Benny and Stern play Bach

[@GoddessNeith]

what a wonderful soul Mr. Benny had, he raised so much money for symphonies and orchestras. he played for laughs but he was a gifted violinist. if he had been as bad as he says, Mr. Stern wouldn't have had him on the same stage.

[@robhaskins]

I think I remember Benny playing this concerto on another occasion without any fooling around. It was so exciting to see and hear.

[@mr.booker9263]

Jack Benny was really a SERIOUS violinist...so good that he could combine fine playing with deliberate comedy.

[@maudeboggins9834]

Yes, his confidence & brilliance allowed him to be the clown with the violin. Only a master of his craft can do that.

[@billace90]

Yes, he had good intermediate to advanced violin skills. Of course, he sounded goofy to make the public laugh, but he could play. Another comedian artist that could play the violin was Werner Kemplerer (Colonel Klink). He occupied a chair on the first violins section with a Symphony Orchestra under the direction ofvhis father Maestro Otto Kemplerer, during the presentation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. That video is here on KZbin and Klink (without the monocle, of course). 😊

[@robertmackenzie3995]

@@billace90intermediate to advanced?? Eh??? He’s holding his own with Stern and yet you think he’s only intermediate to advanced?? He was a superb violinist which he began playing at 6 and played professionally for a while. How good do you have to be to be advanced? I suppose Heifetz would pass -who Benny played with on at least one occasion.

[@olenfersoi8887]

@@robertmackenzie3995 Thanks for putting anobvious music snobin his place...one who prabably play himself but presumes to judge the quality of the skills of others..

[@evansquilt]

Benny actually was a very good violinist - he'd played professionally as a young man and clearly stayed in practice. The fact that even clowning around, he could hold his own with one of the finest violinists of his time says it all.

[@fromthesidelines]

This is from the special "Carnegie Hall Salutes Jack Benny", which was mostly responsible for it being saved from demolition; in 1960, several classical music "greats", headed by Isaac Stern, launched a crusade to keep the Hall from being torn down in favor of an office building. One of their projects was this televised concert [September 27, 1961]. Jack agreed to appear because he also wanted to keep Carnegie Hall alive...and he was also one of Stern's close friends.

[@revgid]

There's an episode of Benny's television show in which his violin teacher (played by Mel Blanc) is in a coma. Jack comes to visit him, bringing his violin. The doctor tells Jack that the prognosis isn't good. Jack looks around furtively, and says to the doctor, "You can't tell this to anyone." He then proceeds to play "Liebestraum" beautifully, and a smile spreads across Mel Blanc's face. Benny had no vanity. Comic genius, great human.

[@alexpate8626]

He made Isaac Stern laugh while playing. Well done

[@fiddlefaddle1]

I watch this video every day just to unwind.

[@bobcrestwood740]

Jack Benny was actually an excellent violinist. He started out in vaudeville as a straight musical act, playing the violin. Minnie Marx, the mother and manager of the young Marx Brothers, also in vaudeville before they became famous, asked Jack Benny to join their act as a musical accompanist, but he declined. Later he found out that he could be more successful, and make a lot more money, as a comedian, so from then on, he concentrated on comedy and pretended to be a lousy violinist as part of his comedy act.

[@carolvogelman8216]

Stern evidently said that Benny, on one occasion, showed real transcendence and said the quartet agreed they were surprised and pleased! Stern also said Benny could have held a third chair seat in a respectable orchestra, and that sounds fair if you reflect every chair in every band has hundreds of hopefuls pursuing that chair? And Benny said Stern was his best friend in music and see the Stern Plays Benny's Bedroom episode of the Benny Show! Stern was funny and very cute!

[@enriquesanchez2001]

Well, well. I had HEARD that Benny really could play the violin. And here except a few sour notes, missed cues, and the intermittent shenanigans is proof that he knew how to PLAY! I am impressed. What a great man!

[@stephenland9361]

The few sour notes, missed cues and the shenanigans were all part of Jack's shtick. He was in fact, a very gifted violinist.

[@enriquesanchez2001]

Yep...agreed, Mr. Land

[@stephenland9361]

I just did some research about Jack and his 'Made in Japan' Stradivarius violin. It turns out Jack did own a genuine Stradivarius made in 1729. Upon Jack's death the instrument was bequeathed to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Just as his stingy stage persona was part of his shtick, he was in fact a most generous man. "This is a stick up!! Your money or your life!!..... _I'm thinking it over_....

[@enriquesanchez2001]

heheh thanks for that

[@vanzofaust]

You have to master an instrument (including voice) in order to be able to clown around with it.

[@KillerBebe]

So wonderful, I never expected him to play so well

[@patkronik8336]

Growing up we waited for Sunday night my Father has been gone 40 years but after watching the video I can hear his laughter .

[@keb107]

Jack Benny is one of the funniest men that ever lived. He could do so little and make it funny.

[@akarpowicz]

It takes a good violinist to play "badly " and be entertaining. Very cute! thanks for posting.

[@gmallast]

Note that on those rare moments when Benny stopped clowning around, he was actually a quite capable violinist. There are a couple difficult stretches in there he pulls off perfectly.. When Benny went off-key he wasn't screwing up. It only appeared he was--by design. He was doing it deliberately for comic effect. I suspect this "performance" had been well rehearsed in advance with his screw-ups carefully planned for maximum laughs.

[@jojoUK120]

Yes! I love how he's increasingly forcing the tempo so by the end Stern is watching him like a hawk and has to chase him :-) The whole thing is slightly off key to my ear so I wonder if he didn't start out by mistuning the instrument. Then to my mind its the fastest bits he plays straight, as if they're too tricky or ingrained to fake-fluff. But I'm no expert, just wondering how he does it!

[@billace90]

And Mr. Benny played with his wonderful Stradivarius!! Actually Mr. Benny had quite good violin skills, he just pretended to be a bad violinist.

[@Brace67]

I saw an interview with Jack Benny about his violin playing which he did take seriously. He said that for the best comedic effect and had to play only slightly badly. If it was too extreme he felt it would be too “clownish” and not funny. He had to actually work hard while playing to give the impression that he was doing his very best which didn’t quite measure up.

[@elainekomara8555]

Yes Jack Benny was a professional violinist.. very accomplished.

[@scifiradioguy]

In order to suck at the violin, he had to be great at the violin.

[@denisesimpson591]

I am crazy about Bach, and hearing this clip of Jack Benny and Isaac Stern perform one of my favorite Bach pieces is . . . simply wonderful!!!!!

[@maudeboggins9834]

I watched a short clip of him in Sydney & he asked for his violin & someone threw it to him across the stage floor. That was funny. I laughed out loud.

[@atchicago1]

"Now fellas, can you really tell the difference?"

[@firstandlast5324]

Benny could really play. Not many people knew it.

[@robdewey317]

Lol I think people knew but they were all in on the joke just like all the jokes about his being cheap.

[@johntabler349]

as great as Stern was, Benny catches your attention and holds it great performer at all levels

[@juliaannepark]

"Never gets old", I love Jack Benny.

[@billsmith5985]

Supposedly, he practiced every day of his adult life.

[@marywilliams9858]

Me too. Wanna marry him when I get up there.

[@karljuergen2950]

@@marywilliams9858 no Chance, i am First!

[@slavernet]

What a life. A successful entertainer who gets to tangle with the best. Heifitz, Stern and others. And who, in the end, more will remember than even the greatest of violinists. You go Jack!

[@kpopahjussi6379]

Fabulous. He even worked in a bit of comedy, of course. He was a master with the violin and never really got credit because he always made jokes about it.

[@jquins19]

May they both rest in peace

[@robdewey317]

Jack often did benefits raising money for symphonies including helping add to their endowments paying off to this very day. He always drew huge crowds

[@MsSoundguy]

I was afraid this was gone forever. Thank you for posting. I love it.

[@burtmurdoch]

Jack Benny is and always be the greatest... ;))

[@billace90]

And to think that Mr. Jack Benny was playing a 1729 Strad, now called “The Benny” (according to Tarisio).

[@OZindustries]

Stern looked very young in this vid! I remembered seeing another vid of them playing together this the same piece at their older years.

[@nancywaler167]

A rare treat indeed!

[@annettehonickman9069]

Hilarious!.👏👏👏🤩Jack Benny is doing great on his fiddle!🙂❣

[@juliaannepark]

I wish I had grown up with Mr Jack Benny, brilliant !!!!!

[@johnhuwroberts7766]

Fair play! What a talented man.

[@unclejuniorsoprano]

If only Isaac Stern could play like that! Bravo Benny!

[@juliaannepark]

Such a treat, I just love this sketch.

[@stephenreeds3672]

A genuinely funny man. Great violinist... not that I know anything about violin playing. Apparently, a really good man. RIP.

[@richardsimms251]

Wow. Benny is really good

[@dannydoc1969]

I love Benny, he always made me smile. Notice the orchestra are all smiling and watching Benny and not Stern, lol.

[@robinbrigstocke8121]

That was quite fun, actually. I'm glad I clicked on this.

[@jeffreyjeziorski1480]

When I play a concert, you see, the tickets are sold at an adjusted basis. The seats in the front area cost $10.00. The tickets in the middle area, you see, cost $25.00. The tickets way in the back cost $50.00. And for $100.00, you don't have to come in at all!

[@clarinetplayer56]

Jack Benny is the best!! Bravo!!!!

[@jayonnaj18]

Jack Benny was so funneeee! But he in actuality knew how to play that violin!!!

[@redvoter3076]

This had to be 70 years ago and it's still funny. Why can't actors today be funny?

[@tranurse]

a couple of places in there, he stops clowning, and plays just enough to prove that he indeed was a talented violinist. not quite a stern or a heifetz, but not too shabby either.

[@passtheparcel2007]

You can see immediately, he's a classically trained, dedicated an gifted violinist, that's how he could mess about so skillfully with his comedic asides..

[@Borretski]

The Late Vic Oliver was a fine pianist. He was playing at a concert once and his piano stool collapsed. The audience howled with delight. Oliver enjoyed so much the experience of making a large audience laugh, that he became a comedian. Before that happened, he was rehearsing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue at Carnegie Hall. When he finished the rehearsal, a tall gentleman strode across the stage and complimented him on his performance. It was George Gershwin! Oliver came to England and performed lots of comedy during the war years, including appearing as a regular member of the cast of 'Hi Gang' with Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon. He was married to Sir Winston Churchill's daughter Sarah. His comedy revolved around his violin playing, rather than the piano, for some time he presented programs of popular recordings on radio, and he always finished by playing a piano solo. The last one I heard was a Chopin waltz, and he played it very well indeed.

[@TheBee87bee]

I am surprised how well Jack played!

[@olensoifer9901]

People tend to classify Jack Benny's violin skills as one extreme or the other. To be honest, I think he belonged to neither class. On the one hand, his horrible playing (on television, for example) was obviously intended to garner laughes...such as when he asks "Gimme an A", then he plays some totally different off-note, and says "That's fine". But, on the other hand, I think it's going too far to say he was either a "master" or a "prodigy" on the instrument. Still, at his live charity concerts, he didn't joke around and demonstrated that he was a competent violinist. That's not a put-down, as it is a difficult instrument to play, and even being considered "competent" is a compliment, and is a level of mastery that few people achieve. I think it goes without saying that most beginner violin students end up putting down the instrument after a couple of years and never pick it up again..

[@catherinehazur7336]

This is a challenging piece to play under the best of circumstances Intimidating to play it with one of the worlds greatest violinists. Isaac Stern was very brave......lol!

[@toddparke8535]

@@catherinehazur7336 Isaac Stern has been quoted that Benny's talent was worthy of 3rd chair in his orchestra. Note there are hundreds waiting for any chair in a great orchestra.

[@catherinehazur7336]

@@toddparke8535 Jack was good friends with Yascha Heifetz , Yitzhak Perlman and Isaac Stern, and enjoyed informally playing violin duets with each of them if and when the opportunity arose. He was a lifelong learner on the violin, and had a genuine love for it. To watch his television show, you would never guess that he was actually quite a fine violinist because he always played so horribly to invariably get laughs from his studio audiences. Not surprised he was considered good enough to be a 3rd Chair

[@ml3229]

Simply *fantastic* post - THANKS rickwebbmusic!!!

[@atchicago1]

If only Isaac Stern had the charisma, poise and elegance of Mister Jack Benny!

[@annanardo2358]

First time I've ever heard Benny actually play something all the way through. I'm impressed, but my question is this, is he an real violinist or just violin player ?? There's a BIG difference. 🙂🙂

[@RonGerstein]

He is the best violinist who is not an official violinist.

[@lindafitak]

Jack Benny was an expert violinist, and he knew exactly how to “bow” the strings in a bad way, just for comedy. It is so obvious that he is excellent at the violin!

[@pennypiper7382]

BRILLIANT!!!!!!❤️❤️❤️

[@kevklost]

They don't make em like they used to.

[@photomanwilliams4147]

Once Jack was invited to the white house to meet the president. At a main entrance he was being checked in by the secret service. Jack Benny was asked to open his violin case to be checked. Jack made a joke that that case was holding his Machine gun. The Agent replied "thank God" we thought it was your violin.

[@NACHALCHAIM]

Larry Fine of the three stooges was also a tremendous violinist as well as a master comedian.

[@pianopappy]

The complete version of Benny's performance at Carnegie Hall, including his very amusing monologue after the Bach piece is played, can be found at: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnjLhoGElLl1eqc. Also, there is no "hum" in the audio.

[@nidurnevets]

There was a wonderful book about him by his daughter. I haven't seen the book in years. It was called "Sunday Nights at Seven." He seems to have been a wonderful person.

[@essessessesq]

Libraries have it, or can order it-----wonderful book! and half of it is an auto-bio that Jack wrote himself and never published!

[@juliaannepark]

Had much Jack Benny "fix" for the morning. !!!

[@ntclinton]

People didnt go to watch Jack Benny play the violin. They went to see Jack Benny TRY to play the violin. I think Isaac Stern had more fun than the audience.

[@robertmackenzie3995]

Who knows? But Benny was a superb violinist (which is obvious from this video) and indeed started out as a violinist - which he had played from the age of six!

[@mjanavel]

Jack Benny is so fluid when he plays.

[@williamgregory1848]

People forget that Jack Benny was a talented violinist, having played the violin since he was 6 years old, and was even the owner of a Stradivarius. Benny even played with great violinists like Isaac Stern and Jascha Heifetz.

[@88888gerald]

many people were musicians....Jack was a STAR

[@ClagwellsGarage]

This is a great clip....well worth watching. Anyone know the name of the announcer?

[@margiemorrow328]

I really enjoyed this. I didn’t know jock was so good.

[@retnavybrat]

Not always, but usually if you see entertainers whose routine shows them as being "bad" at things like singing, dancing, or playing an instrument, the opposite is normally true.

[@MrCremoes2004]

最高！！！！！ ぼくも、相方みつけて、こういうのやってみたいなあ。 みんなに自然に笑ってもらえるようなステージがあってもいいですし、そういうの大好き。

[@mga2899]

Stern loved this piece.

[@kelvyquayo]

@4:08 “can you tell the difference?” LOL

[@monotheis6889]

First glimpse I've had of Jack Benny playing seriously. I always suspected that he was much better than he let on while playing on his show. I actually had to deliberately search for serious performance by Jack Benny, and STILL- he clowns around. What a goof-off. 🤣

[@lizburns7195]

Wonderful Thank you for sharing

[@TheInvincibleViolet]

LOVE !!! xx

[@behnamzadeh1936]

i dident know jack knows how to play classic for real i am shocked this video is very important in are life.thanks

[@stevendaniel8126]

IMMORTAL........

[@mmjhcb]

Same phantom "disliker" came on over here after the Heifetz/Benny skit to make sure he dissed these two greats, too.

[@catasoy75]

. e " i i r R ": i... ı ,.. T i. '..

[@richardsimms251]

Great stuff

[@andreroberto9760]

Fico impressionado com o talento de jaky banny

[@seantecs.a.6109]

Benny may not have been a virtuoso, but in this video he shows that he is a very good interpreter...

[@francomalankini7052]

Bravo!!!

[@annanardo2358]

By reading the comments, my question was obviously answered....🙂

[@RonRicho]

My childhood idol.

[@Sojourning_]

awesome................

[@singergal57]

Stern's trying hard not to laugh

[@alcoreiter2]

The conductor is Eugene Ormandy....

[@essessessesq]

While he learned violin as a child, I have read that for most of his career, he just used it as a prop---but in his age 60s, he decided to make a serious go at the fiddle, and play benefit concerts for orchestras, which he continued to do until the end.-------fun fact: He had to practice in his bathroom at home so the racket would not distract his wife, Mary Livingston!

[@similer5987]

5:30 oooh you're sharp, Jack! :/

[@henry20008]

Good stuff

[@davidjacobson9907]

Jack can really play.

[@sr633]

Poor Jack, he is always the clown when he is, well ok playing the violin.. lol

[@winrx]

It's no wonder the term "shtick" is derived from the Yiddish..... : p

[@divox9pqr]

So funny, Jack Benny and Victor Borge should have team up. Probably Benny predated Borge however.

[@RonGerstein]

Jack Benny started performing in 1933.

[@LordWham]

Wonderful!

[@richardsimms251]

Magnificent 😊

[@dorishecht9526]

Who is conducting?

[@michaelwhisman7623]

Would this be a solo??

[@orangebetsy]

It's concerto for that face!

[@88888gerald]

right or wrong..Im with Jack....

[@srothbardt]

What show was this?

[@red709]

He was from I was a child my favorite player genioussssssss and the faces what a great !!!!!now all copy from this people actors and he ious again yes!!! bye

[@thinkinginwords]

Do we know the year?

[@annedwyer797]

One person commented that this was from 1960, "A Night With Jack Benny and The NY Philharmonic" or similar title, a fundraiser in a effort to prevent Carnegie Hall from being torn down to make space for office bldgs.

[@delroyroberts9244]

Who was who?

[@angusyoungnumber1]

Left is Jack Benny

[@delroyroberts9244]

I know. if I only heard them, I would find it difficult to ascertain who is who. He could have been one of the greatest.