 How funny was Bob Newhart? Funny enough so that his first comedy album in 1960 bested Elvis Presley on the charts. Here's the one and only Bob Newhart. He was witty enough to be a regular guest on variety and talk shows. In fact, Newhart was so amusing that he could play straight man to himself. There was this routine where he's a guard at the Empire State Building talking to his boss on the phone. See, this isn't your standard age, sir.