The New! Improved! Bob and Ray Book

Rating:
Summary: Delightfully absurd
Review: A work of off-kilter genius from Bob and Ray, surreal comedy pioneers. From "small village endocrinologist Engelbretzen" to the seedy soap opera Garish Summit, it's one loopy deadpan laugh riot. The cheesy, mock-melodramatic music adds to the fun. Hilarious running gags, idiotic talk show guests, crackpot pseudo-experts, bizarre mini-dramas, pathetic losers we can simultaneously sympathize with and deride--the "New! Improved! Bob and Ray Book" is first-class lunacy.

How often do you find humor so insanely funny that you can't resist smirking and chuckling in public places as you remember your favorite lines? This is that funny. A great gift idea for anybody who likes warped humor that's both sophisticated and moronic at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: Bob and Ray in print - almost as funny as hearing them.
Review: Approach this small book as a collection of comedy routines written for a Bob and Ray broadcast; while reading it, longtime fans will probably hear in their minds the duo's voices and inflections. And this book is even more fun when reading along with the recording of Bob and Ray themselves reading the routines. But whatever the circumstances, this is a good, and funny, introduction to Bob and Ray's work. And knowing that this was one of their last works together makes one realize how remarkable their comedy was.

Rating:
Summary: New! Improved! Bob and Ray - as funny as ever.
Review: Here are Bob and Ray on tape again, late in their career but still the funniest duo on, and off, radio. Here they're reading (with sound effects) from their book - which is more like a collection of radio scripts; it's a good introduction to their work, and longtime listeners will find their material as fresh and funny as always. And while some hardcore fans may miss the unique "live radio" quality that Bob and Ray had, they're every bit as funny as in any of their earlier work. The running gag about walnut pickers is reason enough to buy this, as is the grammar lesson. It's also fun to read along while listening to the tape, so get the book as well. Bob and Ray are a reminder that enduring comedy needn't be offensive.