> By the time I was even aware of Bob Hope, he'd been well past his prime,
> and he was pretty much on the same career path as Red Skelton or Milton
> Berle. He seemed to be kept going mainly by sentiment and fond memory,
with
> reliable-but-creaky jokes sputtered out by a well-tested machinery.
Skelton was a lowbrow clown, but a fine one, and his energy never seemed to dissipate as he aged. He also had fun with his material, freely ad-libbing and laughing at his own bits (something that disgusted Stan Laurel who, in his retirement years, kept tabs on contemporary comedy and offered his takes from his small apartment in California). I have a certain fondness for Skelton, and he at times makes me laugh. But he's not first-tier.
Berle I never got, even in his "Texaco Star Theater" days on NBC. The only, and I mean o-n-l-y, thing I even moderately liked was his cameo in Jerry Lewis's "The Bellboy." He was mocking himself, slightly, and thankfully is rushed off the screen after a few minutes.
DP