Bob Newhart

Bob Newhart proved that the quietest man in the room could be the funniest. His stammering, deadpan delivery and one-sided phone calls, in which a nervous professional tries to stay polite in an absurd situation, made understatement a stand-up style of its own. The record that launched him became the first comedy album to win Album of the Year, at the 1961 Grammys, and he took Best New Artist the same night. Recommended recording: The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, taped at the Tidelands Club in Houston in February 1960. Driving Instructor is the routine to play a newcomer, and the whole album streams on Apple Music.