BOB AND RAY

I never met Bob (Elliott) and Ray (Goulding), the comedy team whose format was satirizing the medium in which they were performing, such as conducting radio or TV interviews, with off-the-wall dialogue presented in a generally deadpan style as though it were a serious broadcast (example). However, I did “guest” on their highly popular syndicated radio show in the ‘60s. 
     I had been working for the Herald Tribune only a few months when I was asked by the newspaper’s ad agency to record a few minutes talking about why I, like other specially selected employees, had chosen to work for that venerable newspaper. The agency was about to launch a major radio campaign, and I was flattered to have been asked to participate. I ad-libbed into the mic something about having moved from Texas to start my writing career at the suggestion of my newspaperman uncle and how proud I was to be on the staff. 
     And then one day several months later, a friend told me he had heard my brief interview on the Bob and Ray Show, and that B&R had spent more time making fun of my Texas accent than I had spent talking about my job. I considered this and immense honor, as I was, and still am, a huge B&R fan. 
     I've tried for 50 years to find that radio show but sadly, without luck. (P.S. Bob Elliot’s son is the very strange and funny actor Chris Elliott.)