Orson Welles Radio Almanac

[Store Hadji]

Orson Welles, comedian?

See if you agree with Simon Callow that Welles is not funny:

http://www.archive.org/details/1944Orso ... manacpart1
http://www.archive.org/details/1944Orso ... manacpart2

[Jeff Wilson]

Unfortunately for Welles, he chose to mount a program dependent on good writing at a time when writers were at premium due to the war; this was even discussed internally when the show's lack of success was being debated amongst the staff. Welles could be funny in the right context; the scripts that the writers gave him usually relied on silly concepts and bad jokes. The later emphasis on military humor makes the show a real relic when listening these days.

[Glenn Anders]

I think Welles could be funny, but not consistently funny in the Jack Benny or Bob Hope manner. [And listening to those guys now, one realizes how egomaniacal the standup comedians of that day were, much more so, surprisingly, than Welles.] He was charming and very likable in casual conversation, or in a facsimile thereof, especially among close friends. I always thought he was at his best in this regard during the sign-offs at the end of the Mercury Theater on the Air or Campbell Playhouse productions.

Glenn