SOURCE: "Tally Ho, Mr. Allen," in Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 15, No. 2, Fall, 1981, pp. 164-90.

In the following excerpt, Sies traces Allen's radio career, and his use of satire to parody contemporary American institutions.

Johnny Carson, when asked recently by Kenneth Tynan who was the wittiest man he ever knew, named Fred Allen without hesitation. Citing the old vaudeville maxim, "A comic is someone who says funny things, and a comedian is one who says things funny," Carson went on to explain his answer. Fred Allen, he said, was comic, while Jonathan Winters and Mel Brooks were comedians.¹ Although he thought all were funny, Carson's distinction was an important one.

Many middle-aged intellectuals and peripatetic pilgrims through life of the same vintage would heartily second Carson's choice. During the radio comic's long career, college professors and automobile mechanics alike enjoyed Allen's wry, weekly commentaries on life's trials and...