Harry Conn on Jack, Mary and Harry

[Yhtapmys]

Let me preface this by explaining I just realised how I have exemplified the spirit of Jack Benny's character in bringing this to you.

One can do a Google search of old news stories. In many cases, you have to pay to get the full story. You can get a free little summary and if you type in a search term, you can get a free sentence. But, if you're diligent enough, and type in the right search terms, you can get one free line after another and put together the whole story. For free.

That's what I've done here. As it involves Jack, doing so is entirely appropriate.

The one drawback is I can't check to compare for .pdf scanning translation errors. I've spotted some, mostly involving additional punctuation or characters. Three others I fixed to what I think the story says. So this may not be an exact transcription (I guessed at the paragraph formatting as well), but it's more than 99% there.

I really find this story fascinating. It not only shows Harry's ego, but I'm sure Mary wasn't happy to read how he took her down a notch.

BENNY RATES “TOPS” AS DIALOGUE READER
Harry Conn, Jack’s Comedy Writer, Reveals That Radio Gags Are Funnier Because Actor “Leans on His Lines”
CARROLL NYE, Los Angeles Times, May 12, 1935

Tonight at 7:30 o'clock, if you dial KFI, you'll hear some dialogue which will go something like this: Don Wilson: “Now, on Mother’s Day, we bring you Jack Benny.” Jack Benny: “I don’t like the way you say that, Don. After all, I'm not a mother. Don’t let my photographs fool you.” “What! You’re not?”
Harry W. Conn, Benny’s comedy writer, didn’t anticipate that you would get much of a bang out of it when it appeared in cold type—any more than he expected to panic me with the gag when he pulled the first sheet of this script out of the typewriter and shoved it under my nose.
GOOD DIALOGUE MAN.
“Only Jack Benny could read that certain line and get anything out of it,” Conn remarked. “There isn’t a comedian in the business who can touch him as a reader of comedy dialogue. Jack hasn’t told four jokes in as many months on the air, yet he is rated top radio comic. He’s the center pole of the circus. Instead of playing ‘straight’ for his stooges, as it may appear to some listeners, his stooges are merely “guy” ropes. It takes little more than a grunt from Benny to build the other actor’s gag into something that will give the audience a laugh. In the parlance of the theatre, Benny is a master at ‘leaning on a line.’”
Conn’s understanding of Benny’s forte is the keynote of his own success. The comedy writer has turned out Benny’s scripts ever since the suave comedian has been on the air, and their teamwork has resulted in a steady climb to the top. The forthcoming Crosley report rates Benny 10 points above his nearest competitor.
MANY SCRIPTS WRITTEN.
Conn has written 245 radio shows, dating from the time he started turning out scripts for Burns and Allen. Previously, he admitted, he was a “street-corner wag.” “Peddling gags along Broadway was profitless,” he declared. “Nobody took me seriously. They thought I was at my funniest when I asked for a job. Now that I have one, I save the humor for the scripts. I don’t need a gag library for my material because I have a mind that makes it easy for me to get comedy out of almost any sort of situation.
“Since I have the mind of the average ‘mug,’ I can write stuff that appeals to the average listener. You can’t cater to any particular class in writing comedy for radio. The stuffed shirts laugh as loud as anyone at a bit of hokum. It takes the starch out of them.
SATIRE ON SHAKESPEARE.
“I turned out a satire on ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for Jack’s broadcasts, but I don’t know a thing about Shakespeare. The idea probably would have been a flop if I had been a student of his plays. On the whole, however, we rely on the topical to keep the interest in. Today it’s Mother’s Day that gives us the backbone of the broadcast. Perhaps it’ll be the soldiers’ bonus later. In that way we never get stale. If we use catch lines we drop them before they die.”
Although Conn follows a formula that is planned several weeks in advance, the actual preparation of the shows is inspirational and spontaneous. He bats out a script on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday he and Benny go over it together. Jack makes changes here and there, at the reading; often ad libs during the broadcasts, but to date he hasn’t rejected any of Conn’s scripts as a whole.
SPONSOR CHECKS IT.
Conn injects comedy into the commercial blurbs and turns the script over to the sponsor on Friday to give him a chance to turn thumbs down on the commercials or the comedy. The advertising is handled so adeptly that it never has. (Incidentally, I was surprised to find that the sponsor’s product was mentioned thirty times during last Sunday’s broadcast. I would guessed that the “shimmy sauce” had had been plugged four or five times.)
“Jack Benny inspires the writing of good material,” said Conn. “In addition to his showmanship, he’s a swell audience. If anyone springs a gag on him that strikes him right, he’ll roll on the floor convulsed with laughter.”
Conn calls Mary Livingstone (Mrs. Benny) an “indifferent comedienne.” He has written a Mother’s Day poem for her to in-tone 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.”

transcribed by Yhtapmys