WINTERS, JONATHAN - CRANK(Y) CALLS

The foundation for this set is pretty basic: Comic Jonathan Winters was in the habit of leaving extended, extemporaneous phone messages whenever he reached his buddy Jim Smith's answering machine. Smith saved the tapes and gathered 28 communiqués on one CD. Pretty flimsy, yes, but Winters is the comic's comic and improvisation is his forte, so there some yucks to be had here, albeit frequently of a darker hue. Winters seems to have a bizarre fixation with the Prince of Darkness. Crank(y) Calls is just weird enough to be rewarding for fans of Winters, if not for folks with a taste for more scattershot phone scalawags as the Jerky Boys and Roy D. Mercer. --Steven Stolder Amazon.com

Lousy

This cd should never have been made, it is a waste of time and no talent April 20, 2008

this is not the funny one!

winters had another "leave a message" tape that was much funnier.
this one has 2 or 3 amusing tracks, but the rest are a little spooky-sad.

still, JW was a fascinating comic and human

boyce August 4, 2007

Actually very good if you go with the flow

Some reviewers were disappointed, perhaps expecting a more polished production. For my part, I felt privileged to experience a bit of Winters' "inside" communications. It made me feel as though I was in his head as he delivered, presumably without material finessed in advance, assuming the public at large would not hear it. January 30, 2007

DUMB

THIS WAS SO BAD, I COULD NOT EVEN FINISH THE CD. IT MADE NO SENSE WHATS SO EVER. IT WAS ACTUAL PHONE CALLS TO A CERTAIN PERSON? GUESS IT WAS MY MISTAKE FOR ORDERING IT. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT WAS EVEN RECORDED. July 16, 2006

Beware of Strange Friends with Answering Machines

Thanks to Jonathan Winters' friend J. B. Smith we can all listen to the funniest guy in show biz in the most candid setting by way of the answering machine! Yep, Smith collected all of Winters' craziest moments all on tape. Winters' stuff maybe a little dated but one thing it never gets old. Winters still has his genious in this upclose and personal off-stage improvisation. I miss all the old comedians like Phyllis Diller and Bob Hope. That was when comedy was really funny and not obscene. His funniest routines are his C.B. Caller one, 'Blue Fox to Red Beaver.' He impersonation of Ross Perot and the telephone evangelist 'Do You Have Your PTL card' are hiliarious. They're all so funny to listen to. Some may sound a like from the dark side than the Winters the public is familiar with. But, do you feel bad listening in on someone's telephone conversations? It's your descretion to listen in. Hopefully they will come out with vintage Winters shows for us to enjoy. Is anybody listening? Do you remember Winters in the 'Mork & Mindy' TV series as Mearth (1981-1982)? Too bad they're NOT out on video. Only the early versions of the show. He and Robin Williams were a team when it came to hysterical comedy. Williams talks of his friend in Winters' documentary, 'The Unknown Jonathan Winters.' His funniest character was Maude Fricket. You can catch him/her(?) in 'Gone Fish'n.' His Fricket material revolutionized actors to dress up in old ladies clothes that it got Johnny Carson doing it on his talk show. There's an animated version similar to 'Gone Fish'n' with Jonathan Winters, see 'Tiny Toons Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation' (1992). If like Jonathan Winters as much as I do, some of his best stuff is from his TV show 'Jonathan Winters: on the Ledge.' His classic movies are 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,' (considered one of the top classic comedies of all time) 'The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh' and 'Moon Over Parador.' And if you like to read more about Winters try the New York bestselling autobiography, 'Winters' Tales.' He tells the truth about his early life that made him the quick-witted, funniest comedian in show biz. June 30, 2003

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