as far as
making neostar is concerned I was a star
long before you and I ever became
Associated while I am on the subject let
me mention the very latest ad you took
out in variety two weeks ago which at
least 20 people have mentioned to me as
being the most humiliating and in the
worst of taste in your future ads please
state that you are writing the jello
program camp and leave the names of Jack
Benny and Mary Livingston out of them
finally Benny made a case for the
importance of his own authorial
contributions to show scripts and
ultimately drew the line between
performer and employee
I have sat up for hours constructing
editing and helping on all material for
which I have never taken the credit this
past season has been the most miserable
I have ever spent in Show Business I
have given you every protection an
author could possibly get in so far as
writing no matter what the expense after
the expiration of this present radio
contract you are free to do as you
please as I do not think that either of
us could stand the strain longer however
as this contract with me has 13 more
weeks to go I would like to have the
scripts as per our contract delivered to
me not later than Thursday night of each
week from then on I will be glad to work
on them alone everything contained in
this wire has been on my mind and in my
heart for the past year and I am glad it
is out
scrambling to create episode scripts
once in New York Benny called in favors
from his friends to help secure writing
Talent Goodman Ace contributed along
with gag Riders Hugh wedlock Howard
Snyder and Al bosberg his producers at
the Young and Rubicon agency Tom
Harrington and Pat Weaver also pitched
in then he got some of his confidence
back in a lively funny program on April
5th Fred Allen had offered Benny the use
of one of his assistants at beloin the
loin's familiarity with Allen's material
may have generated the script idea for
the topic of Benny's show is a parody of
Allen's town hall tonight the episode
sparked with Rye humor and its spot on
Burlesque of Allen's show presaged the
Benny Allen Feud that would commence
eight months later the loin Bill Morrow
a young radio writer from Chicago and
the experienced Al bosberg emerged as
Benny's new team of writers Benny's
third show without Khan was
nightmarishly difficult he and the cast
were back on the road in Cleveland to
make up for the earlier missed stage
appearances Benny decided to proceed
with an attempt at parodying Eugene
O'Neill's current hit Broadway drama all
Wilderness Benny and Khan had garnered
big publicity when they had asked
O'Neill's permission earlier in the year
to do the takeoff as the author had
turned down requests from several other
Comics the script in Benny's files shows
many last minute edits deletions
additions and shorthand and dialogue
lines crossed out of the muddled skit
right before the parody skit began the
audience heard a loud click sound and
when Benny asked what was that noise
Mary kirtley replied O'Neill just turned
his radio off after several more weeks
of travel the cast finally returned to
Los Angeles in late May to fine-tune a
new system of collaboration in the last
four weeks of the broadcasting season
Harry Khan was still under contract to
Benny through the end of June he
submitted the required scripts in a
desultory and often last minute manner
along with providing unwanted advice on
Benny's management of performances on
the jello program
Khan repeatedly remonstrated Benny for
pacing the program too quickly on June
9th he wrote Benny last week's show
played very good but I think you are
letting your people run with lines by
doing that they make you rush and you
are at your best in a slower Tempo I
have mentioned this before and repeat it
as I know I am right perhaps this was
the kind of give and take battering they
used to have as partners but surely
Benny did not wish to be addressed as
the performer who knew less about both
management and performing
Khan also provided several ideas for
film parodies which would have been
challenging assignments for the new
writers comic twists on Shakespeare's
Midsummer Night's Dream sketch based on
the recent Warner Brothers adaptation
and the controversial Broadway drama The
Children's Hour Mary has to play her
lines as the brat and you will have to
do a janitor with strange interlude
cracks to be in it Kenny Baker and
bandleader Johnny Green could do a few
of the girls as it is a seminary and you
explain your short of girls I think it's
a great bit if no one rushes it needs a
good rehearsal
Benny and his new writers did not take
him up on the suggestions after a summer
of rest they created a rejuvenated Jello
program with more sparkling wit than the
previous year and rode back to the top
of the ratings
when Khan soon afterwards secured a
lucrative scriptwriting deal with the
Ruth Ralph and Ryan advertising agency
the news made the front page a variety
everyone in the radio industry wanted to
see what the talented writer would do
next Khan landed a contract to write the
scripts for veteran radio comic Joe
Penner for the cocomelt program earning
thirteen hundred dollars per week as
much as the fading star Khan cheekily
published an open letter to Benny in
variety publicizing the end of their
four-year Association and patting
himself on the back for providing the
material that kept the Jack Benny
Program up there on top for so long
just 10 weeks into the fall 1936 season
however cocomelt fired Khan variety
noted with Rye Amusement that Khan's
replacement Don Prindle formerly a forty
dollar per week scripter at a Seattle
radio station would now write penner's
program for 250 a week Khan's downward
slide was Swift in January 1937 Ruth
Ralph and Ryan placed Khan as a writer
on Al jolson's radio show to build up a
major role for actor Sid Silvers the
Canada Dry program interloper in Fall
1932 but six weeks later both Silvers
and Khan were terminated
in November 1937 Harry Conn announced he
was to write and star in his own comedy
earaches of 1938 broadcast as a
sustaining unsponsored program on CBS
the show is scheduled at a terrible time
opposite the popular Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen program the situation
comedy narrative that Khan devised was a
copy of the jello program with a group
of zany characters and MC portrayed by
Khan exchanging insulting banter with a
band leader announcer and some comic
Stooges attempting to broadcast a radio
program reviewers Snidely noted Khan's
nervous performance and faultedcon for
not creating a unique Comic character
for himself yet admitted that the show
had promise earaches did not succeed in
securing a sponsor however and the
program was canceled after 13 weeks
in 1939 after burning his Bridges and
radio Khan launched a lawsuit for breach
of contract against Jack Benny seeking
sixty thousand dollars as his percentage
of Benny's ongoing earnings from use of
material and characters drawn from
Khan's original radio Scripts the
lawsuit spent a year in the courts until
finally it was settled by an arbitration
board Benny paid con ten thousand
dollars and both retained the right to
use material from the 226 scripts Khan
wrote although Benny was careful to
insist that Khan couldn't reuse entire
episodes mention Jello or use any of the
names of the characters he had
originated particularly that of Mary
Livingston
afterwards Khan faded Into Obscurity and
little is known about the rest of his
career other than that he had serious
health problems and that he occasionally
wrote to Benny to sell him comedy
material or to borrow money Khan was
last spotted by New York newspaper
columnist Dorothy kilgallon in November
1958 working as a backstage doorman at
Broadway's Playhouse theater where Jack
Benny was embarrassed to have
accidentally encountered him
when the jello program returned to the
air in October 1936 firmly anchored in
Hollywood and with yet another new band
leader Phil Harris Jack Benny's program
solidified its place as the most popular
comedy show on American radio in the
four years since his tentative start
vaudevillian Benny had learned a great
deal about radio and conquered many of
its particular challenges from his
fortuitous choice of writer Harry Conn
through the pair's experimentation and
Innovation and development of quirky
individual continuing characters humor
built not through stings of one-line
jokes but in a workplace anchored
situation comedy and flippin commercials
to Benny and Khan's development of
Jack's fall guy persona who is the butt
of incessant insults and mishaps
along the way Benny and Khan briefly
experimented with romantic plot devices
and political humor and they had
struggled to gain creative control over
the program's format from meddling
sponsors they became radio's brightest
fun makers until the pressures of
production deadlines creative spark and
public Fame and Fortune destroyed their
partnership Harry Conn deserves half the
credit for turning Benny the
vaudevillian into Jack Benny the Radio
Star unfortunately his ego and
insecurities damage to subsequent career
and blunted his legacy the fact that the
vast majority of the radio episodes
Benny and Khan created together from
1932 to 1936 have not been available to
circulate in recorded form has prevented
fans then and now from being able to
assess their accomplishments now that
efforts are being made to make the
scripts and reenactments of those long
lost episodes public this early period
which fans have considered the least
important of Jack Benny's radio career
will receive more appreciation for the
sparkling comedy It produced and
groundwork these shows laid for the
future of Benny's show along with Benny
and Harry Conn the third pillar
supporting the creativity and
Innovations of the Benny program's early
years was his wife Sadie marks Benny
popularly known as Mary Livingston the
next chapter explores the evolution of
Mary's character and its development as
the linchpin of the success of Jack's
Fall Guy character it also examines
Sadie Mark's reluctant Journey along the
way to becoming a prominent and
influential if now largely forgotten
Radio Star
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