>Even the most determinedly fawning obituarists had to concede that most of
>his movies and many of his "joke" anthologies were basically insulting in
>their unfunniness. Elvis Mitchell in the New York Times, stuck with writing
>an appreciation on the same day as Canby's labored obituary (and stuck by
>the newspaper with the exact same vaudeville photograph as illustration)
>fell back on the exhausted line that Hope always played the same character,
>which was Bob Hope. A fitting tautology. Hope was a fool, and nearly a
>clown, but he was never even remotely a comedian.
Helpful i.d.:
>Christopher Hitchens is a columnist for Vanity Fair. His recent
>stand-up performance at the Hay on Wye festival can be accessed by
>the curious here.
"here" being Peter K's fan site <http://users.rcn.com/peterk.enteract/>.