Book: On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio
Quotes of Book: On the Air: The Encyclopedia
Far more important was the arrival of Phil Harris on the first show of the new year, Oct. 4, 1936. Harris was the fourth cog in the Benny formula, a swaggering blowhard whose demeanor might have been, in real life, as offensive as Benny's, but on the air was touched with the Benny magic, making him one of the show's most popular personalities. Harris drubbed Benny about being vain and cheap, but he shared the vanity and added a layer of riotous stupidity. He butchered English: he couldn't spell the simplest words; he didn't know Mongolia from Minneapolis. In reality, Harris was a comic genius whose sense of timing and showmanship was as fine-tuned as Benny's. His greeting, "Hiya, Jackson," brought the audience to ripples of laughter before the first jokes were said. book-quote
