IJBFC Chat - June 7, 2015

(Name of message originator above the timestamp)

Joe Garner

4:51 PM

@JoeGarner

First time here.  How does HipChat work?

Brad from Georgia

4:54 PM

Hi, Joe, Maria! Basically, just as you see--our comments show up, and we type responses to others. It can be chaotic.

I checked in way early because I was thinking we started at five Eastern time...

Joe Garner

4:55 PM

Thanks.

Brad from Georgia

4:55 PM

'Course I didn't stay all that time. You're welcome, Joe.

There will often be a lag when several people are on at once, and it's easy to "talk across" each other, with two or three conversations going on at once. You'll get the hang of it quickly, though.

Brad from Georgia

4:58 PM

Hi, Phil!

Laura Leff

4:59 PM

Hi folks!

Brad from Georgia

4:59 PM

Hello to Kathy, Maria again, and Steve. Hiya, Boss!

Steve Archer

4:59 PM

Hi All

Laura Leff

5:00 PM

Maria!  Welcome!!!!

Phil Wala

5:00 PM

Hi.  Phil from Minnesota joining for only the second time ever.

Brad from Georgia

5:00 PM

  Glad you're here again!

Steve Archer

5:00 PM

Hiya Philsie

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:00 PM

howdy, hope everyone is doing well on June 7th

Laura Leff

5:00 PM

A date which will live in infamy...

Hey folks, does Maria's name ring a bell for you?

Brad from Georgia

5:01 PM

Yes, we commemorated the Normandy landings by finishing the tile on our patio and assembling a patio table and chair set.

Oh, sure. I know who Maria is!

Laura Leff

5:01 PM

Hi Hookie!

Brad from Georgia

5:01 PM

Hookie!

R. Hookie

5:01 PM

Jello again, folks

Steve Archer

5:01 PM

Sure, glad to finally make a chat where Maria is here!

Laura Leff

5:02 PM

Indeed!

R. Hookie

5:02 PM

Hi Maria!

Maria Rudolph

5:02 PM

Michael is trying to log in, but he's the stupidest smart person I've ever met.

Laura Leff

5:02 PM

LOL

Maria Rudolph

5:02 PM

Hi everyone.

Laura Leff

5:02 PM

I've known graph theorists who can't boil water.

Brad from Georgia

5:02 PM

So nice you joined us again! Thanks!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:02 PM

hello Maria, glad you can join us today/tonight

Joe Garner

5:02 PM

Hello everyone

Laura Leff

5:02 PM

Hello Joe, whaddya know?

R. Hookie

5:02 PM

Hi Joe

Michael Rudolph joined the room

Brad from Georgia

5:03 PM

Well, I've known professional water boilers who couldn't draw a graph. Or a comfortable bath, for that

matter.

Laura Leff

5:03 PM

Hey hey!

Steve Archer

5:03 PM

Hey Maria, saw your Mom up here in Seattle last month and she was very proud of the new family foundation and its work with the music scholarships.  So cool!

Brad from Georgia

5:03 PM

Hi, Michael!

Maria Rudolph

5:03 PM

I even listened to the show.  I'm embarrassed to say that may be the first one that I've listened to all the way through.

R. Hookie

5:03 PM

Hi Michael

Maria Rudolph

5:03 PM

Not bad.

Laura Leff

5:03 PM

Two Benny grandchildren in the room!  This is a first!

Maria Rudolph

5:03 PM

Steve, yes, Mom is very proud of the foundation.

Laura Leff

5:03 PM

Maria - Hope you enjoyed it!

Brad from Georgia

5:03 PM

Ah, the infamous show with Bing Crosby's "Who the hell picked this key, Dennis Day?" A big no-no in its time.

Michael Rudolph

5:04 PM

Hello everyone

Maria Rudolph

5:04 PM

Yeah, that really surprised me.  I hadn't realized how much improvising went on.

Hi Michael.

Don't go back and read my earlier comment about how you're the stupidest smart person I know.

Michael Rudolph

5:04 PM

too late

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:04 PM

well he is in good company!

Brad from Georgia

5:04 PM

"You don't ad-lib with Jack Benny."--Frank Nelson (who memorably did, though)

Steve Archer

5:04 PM

It seemed like the show started out loosey-goosey with the Jack/Mary teasing so you kind of felt something was going to happen...

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:05 PM

and singers are some of the most likely people to improvise

Brad from Georgia

5:05 PM

Jack seemed to be needling Mary about line readings: Oh, good, you got it out. I worry about those long ones....

R. Hookie

5:05 PM

That schilling sure made it's way around

Laura Leff

5:06 PM

Schilling is the spice of life...

Brad from Georgia

5:06 PM

I wonder if that was the Owl drugstore on Cahuenga.

Laura Leff

5:06 PM

That would have been pretty near NBC studios, I think...makes sense.

Brad from Georgia

5:06 PM

First time I was in LA I thought that was called "cah-wa-NAY-ga"

Steve Archer

5:07 PM

There was a "dollface" there too

Laura Leff

5:07 PM

Well, an official welcome to Michael and Maria, two of Jack Benny's grandchildren!

Brad from Georgia

5:07 PM

In the thirties and forties, I think that was "the largest drugstore in the world" according to the ads. Michael, Maria, we're honored!

Laura Leff

5:07 PM

Yes, this show felt like quite a throwback to the 30s shows

In both form and the ad libbing.

Maria Rudolph

5:07 PM

LL: could you please explain to Michael what everyone is talking about?

Laura Leff

5:08 PM

Ah sorry!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:08 PM

Jack's show was one of the most prominent places to teach Easterners about California, I have a 1936 article that says his radio show was the biggest attraction in Hollywood

Laura Leff

5:08 PM

Michael - I posted a show for discussion tonight, and people are talking about it.

Brad from Georgia

5:08 PM

It's the March 16, 1947 Jack Benny show.

5:08 PM

Steve Archer left the room (user disconnected)

Laura Leff

5:08 PM

There ya go.

R. Hookie

5:08 PM

LS/MFT

Laura Leff

5:08 PM

Hey, anyone have questions for Michael or Maria?

They've got firsthand experience, ya know.

Michael Rudolph

5:09 PM

so sorry, I will watch it during the next break for station identification

Maria Rudolph

5:09 PM

I just told Michael that I was joining the chat while he was driving home from work so he didn't have time to listen to it.  However, of all of us grandchildren, Michael knew Granddad best.

Laura Leff

5:09 PM

Actually here's one...I would imagine both of you know the photo of your grandfather giving you money, right?

Brad from Georgia

5:09 PM

It features Bing Crosby , Andy Russell, and Dick Haymes as guests. With Dennis Day, they make up Jack's "new" quartet, taking over from the Sportsmen.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:09 PM

what's the most absurd question Michael and Maria have been asked when someone finds out who their grandpa is

5:09 PM

Steve Archer joined the room

Laura Leff

5:09 PM

Kathy - Oh excellent.

Maria Rudolph

5:09 PM

This may not be the most absurd one, but it's the most frequent:  Was he funny in real life?

LL: With the bunny ears?

Laura Leff

5:10 PM

Do they get up in your face doing bad impersonations of him the way they do with me?

Maria Rudolph

5:10 PM

Not so much anymore.  Thank goodness!

Michael Rudolph

5:10 PM

or was he really that cheap?

Laura Leff

5:10 PM

Maria - I don't think so...he has his wallet out and you're both holding out your hands palm up to take the money.

Brad from Georgia

5:10 PM

...and run?

Laura Leff

5:11 PM

I'm just curious if either of you remember that photo being taken.

Maria Rudolph

5:11 PM

Oh yeah.  I remember that one.  I don't have a copy of it though.  Michael, do you have it?

I think it was one Easter.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:11 PM

I hope you are getting responses saying "wow, he was the greatest comedian of the 20th century"

Laura Leff

5:11 PM

I think it's in the Marcia Borie book.

Michael Rudolph

5:11 PM

i remember that picture, I have a copy of it but only remember that it was posed

Maria Rudolph

5:12 PM

I'm remembering Easter and a magic club.  Did I totally make that up?

Michael Rudolph

5:12 PM

i wish we were getting responses like that, instead of who was Jack Benny?

Laura Leff

5:12 PM

Definitely.   There were tons of publicity photos with your mother.  How much were either of you called in for that sort of publicity/press coverage?

Maria Rudolph

5:12 PM

Kathy: Nope.

I can't remember ever being called in.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:12 PM

well, here is hoping that this will change!

Michael Rudolph

5:12 PM

we had to do a round of publicity photos once a year.  Maria hated them!

Steve Archer

5:12 PM

LOL

Laura Leff

5:13 PM

*grinning in Maria's direction*

R. Hookie

5:13 PM

Were the shoots that bad?

Michael Rudolph

5:13 PM

well Maria?

Laura Leff

5:13 PM

LOL

R. Hookie

5:14 PM

... --- ...

Laura Leff

5:14 PM

Do you remember if it was in conjunction with any particular event?

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:14 PM

Your mom's autograph goes for some $$ on ebay, I guess celebrity follows you all, like it or not

Michael Rudolph

5:14 PM

she was never one for putting on pretty dresses and having to keep them clean

Laura Leff

5:14 PM

Hey, maybe you should start signing cards and selling them on Ebay.

Maria Rudolph

5:14 PM

Obviously, I found them so traumatic that I have blocked them out.

Steve Archer

5:14 PM

Michael, Maria - you probably get more questions about Jack, but do you have any strong memories of Mary?

Laura Leff

5:14 PM

Hey, did Mary's horsehair dress sell?

Maria - PTSD.  It's natural.  

Maria Rudolph

5:15 PM

Stronger memories of Miss Mary (as we called her) than Granddad.  She lived for another 8 years after he died.

Michael Rudolph

5:15 PM

boy I could put a lot of unintended meaning in that question

Laura Leff

5:15 PM

Oh, it may not be so unintended.  

Michael Rudolph

5:15 PM

I have stronger memories of grandad

Laura Leff

5:15 PM

You've got a very knowledgeable group here.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:16 PM

Did Mary go out at all to meet friends, or was she rather house-boound?

Brad from Georgia

5:16 PM

Did Mary really hate Jack's practicing the violin?

Michael Rudolph

5:16 PM

yes, she did,  I loved to sit in his dressing room and listen to him play the scales

Miss Mary was very house-bound unless it was to visit whats-her-face who lived in Barbados?  Famous oscar winning actress....

Maria Rudolph

5:17 PM

I always associate his practicing with eating corn flakes in bed.

Merle Oberon.

Laura Leff

5:18 PM

Barbara Stanwyck?

Michael Rudolph

5:18 PM

correct

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:18 PM

Ah ha, Claudette Colbert

Laura Leff

5:18 PM

Which was correct?

Gregory D. Smith joined the room

Michael Rudolph

5:18 PM

CLaudette Colbert it was

Laura Leff

5:18 PM

Hi Gregory!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:18 PM

I always image that Mary wanted to be Claudette

Laura Leff

5:18 PM

Aha!

R. Hookie

5:18 PM

Hi Gregory

Laura Leff

5:18 PM

I think Mary wanted to be a lot of people.

Maria Rudolph

5:18 PM

I remember Mom talking about her once and totally dissing her for having had so many face lifts.

Michael Rudolph

5:18 PM

she went there at least once a year

Brad from Georgia

5:19 PM

Hmm...I'm learning to play the ukulele, but I still couldn't do it while eating cornflakes in bed.

Steve Archer

5:19 PM

Interesting, your mom's book (and others) have certainly commented on some of Mary's issues, but she still, IMHO had a lot of talent and deserves her own little place in history as a really good comedienne.

Gregory D. Smith

5:19 PM

Hi Laura!!

Maria Rudolph

5:19 PM

Actually, she wanted to be Babe Paley more than anyone else.

Gregory D. Smith

5:19 PM

first time here!!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:19 PM

Hollywood is a cruel place for older women (over 25)

Gregory D. Smith

5:19 PM

Hi everyone!!

Brad from Georgia

5:19 PM

Hi, Gregory!

Laura Leff

5:19 PM

Welcome in!  You've hit it on a great night!

Michael Rudolph

5:19 PM

yes, she was in fact very good, she had great timing also

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:19 PM

WOW, great Babe Paley connection!!!!

Laura Leff

5:19 PM

Maria - Ah yes, that's right!

Steve Archer

5:19 PM

Hiya Gregory

Gregory D. Smith

5:19 PM

Great!!!

Maria Rudolph

5:19 PM

Sorry -- he didn't eat corn flakes at the same time.  He would eat them in bed (very sloppily and slurpily) and then go into his bathroom to practice.

Gregory D. Smith

5:19 PM

Hi!!!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:20 PM

Jack said many times that Mary had a good eye for production and administration. If she were around today, maybe that would be her forte

Brad from Georgia

5:20 PM

Maria--that's a relief to me. My dog will be disappointed though. He likes to have a big bowl of milk and cereal when he can steal one.

Laura Leff

5:20 PM

Corn flakes...not Grape Nuts Flakes.  (Radio sponsor)

R. Hookie

5:20 PM

I'm guessing Kelloggs

Michael Rudolph

5:20 PM

that is very true,i had forgotten how sloppy he was with his cereal in bed

Maria Rudolph

5:20 PM

Remember that, Michael?

Laura Leff

5:21 PM

When you've got a maid to launder the sheets, what the heck!

Michael Rudolph

5:21 PM

I don't remember the exact cereal

Gregory D. Smith

5:21 PM

I've been a Jack Benny fan for over 15 years...

Michael Rudolph

5:21 PM

maid?  more like maids!

R. Hookie

5:21 PM

So, you're 16?

Maria Rudolph

5:21 PM

Her name was Maria and she was the upstairs maid.  She didn't launder the sheets -- she ironed them on the bed!

Gregory D. Smith

5:21 PM

i first discovered him during my days in theNavy..

Laura Leff

5:21 PM

Mary maids.  

Steve Archer

5:21 PM

That is a really funny image that almost seems like it could be on the show.  Rochester complaining about Jack eating cornflakes in bed.

Brad from Georgia

5:21 PM

I serve my wife breakfast in bed sometimes--never vice-versa. Probably just as well. I tend to spill things, she doesn't. I may make her waffles tomorrow...our 46th. anniversary....

Gregory D. Smith

5:21 PM

No...LOL

I'm 38!!

Michael Rudolph

5:21 PM

come on, you don;t really remember the name of the upstairs maid?

Maria Rudolph

5:22 PM

Of course I do.  Her name was Maria.  Duh!  Remember -- she was Polish and went to school at UCLA.  Her mother was Zenobia.

Laura Leff

5:22 PM

When it's the same as yours, it has a mnemonic!

Michael Rudolph

5:22 PM

All I  remember is the secretary, assistant - Miss Valance and the cook - Mrs. King

Brad from Georgia

5:22 PM

Lovely word, mnemonic. It and syzygy are among my favorites.

R. Hookie

5:22 PM

Gregory, next year no one will believe you when you tell them your age...

Laura Leff

5:22 PM

As opposed to Zenophobia...or maybe those were people who were scared of her.

Gregory D. Smith

5:23 PM

In a few months..

Laura Leff

5:23 PM

Miss Julia Valance!

Brad from Georgia

5:23 PM

Zenophobia is spelled with an X, though.

Maria Rudolph

5:23 PM

For those of you who don't know this (and I would love to catch LL out on something), Michael and I would spend the night at Granddad's and Miss Mary's house every Friday night.  Then we would go to George and Gracie's for tea parties on Saturdays.

Laura Leff

5:23 PM

I was just going to ask if you ever knew her.

Maria Rudolph

5:23 PM

Yes, Miss Julia Valance.  Miss V to us.

Laura Leff

5:23 PM

Brad - I know, but took a liberty.

Gregory D. Smith

5:23 PM

Hey, R.Hookie where are you from??

Maria Rudolph

5:23 PM

Michael, remember Mrs. King's cookie jar?

Brad from Georgia

5:23 PM

That's okay. You deserve a weekend pass, LL.

Phil Wala

5:24 PM

That was worth the price of admission – the ultimate Jack Benny trivia question.  What was the name of Jack’s upstairs maid’s mother?  Answer:  Zenobia.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:24 PM

so what did you all think of George and Gracie?

Steve Archer

5:24 PM

Wow, what are your memories of the Burnses?

Laura Leff

5:24 PM

Maria - New information!  Thank you!  Jealous...

R. Hookie

5:24 PM

Tea with George and Gracie?!?!?

Maria Rudolph

5:24 PM

Phil: no.  Maria was the upstairs maid.  Zenobia was downstairs.

Yay!!!! I know one thing that LL doesn't know!

Laura Leff

5:24 PM

ROFLMAO

R. Hookie

5:24 PM

In Sioux Falls, SD

Maria Rudolph

5:25 PM

Michael, are you still here?  Your memories of George and Gracie will be better than mine.  I was quite young when Gracie died.

Laura Leff

5:25 PM

5:25 PM

Gregory D. Smith left the room (user disconnected)

5:25 PM

Gregory D. Smith joined the room

Laura Leff

5:25 PM

I was wondering that...kind of surprised that you even had memories of Gracies.

Gracie

Gregory D. Smith

5:25 PM

Wow nice...I'm from Chicago, IL

Maria Rudolph

5:25 PM

I do remember more about the Friday nights.  Every Thursday, Miss V would call to see what Michael and I wanted for dinner.  Every single week, Michael would ask for fried shrimp and I would ask for lamb chops.  Every single week.  How spoiled were we that we always wanted different things from each other.  Poor Mrs. King.

Michael Rudolph

5:26 PM

sorry, I am a few sentences behind,   yes i do remember Mrs King's cookie jar expecially at Christmas with her ginger bread cookies.  those were still the best cookies I have ever had

Gregory D. Smith

5:26 PM

just a short ride from Jack's birthplace..

Maria Rudolph

5:26 PM

I'd forgotten about the ginger bread cookies.  No wonder I still love them so much.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:26 PM

how fun, did Jack raid the cookie jar too?

Michael Rudolph

5:26 PM

i remember George (especially from the country club) but have no memories of Gracie

Laura Leff

5:27 PM

Maria - She didn't put figs in them, did she?  (Inside joke)

Brad from Georgia

5:27 PM

Michael, we've heard that George often made Jack laugh helplessly--do you remember any time when he did that?

Michael Rudolph

5:27 PM

he did but he was not supposed to, being diabetic and all

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:27 PM

wow Michael, did you get to hang with the comedians at the country club?

Maria Rudolph

5:27 PM

Another tidbit from Friday nights.  Michael and I would sleep in Mom's old suite.  It had a huge bed and we would both sleep in it.  There was a small library in the bedside table on Michael's side.  He would ask me what I wanted to read.  After I answered, he would say that he was reading that book (even though he wasn't).  Totally obnoxious.

Sorry, LL, no figs.

Gregory D. Smith

5:28 PM

This is so great, Laura...

Michael Rudolph

5:28 PM

yes, there was the famous round table.  I got to sit with them on Sunday mornings because I was a he and no females were allowed!!

Maria Rudolph

5:28 PM

I didn't know that you got to do that!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:28 PM

wow, how fun, thank you all for sharing these memories!

Laura Leff

5:28 PM

Gregory - I'm sure loving it!

Maria - You played tennis there, though...right?

Brad from Georgia

5:28 PM

Michael--did you meet Groucho Marx at the club?

Michael Rudolph

5:29 PM

That is just Maria being jealous of not being allowed into the inner sanctum of Hillcrest

Kevin Firth joined the room

Laura Leff

5:29 PM

Hi Kevin!

Brad from Georgia

5:29 PM

Hi, Kevin!

Michael Rudolph

5:29 PM

Hi Kevin,  Kevin is a friend of mine

Gregory D. Smith

5:29 PM

Hi, Kevin!!

Laura Leff

5:29 PM

I think Bruce Jenner is dealing with a similar situation now as well...

Kevin Firth

5:29 PM

Hi!

Maria Rudolph

5:29 PM

Michael's right.  However, I did play tennis there and was club champion many years.

Michael Rudolph

5:29 PM

Maria, say hi to Kevin

Brad from Georgia

5:29 PM

Any friend of Michael's is a friend of ours.

Steve Archer

5:29 PM

George Burns wrote quite a lot about those Hillcrest meetings of the comedians...

Kevin Firth

5:29 PM

Thanks!

Maria Rudolph

5:29 PM

Hi Kevin.

R. Hookie

5:29 PM

Hi Kevin

Michael Rudolph

5:30 PM

I was a good tennis player also!

Laura Leff

5:30 PM

Kevin - Your name is familiar to me.  Have we met?

Steve Archer

5:30 PM

Hiya Kevin

Kevin Firth

5:30 PM

Hi Maria...

Maria Rudolph

5:30 PM

Anyone who believes that Michael was a good tennis player, raise your hand.

Michael Rudolph

5:30 PM

see, everyone is raising their hand

Laura Leff

5:30 PM

LOL

Maria Rudolph

5:30 PM

LOL too.

Michael Rudolph

5:30 PM

LOL three

that shut everyone up

Steve Archer

5:31 PM

Laura Leff

5:31 PM

My neighbors are going to get annoyed at me for laughing loudly with the windows open.

Maria Rudolph

5:31 PM

Oh -- here's one really bizarre thing that I hear all the time when I say something funny (which I do fairly frequently):  You inherited that from your grandfather.  Is that really a thing?

Brad from Georgia

5:31 PM

So tell them to close their windows...

R. Hookie

5:31 PM

I really wasn't raising my hand, I was scratching under my toupee....

Maria Rudolph

5:31 PM

LOL Hookie.

Laura Leff

5:31 PM

Miss Valance must have had some years on her by the time you knew her.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:31 PM

take it as a compliment, means you didn't bomb

Michael Rudolph

5:31 PM

considering that he was not blood related, I don't think you did inherit

Brad from Georgia

5:32 PM

Maria--I don't know if it's inherited so much as it just rubs off.

Maria Rudolph

5:32 PM

LL, yes Miss V was ancient.  But still very stern.

5:32 PM

Theodore Michael Konek joined the room

Laura Leff

5:32 PM

Maria - Did she ever marry?

R. Hookie

5:32 PM

Hello Theodore

Michael Rudolph

5:32 PM

I remember her being very nice to me

Maria Rudolph

5:32 PM

Clearly, it's not inherited, but that is the other theory -- that I was surrounded by humor and that's where I got it.

Michael Rudolph

5:33 PM

you got what?

Maria Rudolph

5:33 PM

She was very nice -- but stern.  I remember her making me wear slippers in the penthouse suite in Las Vegas because of germs.  I thought that was weird.

Laura Leff

5:33 PM

Well, but I think that he was good when he worked on the material.  He wasn't Al Gordon, dropping one-liners all over the place.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:33 PM

I agree with that 110%

Steve Archer

5:33 PM

LOL

Maria Rudolph

5:33 PM

I got my insanely great sense of humor.

Michael Rudolph

5:34 PM

no, you just got your insanity

maybe we could be a comedy team?

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:34 PM

so is your Mom funny too?

Brad from Georgia

5:34 PM

At my recent high-school reunion, someone told me, "You were always the funniest guy at school." I was flattered until I realized they didn't mean funny humorous....

Kevin Firth

5:34 PM

same asyou...

Michael Rudolph

5:34 PM

no

R. Hookie

5:34 PM

That would be fun

Laura Leff

5:34 PM

There's got to be a pun there somewhere...

Steve Archer

5:35 PM

I was just thinking there might be a Jack Benny the Next Generation happening RIGHT HERE

Maria Rudolph

5:35 PM

Michael, only if you're the straight man.  haha -- that was pretty funny, huh?

Laura Leff

5:35 PM

Steve - Are you volunteering?

matt joined the room

Michael Rudolph

5:35 PM

it took me a minute to get that one - very funny indeed

Laura Leff

5:35 PM

Hi matt!

matt

5:35 PM

hi

Steve Archer

5:35 PM

I will be your Don Wilson.

Maria Rudolph

5:35 PM

No, Mom isn't funny, but she seriously appreciates humor -- considers it essential.

Michael Rudolph

5:36 PM

Kevin, what were you trying to say

Laura Leff

5:36 PM

See, everyone is slapping their thigh.

Brad from Georgia

5:36 PM

Not me. I'm still working on raising my hand.

Laura Leff

5:36 PM

Maria - Good answer.

Kevin Firth

5:37 PM

about your insanely great sense of humor.

Michael Rudolph

5:37 PM

Maria is correct, I think being surrounded by some of the funniest people on the planet growing up, had made us realize that a sense of humor may be the most important personality attribute to have

Laura Leff

5:37 PM

Tell us more about your father, Buddy Rudolph (assuming you have no memories of Seth Baker)

Phil Wala

5:37 PM

More often than not, Jack was the straight-man and gave his supporting cast the punch lines.  I’d hate to see a comedy team made up of two straight-men.

Laura Leff

5:38 PM

Michael - Agreed.  It's not necessarily rthat it comes directly from your grandfather, but from the larger environment.

Maria Rudolph

5:38 PM

Actually, Buddy (my father and Michael's adopted father) died when I was 9 and Michael was 11.  Seth, on the other hand, just died a year or two ago, so my memories of Seth are much stronger than of Dad.

Michael Rudolph

5:38 PM

exactly, it usually did not come from my grandfather but by the people he surrounded himself with

matt

5:38 PM

did you know an of the O'Malley who were actors and actress

Laura Leff

5:38 PM

You need someone to say "Who's on First?"  Not interesting with two people standing around saying, "Yes."

Maria Rudolph

5:39 PM

Right.  And although I never saw George Burns crack Granddad up, he was the best and funniest story teller I've ever had the pleasure to listen to.

Michael Rudolph

5:39 PM

no but my therapist is Mary O'Malley

Laura Leff

5:39 PM

Oh indeed!  I didn't know you had contact with Seth, since they were married so briefly.

Brad from Georgia

5:39 PM

OTOH, LL, you don't think "Sy? Si" is funny, either.

matt

5:39 PM

my distant family member were in show business

Michael Rudolph

5:39 PM

I think Freddy DeCordiva (sp) was the funniest

Laura Leff

5:40 PM

Brad - Yeah...it doesn't ring my chimes.

Freddy deCordova!  I still miss him a lot.

Maria Rudolph

5:40 PM

Yes, Freddie was insanely funny too.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:40 PM

I am curious, how would you LIKE to see Jack and Mary talked about/remembered?

Maria Rudolph

5:41 PM

Kathy, that's a good question.  As far as Granddad is concerned, I would just like to see him remembered.  Period.  That was his greatest fear -- being forgotten.

As for Miss Mary, I always feel bad when I watch the TV specials about Granddad where their friends are interviewed and everyone, except Freddy, totally trash her.  She was a difficult woman to be sure, but she wasn't a bad woman.

Laura Leff

5:42 PM

In the very early days of the club, I used to quote all the time, "No one is ever dead until they are forgotten.  If we have anything to say about it, Jack Benny will never die."

Steve Archer

5:42 PM

I can't imagine that will ever happen.

Michael Rudolph

5:42 PM

As one of the longest running sitcoms in TV history, as the first show to have a African American as a co-star who was equal to everyone else

Laura Leff

5:42 PM

Great answer.

Maria Rudolph

5:42 PM

Thanks LL.  You are definitely keeping him alive and, as you know, the family is very grateful.

Laura Leff

5:43 PM

Freddy delivered her eulogy.  Do you have any memories of that?

Brad from Georgia

5:43 PM

And thanks from all of us fans, too, LL. We don't tell you often enough that we appreciate all you do@

Laura Leff

5:43 PM

And I'm deeply grateful for all your support!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:43 PM

gosh I agree. When I talk to my undergrad college students, they have never heard of Jack Benny. But they have never heard of Charlie Chaplin or Richard Pryor! Its the job of us fans and writer/historians to inform the young and help keep their art alive.

Michael Rudolph

5:43 PM

Absolutely, i thank Laura every day for keeping his name alive

Brad from Georgia

5:43 PM

That should be an exclamation point.

Maria Rudolph

5:43 PM

I am sure you're right, LL, but that's not what I remembered at all.  I remember George starting it and having to stop and then Bob Hope finishing it.

Laura Leff

5:44 PM

Awwwww...*blushing*

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:44 PM

I ADORE the Mary character as such a change from the average 30s 40s female, let's promote her.

R. Hookie

5:44 PM

Dittos, Laura

Maria Rudolph

5:44 PM

Michael?  Do you remember Freddy giving the eulogy?

Brad from Georgia

5:44 PM

I'm sure Mary's laugh was a stage laugh most of the time, but it always makes me smile when I hear it.

Laura Leff

5:44 PM

Maria - That was your father's funeral...what about Miss Mary's?

Steve Archer

5:44 PM

Jack's comedy is so timeless, it ain't going out of style.

Kevin Firth

5:44 PM

I don't think he will be forgotten. it amazes me how many fans he has and new ones all the time. It's incredible

Michael Rudolph

5:45 PM

it is so depressing to think that the current generation has never heard of someone as important as Charlie Chaplin

Laura Leff

5:45 PM

Freddy was who helped me connect to her (Mary).

Brad from Georgia

5:45 PM

When Eddie Carroll did his Jack Benny show for our college, one of the youngest attendees was eight...and she told him "I've been a Jack Benny fan all my life."

Michael Rudolph

5:45 PM

they won't even watch anything that is in black and white

matt

5:46 PM

first balck and white film i saw was frankenstein

Laura Leff

5:46 PM

Michael - You'll be happy to know that some kids were at a party here a week ago, and they knew Chaplin and the Marx Brothers when they saw posters on my walls.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:46 PM

well, its all about education, and this group and Laura's efforts make a big difference!

Michael Rudolph

5:46 PM

Did everyone see the article the other week in a new York newspaper about the person who named his kid Jack Benny?

Brad from Georgia

5:46 PM

Michael--in my film classes, I always show two movies back to back: "Casablanca" and "To Be or Not to Be." Students usually love both of them.

Laura Leff

5:46 PM

Oh, I contacted huim!

him

Maria Rudolph

5:47 PM

Sorry, LL, misunderstood.  Funny -- I can remember everything about the year before she died, the day that she died (including the fact that Maria, the upstairs maid, found her), but don't remember anything about her funeral.  It must have been at Hillside, but I have absolutely no recollection of it.  Weird.

Laura Leff

5:47 PM

He was delighted to find out about the club!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:47 PM

remember that in 1650, they said who's that old dead guy Shakespeare, give me Moliere...

Steve Archer

5:47 PM

Was his name Meyer Kubelsky?

Michael Rudolph

5:47 PM

Brad, that is great, what course do you teach and where?

Laura Leff

5:47 PM

Steve - *rimshot*

Michael Rudolph

5:47 PM

Benjamin Kubelsky

Maria Rudolph

5:48 PM

Meyer was his father.

Brad from Georgia

5:48 PM

University of North Georgia--sometimes Film and Narrative, sometimes Film and Literature. The Narrative course is the one where I show "To Be or Not to Be."

Laura Leff

5:48 PM

Maria - I can understand that.  And makes sense that Maria found her, since I think she died in her sleep IIRC

Maria Rudolph

5:48 PM

Wait, LL, you have posters of Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers?  In your home?

Laura Leff

5:49 PM

Don't hate me..

Michael Rudolph

5:49 PM

Oh, Maria, I was thinking about the maid at the old Roxbury house.  The  only think I remember about the last house was Miss Mary's hair dresser

Maria Rudolph

5:49 PM

Kenneth.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:49 PM

and I showed it at UTexas Austin last November, hooray that Criterion has made a beautiful release of To Be or Not to Be

Laura Leff

5:49 PM

Yes...I have more than just your grandfather.  I admit it.

Steve Archer

5:50 PM

Laura lines her rabbit cages with posters of Fred Allen though.

Laura Leff

5:50 PM

HA!

Michael Rudolph

5:50 PM

Brad, that is great.  Maria, who is Kenneth?

Laura Leff

5:50 PM

I can't find my Fred Allen poster!

Brad from Georgia

5:50 PM

<Brag> I'm in my home office right now, and I'm looking at an autographed photo of Groucho Marx and an autographed Hirschfeld caricature of Jack Benny. </Brag>

Laura Leff

5:50 PM

Maybe that's why...

Maria Rudolph

5:50 PM

Okay, more trivia that I believe even LL doesn't know:  Kenneth, who was Miss Mary's hairdresser, was also Nancy Reagan's hairdresser.  The day before Miss Mary died, Mrs. Reagan was in Los Angeles and went to her house to meet Kenneth to have her hair done.  She thought Miss Mary looked awful and called Mom up to fuss at her for not taking better care of her.  The next day, she died.  Mrs. Reagan was right.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:51 PM

I have found like five old articles directly comparing Jack Benny and Charlie Chaplin, for how they pulled on your sympathy and were superb comic characters

Maria Rudolph

5:51 PM

Michael: her hairdresser.

5:51 PM

matt left the room (user disconnected)

Michael Rudolph

5:51 PM

He was also Dinah Shore's hairdresser but I don't think his name was Kenneth.

Laura Leff

5:51 PM

I'm in my home office right now and looking at an enormous poster of the Beligan release (in the 60s) of "To Be or Not to Be", and two original George Wachsteter caricatures (one of Jack).

R. Hookie

5:51 PM

(bragging)  I'm watching old black and white Marlboro commercials..... I have no life.....

Brad from Georgia

5:51 PM

Where's Beliga?

Michael Rudolph

5:52 PM

I think it was something like Fabio?

Maria Rudolph

5:52 PM

Brad: Hirschfeld made 5 drawings for Mom and the 4 grandkids.  All of them were signed from him to each of us individually.  Very cool.

Michael Rudolph

5:52 PM

Beliga is right next to Beluga

Laura Leff

5:52 PM

I knew that Nancy Reagan had lunch with her the day before she died...didn't know there was a hair appointment involved.  

Brad from Georgia

5:52 PM

Wow! I love Hirschfeld's style.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:52 PM

WOW, what great information about the community of women in Hollywood, hairdressers know all

Maria Rudolph

5:52 PM

Rats, Laura.  I can't believe you even knew that.

Michael Rudolph

5:52 PM

that  is the only reason Mrs Reagan was at my grandmother's place

Kevin Firth

5:52 PM

your hairdresser is fabio....

Laura Leff

5:53 PM

Maria - Oh how cool...

Brad from Georgia

5:53 PM

Seems to me I recall "Hairstyles by Mr. Kenneth of Hollywood" as a credit on fifties/sixties TV shows.

Laura Leff

5:53 PM

Maria - You know who told me that?

Maria Rudolph

5:53 PM

Julius?  I think it was Julius, not Kenneth.

Laura Leff

5:54 PM

Groucho Marx was your grandmother's hairdresser?

Maria Rudolph

5:54 PM

I have to answer the door...

Michael Rudolph

5:54 PM

Julius that is correct but my hairdresser is fabio (inside joke)

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:54 PM

I really admire Mary for being a prime member of the Hollywood woman's who's-who. It took a lot of work to get there and keep those friendships

Brad from Georgia

5:54 PM

"That's the most ridiculous do I've ever done."

Laura Leff

5:54 PM

If it's a a duck, maybe we said the secret word.

Michael Rudolph

5:55 PM

quack

Phil Wala

5:55 PM

Found a reference to Julius Bengtsson as being Nancy Reagan's California stylist.

Brad from Georgia

5:55 PM

Give the man a hundred bucks.

Steve Archer

5:55 PM

If he did Lucy's hair too you could call it an Orange Julius.

Laura Leff

5:55 PM

Aha!  Good job, Phil!

Brad from Georgia

5:55 PM

So I guess Kenneth only did Liberace's hair.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:55 PM

hahaha

Laura Leff

5:55 PM

That could be a full-time job.

Brad from Georgia

5:56 PM

You could get lost in there.

Michael Rudolph

5:56 PM

I thought Liberace didn't have any real hair

Brad from Georgia

5:56 PM

He sent it out.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:56 PM

while Rochester wrangled Jack's blond, red, and black toupees

Michael Rudolph

5:56 PM

to the dry cleaners

Kevin Firth

5:56 PM

it slept in a box at night...

Brad from Georgia

5:56 PM

Kenneth's Dry Cleaners.

Laura Leff

5:56 PM

My hairdresser is Mateo, incidentally.

Michael Rudolph

5:56 PM

no, my grandfather used shoe polish on his head

Kevin Firth

5:57 PM

hmmmm....

Laura Leff

5:57 PM

You got messages from the dentist and your hairdresser...

Michael Rudolph

5:57 PM

my hairdresser's name is Kevinissimo

Phil Wala

5:57 PM

Mr. Kenneth was Kenneth Battelle, who did hair for Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, and Lucille Ball.  If my wife checks my browser history, she'll wonder why someone with no hair is researching hair stylists.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

5:57 PM

he had beautiful silver hair in the 40s, Jack I mean

Laura Leff

5:57 PM

Not Kevinissimo Firth?

Kevin Firth

5:57 PM

indeed!

Brad from Georgia

5:57 PM

I don't have a hairdresser. I just go to the barber college.

R. Hookie

5:57 PM

I don't have a  hairdresser

Laura Leff

5:58 PM

Brad - Why?  You're not dead.

Steve Archer

5:58 PM

an Orange Kenneth just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Laura Leff

5:58 PM

Kevin - Do you know for sure?  

Brad from Georgia

5:58 PM

Look at my hair and tell me that.

Kevin Firth

5:58 PM

I do....

Laura Leff

5:58 PM

Oooooooo

Kevin Firth

5:58 PM

everything...

Laura Leff

5:58 PM

LOL

Michael Rudolph

5:59 PM

this i more difficult to follow than 10 patients in the emergency room

Laura Leff

5:59 PM

Maybe we should be asking YOU questions!  

At least I hope no one is having a heart attack or anything...

Brad from Georgia

6:00 PM

Me, I'm still working on raising my hand.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:00 PM

is/was there an interesting physical object in your mom's house that reminded you of your grandparents?

Laura Leff

6:00 PM

What other questions for Michael and Maria?

Or Kevin?

Michael Rudolph

6:01 PM

Heart Attacks are easy, you just yell orders at the nurse and continue talking in the chat room

Laura Leff

6:01 PM

Ha

Brad from Georgia

6:01 PM

Aside from corn flakes in bed, what was Jack's favorite food? That's a trivia question to which the answer I would like to know.

Michael Rudolph

6:01 PM

good question, thinking

Maria Rudolph

6:01 PM

Just came back from answering the door.  Glad to see I didn't miss anything.

Brad from Georgia

6:01 PM

Avon lady?

Do they still make those?

Laura Leff

6:02 PM

I still see pink cars around sometimes...

R. Hookie

6:02 PM

That's Mary Kay

Laura Leff

6:02 PM

Maria - Any progress on your book?

Brad from Georgia

6:02 PM

I still see pink elephants, but I don't say much about it.

Michael Rudolph

6:02 PM

I can only think of all the photographs

Maria Rudolph

6:02 PM

A neighbor bringing me a ginormous bunch of peonies.  I bought her puff pastry at the store today.  I think I got the better end of that deal.

No, LL, no progress.

I can't remember Granddad having a favorite food.

Laura Leff

6:03 PM

Oh speaking of physical objects, I have the Jack Benny coin in lucite on the table just behind me.  Thank you, Michael!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:03 PM

that's Mary Kay, I parked next to a pink Escalade yesterday, might be a Texas thing

Maria Rudolph

6:03 PM

Michael gave you his?

Texas thang.

Michael Rudolph

6:03 PM

I have several objects that I treasure.  One is a gold money clip he gave me with "Love always, your granddad" engraved on it

Maria Rudolph

6:04 PM

I am still jealous of the gold money clips.  Of course, the girls never got one.

Laura Leff

6:04 PM

Maria - Well, he SAID that Gerald Ford gave it to Mary, but maybe I should have Kevin validate that...

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:04 PM

matthew Weiner is all about his J B gold cufflinks he bought at auction

Laura Leff

6:04 PM

I have a list of the people who got the money clip with the Bouche drawing...

Phil Wala

6:05 PM

Does a money clip from Jack Benny ever let go?

Maria Rudolph

6:05 PM

There were a couple of favorite restaurants though.  We usually went to Trader Vic's in BH where Mom and Miss Mary would have "navy grogs" and get tipsy.  Miss Mary was, btw, very funny and fun when she had had a couple of navy grogs.

Michael Rudolph

6:05 PM

another memory, though extremely bittersweet, is the last Christmas present I got from him the day before he died.  It was a brown suede jacket with fleece lining - very outdated now, but It is still and will always be in my closet

Laura Leff

6:05 PM

How much did he give out the cufflinks?  Seems like I see the money clip more often.

Michael Rudolph

6:05 PM

money clip joke - very funny

Laura Leff

6:05 PM

Kathy - Jerry Seinfeld has a pair as well.

Kevin Firth

6:06 PM

yeah, that was good!

Maria Rudolph

6:06 PM

Walter

matthau had one.

Michael Rudolph

6:06 PM

you were funny also,Maria after several Shirley Temples

Maria Rudolph

6:06 PM

Haha.  Shirley Temples are still my favorite drink.

Steve Archer

6:06 PM

Oh, Maria - that is my favorite drink at Trader Vic's too!  Laura can vouch for me since we went there once up in the Bay area.

Michael Rudolph

6:06 PM

i think there were 200 money clips made

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:06 PM

well, I hope to use that connection for book back over blurbs!

Laura Leff

6:06 PM

I've been to Trader Vic's...it's still really old school!

Steve - Sure did!

Steve Archer

6:07 PM

Navy Grogs.  Shirley Temples need a shot of Johnnie Walker to make a Shirley Temple Black.

Maria Rudolph

6:07 PM

We had to be in the "ship room."  Remember, Michael?  Once, we were seated in a different room and Miss Mary had a fit.  They had to move us.

Laura Leff

6:07 PM

When I was a kid, I used to order a "double Shirley Temple on the rocks."

Maria Rudolph

6:07 PM

LOL Steve.  Good one.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:07 PM

I am curious about other celebrities who have said nice things about Jack and Mary to you all?

Laura Leff

6:07 PM

Kathy - Great idea!

Michael Rudolph

6:07 PM

Laura, do you know how many people are on that money clip list?

Goldy Hawn

Laura Leff

6:08 PM

Steve - Excuse me, I think Brad has hijacked your account.

Brad from Georgia

6:08 PM

Leave a million dollars in the old oak tree if you ever want to see your account again...

Maria Rudolph

6:08 PM

I've heard many comedians credit Granddad with their timing and said wonderful things about him, but not to me.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:08 PM

Steve Martin used a nice JB quote yesterday in his AFI speech.

Michael Rudolph

6:09 PM

I remember at my grandfather's wake:  I didn't understand the concept of a wake and was angry that everyone was laughing and seemed to be having a good time. Until i went into the hall and saw goldie Hawn sitting on a chair crying

Steve Archer

6:09 PM

Brad's just a bad influence....

Laura Leff

6:09 PM

Michael - About 100.  The list is SOMEWHERE on the table right behind me, which is chock full of  all sorts of clippings, photos, even Jack's high school yearbooks.

Brad from Georgia

6:09 PM

Eh, it's a living.

Maria Rudolph

6:09 PM

Michael, you have so hijacked my story.  I was the one that saw her and she was in the living room all by herself.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:09 PM

oh that is so sweet about Goldie Hawn

Maria Rudolph

6:09 PM

LL, do you have my high school yearbooks too?  I seem to have misplaced them.

Michael Rudolph

6:10 PM

lots of comedians from Kelsey Grammer to Jon=hnny Carson imitated my grandfather's manerisms

Kevin Firth

6:10 PM

he does....

Laura Leff

6:10 PM

Maria - Not yet.  I'll let you know when that changes.

Maria Rudolph

6:10 PM

Thanks LL.

Laura Leff

6:10 PM

Gotta get your mom's first.  

Michael Rudolph

6:10 PM

that is not true she was on the bench right outside the dining room

Brad from Georgia

6:10 PM

I heard a variant of the classic "I'm thinking it OVER!" gag of Jack's on "The Big Bang Theory" a few days agao.

Ago.

Agouti.

Michael Rudolph

6:11 PM

maybe she was crying in 2 places

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:11 PM

Have you all heard the nice reminiscences from Harry Shearer, on Marc Maron's podcast, about being on the radio show

Maria Rudolph

6:11 PM

Must have been.

No, Kathy.

Laura Leff

6:11 PM

Oh, who knew that the lead character on "Big Bang" is named after Sheldon Leonard?

Brad from Georgia

6:11 PM

Moi.

Maria Rudolph

6:11 PM

Here's a great story from what Michael is calling Granddad's wake.

Laura Leff

6:11 PM

I didn't know Goldie Hawn was into astral projection.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:12 PM

I didn't know, nice tribute?

Kevin Firth

6:12 PM

she gets around....

Maria Rudolph

6:12 PM

It was the two days before Granddad died and the house was full of every major star of the time.

Laura Leff

6:12 PM

Kevin - Hee hee hee

Michael Rudolph

6:12 PM

ok, I will conceed that maybe it wasn't a wake but everyone seemed to be having a good time except for Goldie

Maria Rudolph

6:12 PM

Milton Berle was a great magician, as was Johnny Carson.  Berle was showing George Burns a fantastic magic trick called Mr. Wizard.

Michael Rudolph

6:13 PM

Mr. Wizard - I am lost

Maria Rudolph

6:13 PM

The trick involved having someone pick a card from a deck of cards.  The magician would then call Mr. Wizard on the phone.  They would then hand the phone to the dupe and Mr. Wizard would tell them the card that they had picked.  Great trick.

Michael Rudolph

6:13 PM

wait - is that why goldie was crying?

Laura Leff

6:14 PM

Did Mr. Wizard guess the wrong card for her?

Michael Rudolph

6:14 PM

Oh, I remember the Mr. Wizard trick.  I thought Rosalind Russell used it all the time

Maria Rudolph

6:15 PM

A few days later, George was on a talk show -- I can't remember which one.  He was still so tickled with the trick that he wanted to show the audience.  He got a phone and was dialing the number of Mr. Wizard (who was really Milton Berle), but he was saying the number out loud.  On national television.  Milton Berle had to have his number changed.

Laura Leff

6:15 PM

Bahahaha!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:15 PM

hahahaha that is great

Brad from Georgia

6:15 PM

Great story.

Steve Archer

6:16 PM

You KNOW George Burns did that on purpose. LOL.

Maria Rudolph

6:16 PM

LL, did you know that one?

Laura Leff

6:16 PM

Oh of course.

Laura Leff

6:16 PM

Maria - I didn't!

PAUL Midlick joined the room

Maria Rudolph

6:16 PM

Btw, Mom still loves to do that trick.

Yay -- I've gotten you twice tonight!

R. Hookie

6:16 PM

Hi Paul

Michael Rudolph

6:16 PM

who is "Mr.Wizard"

Laura Leff

6:16 PM

Of course that George did it on purpose.

I'm looking forward to the third time!

Steve Archer

6:17 PM

Your mom calls Milton Berle?  I hate to break this to you but...

Michael Rudolph

6:17 PM

no, Maria, who does Mom call?

Laura Leff

6:17 PM

Hi paul!

6:17 PM

Joe Garner left the room (user disconnected)

Michael Rudolph

6:17 PM

Who is on first?

PAUL Midlick

6:17 PM

Hi Laura

Laura Leff

6:17 PM

Uncle Miltie is not far away from Jack and Mary now...

Maria Rudolph

6:17 PM

Michael, I can't tell you.  No one is supposed to know.  That's part of the trick.  But, try calling Mom and asking her if Mrs. Wizard is there.

Laura Leff

6:18 PM

I wondered if it was Herman.

PAUL Midlick

6:18 PM

Jello Everyone

Brad from Georgia

6:18 PM

Oh, I know the trick now! Maria just jogged my memory.

Maria Rudolph

6:18 PM

Jello Paul.

Michael Rudolph

6:18 PM

give me a break, who does Mom call?

Steve Archer

6:18 PM

Hi Paul.

Phil Wala

6:18 PM

So Goldie Hawn is Mrs. Wizard?

Laura Leff

6:18 PM

I'm heard of the trick.  I can't remember the code, but I get it.

Michael Rudolph

6:18 PM

What's on second?

Laura Leff

6:19 PM

Yes

Kevin Firth

6:19 PM

Goldie Hawn...

Brad from Georgia

6:19 PM

LL, has to do with one person reciting slowly ... twice.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:19 PM

there's a funny thing in Jack's papers at UCLA where they gave out a fake phone number for one of Frank Nelson's jokes and it turned out to be a REAL number, and the onwers tried to sue NBC for invasion of privacy , and Amrerican Tobacco ended up dealing with it

Laura Leff

6:19 PM

Brad - tThat's it!

Brad from Georgia

6:19 PM

A buddy of mine and I used to do that years ago.

Laura Leff

6:19 PM

Kathy - That's right!

Maria Rudolph

6:19 PM

Michael -- I just texted it to you.  Sorry everyone else, although it sounds like Brad and LL know it.

Laura Leff

6:20 PM

I have to wonder how many people shoed up to 366 N. Camden Drive.

Maria Rudolph

6:20 PM

I would tell you, but it's the magician's creed (which Michael knows very well) that you can't reveal the secret to a trick.

Brad from Georgia

6:20 PM

A buddy of mine and I used to do that. Haven't spoken to him in a long time. I'll call him later tonight and ask to speak to Mr. Wizard.

Maria Rudolph

6:20 PM

Who lived at 366 Camden?

Michael Rudolph

6:20 PM

I was kicked out of the Magician's union the same time I was kicked out of the local tennis club

Brad from Georgia

6:20 PM

A blacksmith. That's where people shoed up.

Maria Rudolph

6:20 PM

Brad, here's what he will say:  "Shit.  Oh wait.  Shit.  Okay, jack..."

Michael Rudolph

6:21 PM

such language!

Maria Rudolph

6:21 PM

You know me.

Laura Leff

6:21 PM

It was your grandfather's office for many year.  They used the address on the show a lot as his home.  Building is still there.

Maria - ROFLMAO

Maria Rudolph

6:21 PM

I remember his office being on Little Santa Monica.

Michael Rudolph

6:21 PM

I think I remember the office being on Little SM also

Laura Leff

6:22 PM

That was later.

PAUL Midlick

6:22 PM

Question for the group.. If there was a biopic made of Jack Benny's life,  WHO would you like to see play Jack?

Michael Rudolph

6:22 PM

it was upstairs?

Maria Rudolph

6:22 PM

Is everyone getting sick of Michael and me hogging the chat?

Michael Rudolph

6:22 PM

no

Maria Rudolph

6:22 PM

Kevin Spacey.  Without question.

R. Hookie

6:22 PM

Kelsey Grammer

Brad from Georgia

6:22 PM

Probably! I remember this pal of mine and I had swimming lessons for PE in college together. Once he jumped off the high dive, did a bellyflop, and came foundering out of the water gargling and choking and saying "Well! I won't try THAT again!" And I asked, "What are you doing, an impression of Jack Benny underwater?"

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:22 PM

heavens no, its a pleasure

Laura Leff

6:22 PM

I don't remember at the moment exactly when they moved...would have to look back at the letterhead to triangulate the date.

R. Hookie

6:22 PM

OK, Spacey's good too

Maria Rudolph

6:22 PM

Yes, upstairs.  Was it upstairs from the Friars Club?

Laura Leff

6:22 PM

It was in the 60s.

PAUL Midlick

6:23 PM

I see no hoggin

Kevin Firth

6:23 PM

Kevin Spacey.... that would be good...

Maria Rudolph

6:23 PM

Spacey would totally kill it.  I see Granddad every time I see him.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:23 PM

I vote for Tom Hanks, only because he has boat loads of money adn likes history

Maria Rudolph

6:23 PM

Kathy, I don't get it.

Brad from Georgia

6:23 PM

I think Spacey would be great, too. I dunno about Tom Hanks...didn't buy him as Disney.

Laura Leff

6:23 PM

Maria - I'd like you to hog the chat every time!  

Maria Rudolph

6:23 PM

Thanks LL.

Michael Rudolph

6:23 PM

Did anyone see Grammer do the one person show about Jack (ala Eddie Carroll)

R. Hookie

6:24 PM

This is fun!

Brad from Georgia

6:24 PM

No--how was he?

Laura Leff

6:24 PM

Someone recently said that Billy Crystal is starting to look like Jack.

Michael Rudolph

6:24 PM

very good, not as good as Carroll,

Laura Leff

6:24 PM

Agreed.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:24 PM

Hanks would produce, we need the $$ behind it , and with makeup anything is possible

Maria Rudolph

6:24 PM

I have an unfair advantage on chats because I type 140 words per minute.  I can outtype just about anyone.  Because I stuck with piano lessons for eight years when Michael quit after six months.

Michael Rudolph

6:25 PM

Billy Crystal looks awful

Kevin Firth

6:25 PM

more like Phyllis Diller

Maria Rudolph

6:25 PM

Kevin: LOL.

Michael Rudolph

6:25 PM

because i was playing tennis

Maria Rudolph

6:25 PM

Kevin, were you at Michael's Oscar party the year I went?

Kevin Firth

6:25 PM

it's true!

R. Hookie

6:25 PM

I type 10 words a minute...

Laura Leff

6:25 PM

Maria - I'm not as fast as you, but I'm pretty fast too.  Gotta be here.

Brad from Georgia

6:25 PM

My son does about 140 words a minute. I top out at about 110, 120.

Kevin Firth

6:25 PM

no, I wasnt...

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:25 PM

so let's do it in animation. I vote for Minions to play the lay the Sportsmen

R. Hookie

6:26 PM

... but I can say 47 words a minute...

Brad from Georgia

6:26 PM

Minions lay the Sportsmen? Kathy, what kind of movie have you been watching?

Michael Rudolph

6:26 PM

"say 47 words a minute"

Maria Rudolph

6:26 PM

Hookie: reminds me of Hicky.  LL, have you talked about Hicky at all?

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:26 PM

uh, not as good a typist as you all

PAUL Midlick

6:26 PM

So who would play Mary,  Rochester,  Dennis,  Don and Phil? What about drunkin Remy?

Michael Rudolph

6:26 PM

no one has talked about Hilliard

Kevin Firth

6:26 PM

I checked your ceramic fish from turkey for you though...

PAUL Midlick

6:27 PM

Remly

Maria Rudolph

6:27 PM

Do you like it?

R. Hookie

6:27 PM

I just did Michael.... and I looked silly doing it!

Laura Leff

6:27 PM

Not today...but let's change that!

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:27 PM

I'd love to learn about Hilliard and Babe

Steve Archer

6:27 PM

Tell us what you remember of Hickey Maria! And Babe too.

Laura Leff

6:27 PM

Remley

Maria Rudolph

6:28 PM

Again, Michael would remember better because he's way older than I am.  But I thought Hickey was a bit creepy and Babe was a hoot and a holler.

Laura Leff

6:28 PM

Do you have any memories of Florence?

Kevin Firth

6:28 PM

the fish?  I love it!

PAUL Midlick

6:28 PM

Remley played by Jim Carrey?

Laura Leff

6:28 PM

Fenchel, not Italy.

Michael Rudolph

6:28 PM

Florence,  I remember lots of water

R. Hookie

6:28 PM

rimshot

Laura Leff

6:28 PM

That's Venice.

Brad from Georgia

6:29 PM

"Poor kid ran away to Italy, settled in Venice, and became a streetwalker. She drowned the first day."

R. Hookie

6:29 PM

reverse shot

Maria Rudolph

6:29 PM

There was a TV show where Granddad was locked in the Queen of England's jewelry vault.  They needed a King Henry belch and had Hickey record it and send it to England for them.  That pretty much sums him up.

Steve Archer

6:29 PM

Wow.

Michael Rudolph

6:29 PM

I am supposed to be on my way to Palm Springs, I work there tomorrow.  How about we continue with Hilliard and Babe next month?

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:29 PM

hahaha thats great

Maria Rudolph

6:29 PM

I don't remember Florence well.

Laura Leff

6:29 PM

I could tell you stories about Hickey...but I'd have to excise them from the chat!

Maria Rudolph

6:29 PM

Better than the belch?

Laura Leff

6:30 PM

Maria - No kidding!  Three!

Michael - I vote yes!

Maria Rudolph

6:30 PM

Yeah, how long does this chat normally go on?

Steve Archer

6:30 PM

That would be super Michael, hope you visit again.  Thanks for coming to the chat room!

Brad from Georgia

6:30 PM

Goes till we drop, Maria.

Maria Rudolph

6:30 PM

Plop plop.

Brad from Georgia

6:30 PM

Fizz fizz.

Michael Rudolph

6:30 PM

Maria dropped years ago

Laura Leff

6:31 PM

With the two of you, we could go all night!

R. Hookie

6:31 PM

or until my dog interrupts...

Laura Leff

6:31 PM

Maria - As long as we've got stuff to say.

Maria Rudolph

6:31 PM

Not as many as you did.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:31 PM

as long as we can convince you to stay, thank you !

Michael Rudolph

6:31 PM

I'm not leaving if Maria is staying

PAUL Midlick

6:31 PM

I wish Doctor Who would make a visit to the Era of Jack,  Charlie Chaplin and Milton Berle

Laura Leff

6:31 PM

Alka Seltzer was a sponsor for jack in the last year of the TV show...

Maria Rudolph

6:31 PM

No please, Michael, go ahead.  Really, it's okay.  Bwahahaha.

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:31 PM

hey Ernie, lets play two

Laura Leff

6:31 PM

*evil laugh*

Brad from Georgia

6:32 PM

I tried to talk the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company into doing a fantasy show in which a time traveler winds up backstage at a Benny broadcast.

Laura Leff

6:32 PM

Cool

Brad from Georgia

6:32 PM

Yeah, instead we're doing "Treasure Island." I'm Dr. Livesey.

R. Hookie

6:32 PM

I would love to see a radio reenactment

Kathy Fuller-Seeley

6:32 PM

Brad, I am trying a similar thing with an Austin theater company haha

Laura Leff

6:33 PM

Maybe Michael leaves, and Maria and Kevin stay and tell stories about him.

Brad from Georgia

6:33 PM

Atlanta actually has a radio re-enactment troupe, all of them Guild actors. I begged for a bit part on a "Fibber McGee" they did, but I don't have the union card....

PAUL Midlick

6:33 PM

Doctor Who mentioned visiting Chaplin during the Catherine Tate season finale

R. Hookie

6:34 PM

SAG?

Brad from Georgia

6:34 PM

I dunno. They won't tell me.

Bunch of snobs.

Michael Rudolph

6:34 PM

OK, I am really leaving this time.  It was great talking to everyone and will see you all next year.  Bye for now

Brad from Georgia

6:34 PM

By, Michael! Thanks for dropping in!

Laura Leff

6:34 PM

Thank you Michael!

R. Hookie

6:34 PM

Good night Michael

Maria Rudolph

6:34 PM

Bye bye Michael.  Tell your car to drive safely.

PAUL Midlick

6:34 PM

Goodnight Michael

Laura Leff

6:34 PM

Group hug!

Brad from Georgia

6:35 PM

You realize he's gonna hang around to see what Maria says about him....

R. Hookie

6:35 PM

See you next month

Steve Archer

6:35 PM

Thanks Michael - really a pleasure!

Laura Leff

6:35 PM

Does Michael's car start with a kiss?

Kevin Firth

6:35 PM

his car is packing for him...

Maria Rudolph

6:35 PM

Brad, he probably doesn't realize that his name will still show up.  He's kind of stupid that way.

Brad from Georgia

6:35 PM

Well, Jack's car started with a  bang...

Michael Rudolph

6:35 PM

No a whistle - problem is that I can;t whistle

Maria Rudolph

6:35 PM

Just put your lips together...

Laura Leff

6:35 PM

Just put your lips together and blow

Heyyyyy

Maria Rudolph

6:36 PM

Ha LL, beat you to it.

R. Hookie