Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors

Last updated
Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors
Doctorsnicholsmay.jpg
Studio album by
Released1961 [1]
Recorded1961
Genre Comedy
Length34:37
Label Mercury Records
Nichols and May chronology
An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May
(1960)
Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors
(1961)
In Retrospect
(1962)

Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors is a comedy album by Nichols and May.

Contents

The ten episodes heard here were originally aired on NBC Radio's Monitor program. [1] The final track is an outtake of Nichols and May improvising.

The track "The Von Brauns at Home", featuring German characters pretending to be Americans, was in the original release but not included in subsequent pressings.

Track listing

  1. A Little More Gauze - 3:29
  2. Interrupted Hour - 4:35
  3. The Von Brauns at Home* - 1:05
  4. Merry Christmas, Doctor - 3:38
  5. Morning Rounds - 1:57
  6. Transference - 2:00
  7. Calling Dr. Marx - 2:39
  8. Thank You Very Much - 2:34
  9. Out of Africa - 2:59
  10. Bedside Manner - 1:11
  11. Physical - 5:06
  12. Nichols and May at Work - 4:29

Influence

In an interview with Pitchfork Magazine, standup comedian John Mulaney described Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors (1961) as one of his Favorite Comedy Albums of all time. [2] Mulaney stated, "I got this album for Christmas when I was in junior high. The last track, 'Nichols and May at Work,' is an outtake from recording the album, they were just improvising dialog in a studio. They’re trying to do a piece where a son goes to his mother and says that he wants to become a registered nurse. It’s something you just have to experience, because two people that funny laughing that hard is really, really, really funny. I think it might be the happiest thing ever recorded." [2]

In 2014, John Mulaney tweeted in remembrance when Mike Nichols died: "The last track on Nichols and May Examine Doctors, 'Nichols and May at Work.' The best comedy moment on tape. RIP Mike Nichols."

Related Research Articles

Dan Castellaneta American actor

Daniel Louis Castellaneta is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series The Simpsons. Castellaneta is also known for voicing Grandpa in Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!, and has had voice roles in several other programs, including Futurama, Sibs and Darkwing Duck, The Adventures of Dynamo Duck, The Batman, Back to the Future: The Animated Series, Aladdin, Earthworm Jim, Taz-Mania, and KaBlam!.

Mike Nichols American television director, writer, producer and comedian

Mike Nichols was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude for getting the best out of actors regardless of their experience. Nichols began his career in the 1950s with the comedy improvisational troupe The Compass Players, predecessor of The Second City, in Chicago. He then teamed up with his improv partner, Elaine May, to form the comedy duo Nichols and May. Their live improv act was a hit on Broadway, and the first of their three albums won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.

Elaine May American screenwriter, film director, actress, and comedian

Elaine Iva May is an American comedian, film director, screenwriter, playwright, and actress. She made her initial impact in the 1950s with her improvisational comedy routines with Mike Nichols, performing as Nichols and May.

<i>Pure Guava</i> 1992 studio album by Ween

Pure Guava is the third studio album and major label debut by American rock band Ween, released on November 10, 1992 by Elektra Records.

Jon Brion American musician

Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with The Excerpts, The Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has produced music for artists and bands like of Montreal, Aimee Mann, Love Jones, Eels, Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Robyn Hitchcock, Rhett Miller, The Crystal Method, Kanye West, Sky Ferreira and Mac Miller among many others. His film scores include Hard Eight (1996), Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Heart Huckabees, Synecdoche, New York (2008), ParaNorman (2012), Lady Bird (2017), and Christopher Robin (2018). He released his debut solo album, Meaningless, in 2001.

An outtake is a portion of a work that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and DVD reissues of many albums and films as bonus tracks or features, in film often, but not always, for the sake of humor. In terms of photos, an outtake may also mean the ones which are not released in the original set of photos.

<i>Souljacker</i> 2001 studio album by Eels

Souljacker is the fourth studio album by American rock band Eels, first released on September 19, 2001 in Japan and later on March 12, 2002 in the United States. The American release was delayed due to the lack of "radio-friendly singles" record companies wanted.

John Mulaney American comedian and actor (born 1982)

John Edmund Mulaney is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for his work as a writer on Saturday Night Live and as a stand-up comedian with stand-up specials The Top Part (2009), New in Town (2012), The Comeback Kid (2015), and Kid Gorgeous (2018), for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special. Mulaney is also known for his children's musical comedy special John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch (2019) which was released on Netflix.

She & Him American musical duo

She & Him is an American musical duo consisting of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. The band's first album, Volume One, was released on Merge Records in March 2008.

Jon Lajoie Canadian comedian, actor, and singer

Jonathan Lajoie is a Canadian comedian, actor, rapper, singer, musician, and Internet celebrity from Montreal, Quebec. He gained fame mostly from his eponymous YouTube channel, posting comedic original songs and comedy skits. Lajoie is also known for his role as Taco MacArthur on the FXX comedy series The League. Since 2016, he has released indie folk music under the moniker Wolfie's Just Fine.

Father John Misty American musician

Joshua Michael Tillman, better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He has also performed and released studio albums under the name J. Tillman.

Aphex Twin British electronic musician (born 1971)

Richard David James, best known by the alias Aphex Twin and less prominently as AFX, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is best known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic styles such as techno, ambient, and jungle. Music journalists from publications including Mixmag, The New York Times, NME, Fact,Clash and The Guardian have called James one of the most influential or important contemporary electronic musicians.

<i>A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!</i>

A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! is a Grammy Award-winning Christmas special that debuted on Comedy Central on November 23, 2008.

Nichols and May American comedy duo

Nichols and May was an American improvisational comedy duo act developed by Mike Nichols (1931–2014) and Elaine May. Their three comedy albums reached the Billboard Top 40 between 1959 and 1962. Many comedians have cited them as key influences in modern comedy. Woody Allen declared, “the two of them came along and elevated comedy to a brand-new level".

<i>Weezer</i> (White Album) 2016 album by Weezer

Weezer, also known as the White Album, is the tenth studio album and fourth self-titled album by American rock band Weezer, released on April 1, 2016. The album marks their first produced by Jake Sinclair. It is the first release through Crush Music and was distributed by Atlantic Records.

<i>Gods Favorite Customer</i> 2018 studio album by Father John Misty

God's Favorite Customer is the fourth studio album by American musician Josh Tillman under the stage name Father John Misty. It was released by Sub Pop and Bella Union on June 1, 2018. The album was primarily produced by Tillman himself and Jonathan Rado, alongside a variety of collaborators including previous engineers Trevor Spencer and Dave Cerminara, with further production contributions by Tillman's long-time producer Jonathan Wilson. It also features a variety of musical collaborators, including The Haxan Cloak, Mark Ronson, Weyes Blood, and members of Tillman's touring band.

<i>John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City</i> 2018 film by Alex Timbers

John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City is a 2018 stand-up comedy film written by and starring John Mulaney. The special was recorded live in February 2018 at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and released by Netflix on May 1, 2018.

<i>The West Christmas Ever</i> 2019 EP by Nina West

The West Christmas Ever is the third extended play (EP) by American drag performer Nina West, which was released by Producer Entertainment Group on November 8, 2019. The Christmas EP has five original songs and three interludes featuring Jim Cummings; The Vox Ensemble of the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus are featured on "Santa Will Be Gone". "Jingle Juice" has a music video. The EP peaked at number five on Billboard's Comedy Albums chart, and had a generally-positive reception.

Mike Nichols on screen and stage

Mike Nichols was an American comedian, director, producer and actor of the stage and screen. He began his career in the 1950s as a comedian alongside Elaine May doing improvisational comedy. Together they formed the comedy duo Nichols and May. Their live improv act was a hit sensation on Broadway, and the first of their three albums won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 1962. Nichols also became known as a director of plays on the Broadway stage including, Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963), The Odd Couple (1965), and Plaza Suite. He also directed acclaim revival productions of Anton Chekov's The Seagull (2002), Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (2012) and Harold Pinter's Betrayal (2013).

References

  1. 1 2 "Lindsay Planer review of Mike Nichols & Elaine May Examine Doctors". Allmusic.
  2. 1 2 "John Mulaney on His 5 Favorite Comedy Albums". Pitchfork . 27 September 2018.