Bob Newhart Set to Appear at Tulip Time Festival [Video]

Bob Newhart is not only known for his roles in two hugely successful TV series that carried his name, he was also named one of the top 100 stand-up comedians of all time by Comedy Central.

And now, he's coming to Holland's Tulip Time Festival for a show at Central Wesleyan Auditorium, 446 W. 40th Street, on May 8.

Long before there were classic comedy albums like Cheech and Chong's Big Bambu, Richard Pryor's That N*****'s Crazy! and Steve Martin's Let's Get Small, there was Newhart's The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart."

Not only did it win the Grammy Award for best comedy album in 1961, but he also picked up the Grammy for best new artist that year -- the only time a comedian won that honor.

It paved the way for the comedy album gold mine that the '60s and '70s became, and made it possible for stand up comics to think outside the box and do more sketch related bits on vinyl.

He's probably responsible for me starting my comedy album collection, which at one time numbered more than 300 albums. (It's since been scaled back.)

You can buy tickets to his Tulip Time Holland appearance here.

But let's look back at the type of bit that made that album so great, the classic one sided phone conversation with Newhart pretending to be a press agent talking to his client, Abe Lincoln.