Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for May 07, 2015

Like I said last week, the straight man is under appreciated.

To all my fellow Brits, don’t forget to vote today!Mike

A straight line is the shortest distance between two jokes.

@pbarnrobSorry, but I still say that Bud Abbott was under appreciated.

And the greatest straight man of all time IMO was Jack Benny

And the greatest straight man of all time IMO was Jack Benny

Did Pastis write today’s strip?

Bud Abbott and all other straight men (Dean Martin, Oliver Hardy, etc.) were paid MORE than their comic partner.

The reason was straight men were harder to find and thus were in greater demand. They had to keep a straight face when the comic gave the joke (hence the term, Straight Man).

P.S. Some straight men, like Harvey Korman (Carol Burnett Show, Blazing Saddles, etc.) blurred the line between setting up and saying jokes. Tim Conway was notorious in trying to make Korman laugh on the Carol Burnett Show.

Conway was so successful, Carol Bunett almost fired him early in the show’s tenure because he kept crackiing up at Conway’s joks. The audience loved it so he stayed on the show.

Thanks for the memories…….

Let’s see… Cameron is one of those Brits (said w/ respect) – who’s the other, and which one is a Tory? And, what’s a Tory?

George Burns, with Gracie. Greatest straight man ever

Without a Straight Man most Jokes Aren’t

This must be where Pastis got it.