revisions made necessary by last-minute changes in a changing world. bob hope was the first guy to utilize an actual staff of writers to give you topical material of the day. he really did invent the idea of the comedian being the head writer, managing editor, and having a bunch of writers. the traditions of standup comedy in the 50s were still really derived from vaudeville. those performers like bob hope had nothing more on their mind than just getting laughs. that was plenty. the guy who really came along and changed all that was mort sahl. richard nixon is running for governor of california, and i realize sometimes the shows to hit on are all topical. he will be running for something no matter when this show is on, so sorry. mort sahl was the first person to talk like a human being on stage. it wasn t schmaltzy. he did for comedy what james dean and marlon brando did for acting. which is, he humanized it.
about this from the perspective of i guess a media reality show. and that s not how this process works. and i don t think mitch mcconnell wants to delay the process by going that route because you potentially hurt some of your vulnerable republican senators who are up for election next year. how do you see the tone of the senate trial compared to what we saw this past week, all bets are off, right? we were just watching words never said, never heard potentially in a hearing that was televised nationally. well, i think we re already seeing the procedurally the tone is going to be a lot different. again, during this senate trial it s going to be six days a week. senators are going to have to sit in silence every single day. there s not going to be that jousting that vaudeville, and those theatrics that the president, i think, really wants to see. but at the same time, the way mcconnell has set this up, when his members are supposed to take an oath to impartial justice and
comedy in the 1950s were still really derived from vaudeville. you know, those performers like bob hope had nothing more than their mind than just getting laughs and that was plenty. the guy who really came along and changed all that was mort sol. richard nixon is running for governor of california and i realize sometimes they want this material to be topical. he ll be running for something no matter when the show is on. so sorry. mort was the first person to talk like a human being on stage. it wasn t shmaltzy. he did for comedy what james dean and marlon brando did for acting which is he humanized it. i have to report to you that the largest news last week was the soviet space man invited to lunch by the queen as you know. just to put your minds at rest i probably will not say anything about the queen. [ laughter ] she hasn t mentioned me has she? he came out with a newspaper
generation, yet the hosts were in tuxedos smoking cigarettes. they were still your parents. but the other people let loose on the show were this kind of young vaudeville. it s sock it to me time. hey, she socked it to herself. we knew that sock it to me didn t mean sock it to me. right? so we thought, oh. sock it to me. sock it to me. sock it to me? it wasn t as subversive as it sounds. yes, it was. it was fun. sock it to me? was the first time presidential candidate had ever appeared on a comedy show. and that may have got him elected, and i ve had to live with that. anyway. the family that watches laugh-in together really needs to pray together. just seemed like it s