The Jack Benny Program/Funny

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  • The classic "The Jack Benny Program" moment, supposedly the longest laugh ever recorded, came when Jack Benny, always known as a skinflint and cheapskate, is mugged:

Mugger: Don't make a move, this is a stickup. Now, come on--your money or your life.
Benny: (silence)
Crowd starts laughing at the pregnant pause.
Mugger: Look, bud! I said, your money or your life!
Benny: I'm thinking it over!
Crowd roars with laughter

    • An even bigger laugh came on the night of January 8, 1950. Early in the episode Don Wilson fluffed a line about newspaper columnist Drew Pearson, referring to him as "Drear Pooson". This got a huge laugh from the audience and the rest of the cast. Sensing a golden opportunity, the show's producers summoned actor Frank Nelson (the "Yeeeeeees?" guy), who was due to appear as a hotel doorman later in the episode, backstage. They gave him a new line of dialogue to deliver in place of what was in the original script. The results were as follows:

Benny: Say, mister...are you the doorman?
Nelson: Who do you think I am in this uniform...Dreeeear Pooson?
At this, Benny literally fell off the stage laughing and the audience went nuts while he tried to compose himself.

  • Speaking of Jack Benny and his violin, he had the world's greatest violinists like Jascha Heifetz and Isaac Stern on his program where he not only compared his skills with them, but went on to play duets for added effect, which makes his violin playing all the funnier. This one is nothing short of pure audacity

Jack (after a round of playing with Heifetz): "Honest folks, can you tell the difference?" (Even announcer Edward Arnold is laughing in splits at this stage...)

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