Will you join me in sending a fond farewell to comedian Bob Elliot?

The recently departed deadpan comic Bob Elliot, father of goofy comic-actor Chris Elliot, was exactly half the great comedy team of Bob and Ray. Extremely funny and popular, B&R never achieved super-stardom. But for decades they had a large and faithful following, and Lord their radio, TV and commercial work was great, both funny and sweet, though probably more appealing to those of us of “a certain age” for whom today’s often mean-spirted comedy is a bit grating.

As a young man working in NYC during B&R’s radio heyday, I (or rather my recorded voice) turned up on their local show in the form of a testimonial commercial I had done for my then-employer, the New York Herald Tribune. I didn’t hear it myself, but friends told me the pair had a field day poking gentle fun at my Texas drawl.

If you’re not familiar with this wonderful team (Ray died in 1990) or if you’d like to remind yourself how funny they were, listen to one of their classic bits called Slow Talkers of America, which I keep on my iPod.