Echoes of Bob
On speechmaking, Presidential polish, and Bob Newhart's lasting mark on the culture of the spoken (stammered) word
Bob Newhart may have passed away a month ago, but his voice echoed loudly at the Democratic National Convention. Not in words or political meaning, but in the influence he left on delivery.
■ Newhart's style was powerful in its restraint -- his deadpan delivery was killer, his signature joke was in the silent moment of half a phone call, and one of his finest sketches hinged entirely on a quiet buildup to the words "Stop it!". But because Newhart was so restrained, he had to strategically employ a stammer to create comedic tension; he would have sounded too polished and unreal without it.
■ Audiences could hear Newhart's stammer echoed by former President Barack Obama in his speech to the DNC. Obama's tendency towards linguistic precision and polish is legendary, and it's been documented since at least his Harvard Law School days. But, like Newhart, he inserted a stammer to build tension where his natural inclination would have been to glide smoothly from one word to the next.
■ For Obama, it's an adopted affectation, not a natural expression. It's funny to see an imperfection borrowed from comedy put to work by a former President as a political tool, but such was the expansive impression Bob Newhart left on the culture. He gave the world decades of comedy, but even 94 years of life seems like it was too short.
