Jack Benny had a significant effect on the performing styles of performers such as Johnny Carson and Wayne Newton.   His style carried much further, and essentially revolutionized comedy in America.  

One example of a technique that Jack institutionalized was the live audience.  Surprisingly, Benny had to fight with his sponsors for permission to have a studio audience.  Obviously, Jack prevailed.  He worked very hard to keep his audience laughing and his efforts paid off. 

Another important part of Jack's show was the entire premise on which it was built.  Never built on one-line gags or fast quips, each program was instead based on a funny situation and the dialog was written to fit it, instead of the situation being contrived to fit a preordained joke.  Many of the situations that Jack and his writers contrived were re-used many times.  This was due to the great care that they took in creating them and building them up over time. 

Jack as Buck Benny

One of the keys to the success of Jack's show was the apparent ease with which he and the cast performed.  However, they weren't just brilliant natural actors.  Jack and his writers labored from Sunday until Thursday working on the script.  Then on Friday and Saturday the cast would rehearse the script. During that time, Jack and the writers would do re-writes so that the show would be great when they went on air, Sunday nights at seven.

In Jack Benny: The Radio and Television Work, David Marc discusses the uniqueness of the Jack Benny character.   He pointed out Jack's familial approach to radio in which he became a member of the radio audience family.  "If a stage comic's job had been to dazzle the audience with something rare, the radio comic would depend on a recognizable persona moving through endless variations of habitual themes."   David Marc cites the 1985 issue of GQ, which was devoted to examining the historical root of contemporary American comedy.   In it, the editors listed Johnny Carson, Steve Allen, Dick Cavett and David Letterman as heirs to "the mechanics of the Benny inheritance."  "All developed equivalents of the "Benny stare" to economically express their personal aggravation with onstage occurrences, while creating identity with audiences and picking up laughs in the bargain."

Many critics suggest that the appeal of Jack's character was not based on excellent shows or a witty cast, but on the fact that he embodied the main faults everyone.  Jack called himself the "everyman," because he knew that everyone could relate to something about his character.  In fact, the persona that Jack created seems doomed to failure, yet it inspired deep affection.  Many Benny admirers suggest that perhaps a part of the true Benny character shined through and that is what made him so endearing.  The man who was generous to a fault, a great father and wonderful husband, and excellent audience member, and a relatively good musician made magic with his stingy, know-it-all feigned personality.  Because of that feat, Jack Benny has made comic history. 

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Millie M. Crews
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Revised: 27 Aug 2001 10:46:30 -0500