Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Abe Lincoln Vs Madsion Avenue
2. Cruise Of The USS Codfish
3. Merchandising The Wright Brothers
4. Driving Instructor
5. Grace L Ferguson Airline (And Storm Door Co)
6. Bus Drivers School
7. Retirement Party
8. Ledge Psychology
9. Rocket Scientist
10. Uncle Freddie Show
11. Introducing Tobacco To Civilization
12. Siamese Cat
13. Defusing A Bomb
14. Friend With A Dog
15. Expectant Father
16. On Poodles And Planes
17. Man Who Looked Like Hitler
18. King Kong
19. Returning A Gift
20. Buying A House
21. Ben Franklin In Analysis
22. Daddy Of All Hangovers
23. On Trains And Planes
24. Modern Witch Doctor

Disc 2:

1. Introducing Tobacco To Civilization
2. Siamese Cat
3. Defusing A Bomb
4. Friend With A Dog
5. Expectant Father
6. On Poodles And Planes
7. Man Who Looked Like Hitler
8. King Kong
9. Returning A Gift
10. Buying A House
11. Ben Franklin In Analysis
12. Daddy Of All Hangovers
13. On Trains And Planes
14. Modern Witch Doctor

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1363 in Music
• Released on: 2001-04-23
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Double CD
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 149 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Something Like This... is a generous sampling of Bob Newhart's best stand-up bits. Part of what Bob Newhart mastered, earlier on stand-up albums like The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart and The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! and later on his long-running American television series The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, was capturing a brand of Everyman neuroses and heightening it, bringing mundane, common scenarios into the realm of the absurd--and the absurdly funny. Newhart also perfected playing a character involved in a conversation with the other party in absentia, as in one of his most famous routines, "King Kong", in which he plays the part of an Empire State Building security guard who calls his boss the night King Kong makes his famous ascent. ("Yes, sir, I looked in the handbook index under "unauthorized personnel" and "people without passes" and "apes", and "ape's toes", but it's not in there...."). While some of his topics--airplanes, hating to fly--have now been so overdone as to be comic faux pas, rather than making his material seem dated they often serve to demonstrate just how rare a talent he is simply because the routines still elicit involuntary snorts of laughter some 30 years later. --Mark Hunstman

CD Description
Unique among even the most cutting-edge standup comics of the '60s, Bob Newhart entertained his audiences not with snappy patter and jokes, but with long monologues in which his voice represented one side of a conversation, the other side left to the listener's imagination. This idiosyncratic format proved endlessly adaptable, as Newhart spun seemingly endless scenarios from it. Before he became a beloved TV star with the Bob Newhart Show, he released several popular comedy albums, from which the best moments have been culled for inclusion on this definitive two-disc compilation. Whether he'sadvising Abraham Lincoln, confronting King Kong, or gettingblitzed at a retirement party (among other comedic situations to be found here), Newhart employs his patented mild-mannered, "button-down" personality to subtle but sharp comic effect.

Customer Reviews

Bob Newhart For The New Millenium
I haven't written many reviews of this nature, but I'd love the chance to tell potential purchasers just how enjoyable this CD really is. Well, here's my review, and it goes something like this...

I vaguely remembered, when I was younger, hearing an amusing sketch about a driving instructor and his hilariously incompetent trainee. I tried to find this sketch and did so by buying this compilation from Amazon. And after listening to the wealth of Newhart's classics this is certainly not a decision I regret!

The "Something Like This" album contains two discs full of Newhart's material. Not all of it is likely to be brilliant for the modern non-American listening to it today. And yet so much of it is. The Driving Instructor, Bus Driver School and Ledge Psychology are just some of the real highlights in the anthology.

This Newhart compilation is almost entirely about one man talking to an imaginary audience - be it a bunch of passengers on a plane, sociopathic bus-drivers or the discontented crew of the U S S Codfish.

There are no special effects on these CDs. No on-stage colleagues. These sketches merely contain one man talking to other people who aren't actually present. And yet it works so well. As Bill Inglot says in the accompanying booklet to this CD package: "Bob Newhart had better conversations with himself than most people have with other people"

As I said, not all of the sketches work perfectly - but there are plenty that do and when they work they can send you into tears and outright laughter.

Just try putting this into your personal CD player. You may get some funny looks from your colleagues or bus passengers when they witness your smirking and giggling. But secretly they'd love to borrow one of your earphones and share a chance to listen to a truly brilliant entertainer.

For the price, the quality and the quantity - this is an excellent investment.

A Classic for the collection
I first encountered Bob Newhart over 30 years ago, and was immediately hooked by his dry sense of humour. This CD contains all the major classics, and some tracks I had not heard before.

I have the CD in the car, and several passengers and I, have spent a happy time sitting in traffic jams laughing our heads off.

If you have never listened to Bob Newhart, be prepared for an experince that will stay with you for the rest of our life. You'll remember the telephone call to Sir Walter Raleigh (Nutty Walt), the Driving Instructor will bring back memories for everyone who has taught someone to drive, and the poor policeman trying to defuse a bomb will bring tears to your eyes.

Nobody should go through life without having listened to this CD at least once !!

classic subtle satire
My Dad had one of Newhart's albums. 'Introducing tobacco to
Civilisation' is an all-time classic - thankfully included on
this generous 2-CD set. Some of the sketches perhaps have more
resonance for an American audience, but there's plenty here for
everyone. Pity they chose not to include 'General Chariot Corp'
which is also surprisingly relevant - even after 40 years.