One partner delivering “fast & smart” lines
and the other partner delivering “slow, dumb & funny”
makes a good team.
The technique is credited to the not so well known Al Boasberg
who advised George Burns and Gracie Allen to switch roles,
which led to great comedy success.
sample quote
Al Boasberg, a vaudeville legend who was good at understanding the chemistry of teams or the special identity of individual performers and could write to their strengths.
...snip..
The formula that evolved was that George would say something and Gracie would react in a confused manner that often took the words told to her too literally or else she misinterpreted them entirely.
...snip..
Boasberg died by telling a joke at a party, suffering a heart attack and falling down a flight of stairs which vaudevillians also described as “his big finish”.
end quote
https://vaudeville.sites.arizona.ed...illes-greatest-comic-duo-by-david-soren/Tommy and Dick both deserve credit for taking this to new heights.
I remember Dick in interviews would credit “dumb” Tommy
for consistently creating much more than 50% of the material.
That they were both gearheads further bolsters their thinking ability.
RIP
