Bob Hope, like Mark Twain, had a sense of humor that was uniquely American, and like Twain, we'll likely not see another like him.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Mark Twain was very unhappy with himself for various reasons. He was very unhappy with America of this time. He thought it was terrible we had no anti-lynching laws, and he was also a feminist, and he was also very concerned with anti-Semitism. He was a good man, but he was hard on himself.
I used to go to the Cleveland Comedy Club all the time. If there was a comic I liked, I'd go see him two or three times that week. Bob Saget was one of those guys.
They have a kind of Bob Hope and Bing Crosby thing going on.
Humor helps ease the tension of race and the differences in society. If there wasn't comedy I don't know if Obama could have ever become president.
Those who knew Lincoln described him as an extraordinarily funny man. Humor was an essential aspect of his temperament. He laughed, he explained, so he did not weep.
Hemingway seems to be in a funny position. People nowadays can't identify with him closely as a member of their own generation, and he isn't yet historical.
Bob Hope was totally regimented. I go in and say a line like, 'Hi Bob' and I'd have to do it five times, and then Bob would take me to the writers to say the line different ways. He wouldn't let me ad-lib.
For someone who made such an enormous contribution to American literature, Mark Twain has been the subject of many books but few major biographies.
Great Canadian comics are often outsiders and insiders at the same time. That's a great perspective for a comedian.
Mark Twain is as big as America. He really is.