When we recall the Jack Benny TV and radio shows, we smile at the cast of strange characters, sounds, and disembodied voices on the show. Benny was the master of the pregnant pause that garnered howls of laughter.
Sometimes his TV and radio programs featured a heard-but-not-seen train depot announcement that never varied much. It featured a series of funny-sounding, but real, place names in the Los Angles metropolitan area. This gag was a ritualized contract between the show and the audience. It had “the pause,” and so had the audience almost bursting while anticipating the never-varying ending.
"Train leaving on Track Five for
Another ritualized skit centered on Sy, the “Little Mexican.” This character only spoke when questioned. His answers were monosyllabic, starting with “S.” Each answer followed “the pause,” causing the audience to guess whether it would be “Si,” “Sy”, “So,” or “Sew.” The final answer was from left-field, but still a monosyllabic S-word.
Skinflint Benny had an old Maxwell automobile. “Old” is
redundant, but this car needed a tune-up. When Benny would ask
Sometimes Benny would ask a stranger for directions. The stranger would reply, “I dunno.” Benny would press for more answers. Each answer was “I dunno.” Each reply was stylized, sounding more like “I don nowww.,” Benny would ask a final question – more of a “why” question about the stranger.
For example, “Why are you wearing a blue suit if you’re not the station master?”
“I’m not wearing a blue suit. Somebody stole my clothes, and I’m cold.”
Granted, that one was stupid, and a radio show gag to boot, but that kind of “I don nowww” skit happened periodically on the Benny TV show.
This article is not particularly about Jack Benny, but about
Mel Blanc, the voice, and sometimes the face, behind all of those sounds and
voices. His characters appeared in many radio and TV shows, but he is most
remembers for his animation character voices. His most famous role is a wascally wabbit. We saw his work
in Warner Brothers and Hanna Barberra cartoons in the
Blanc supplied a solid foundation for the Jack Benny, and other TV shows, along with his cartoon character voices. His epitaph reads, “That’s all, folks.”
-Ed Mauget