The Library of Congress >  Researchers >  Search Finding Aids  >  Robert Orben papers, 1941-2019
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BOX 32-49 Speeches and Writings, 1945-2018
The Speeches and Writings series contains approximately sixty years of jokes, one-liners, writings, and remarks from Orben's career as a comedy writer and humor consultant for performers, television programs, public figures, and corporate clients. His earliest material is included in a grouping of small self-published books, such as The Encyclopedia of Patter (1946), Magicdotes (1948), and The Working Comedian’s Gag File (1956), that Orben wrote for magicians, emcees, comedians, and other performers. The largest portion of this material relates to his topical humor service, Orben’s Current Comedy, that he edited from 1958 to 1989 with a small break between 1968 and 1971. This periodical, issued monthly and then bi-monthly, contains jokes and one-liners relating to current events and prominent figures in politics and entertainment. Orben later compiled some of this material into a series of books. Orben’s writing for television is documented in an index card file arranged by topic, labeled “Skelton Stockpile,” containing jokes he wrote for The Red Skelton Hour as well material he wrote for The Jack Paar Program in 1962. Another set of index cards contains material Orben wrote for comedian Dick Gregory’s book, From the Back of the Bus (1962). Additional material relating to this project can be found in the Alphabetical File series. Another group of writings contains material he wrote for International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) corporate events. Orben’s articles and essays about the writing, effective delivery, and use of humor in speeches, as well as his speeches and speech material about humor in the presidency are also included in this series. An unpublished memoir offers Orben’s account of events in his life until the end of his time in the Gerald R. Ford administration. Additional jokes that he sent to individuals and publications, particularly topical material written in the 1990s, are located in the Alphabetical File series under the name of the person or publication.
Material types include jokes, articles, books, book drafts, periodicals, a memoir, notes, interview transcripts, speeches, and scripts.
Arranged alphabetically by title or type of material and therein chronologically. The file structure of the digital content maintained as received.
BOX 32 Articles and essays, 1945-1946, 1968-1972, 1978-2002
(3 folders)
BOX 32 "Bob Orben's Current Comedy for Speakers," American Speaker magazine, 1994-2006
(3 folders)
BOX 33 "Bob Orben's Current Comedy for Speakers," American Speaker magazine, 2007-2009
BOX 33 Book drafts, 1990-circa 2000
(2 folders)
BOX 33 Book drafts, undated
(2 folders)
BOX 34 Book drafts, undated
(3 folders)
BOX 35 Book material, 1971-circa 1999
(5 folders)
BOX 36 Book material, 1971-circa 1999
(2 folders)
BOX 36 Books, 1946-1951
(5 folders)
BOX 37 Books, 1952-1956
(6 folders)
BOX 38 Books, 1957-1964
(7 folders)
BOX OV 2 Gregory, Dick, book material, circa 1962 See Oversize
BOX OV 3 "Hot Lines" column material, circa 1968 See Oversize
BOX 39 Humorous quotes in print, 1995-2018
BOX 39 International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) material, 1977-1980
(11 folders)
BOX 40 International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) material, 1981-1984
(10 folders)
BOX 41 International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) material, 1985-1986
(7 folders)
BOX 41 International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) material, undated
BOX 42 International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) material, undated
(3 folders)
BOX 42 Interviews with Orben
BOX 42 Gerald R. Ford Oral History Project, 2008-2009
BOX 42 Miscellaneous, 1973-1983, 1999-2013
DF Miscellaneous, audio file, 2000
Digital ID: mss86325_201_004
DF Miscellaneous, video file, 2012
Digital ID: mss86325_201_003
BOX 42 Jack Paar Program material, 1962
BOX 42 Lewis, Shari, material, 1968
BOX 42 Magic periodicals, 1946
BOX 42 Memoir, circa 1993-circa 1994
(3 folders)
BOX 43 Miscellaneous jokes, 1960s-1998, undated
(7 folders)
BOX OV 4 Miscellaneous jokes, undated See Oversize
BOX OV 5 Miscellaneous jokes, undated See Oversize
BOX 44 Miscellaneous writings, 2011-2014, undated
BOX 44 Notes and jottings, 1972-2017, undated
(4 folders)
BOX 44 Orben Comedy Letter, 1971-1972
BOX 44 Orben's Comedy Fillers, 1971-1980
(2 folders)
BOX 45 Orben's Current Comedy
BOX 45 Issues, bound
BOX 45 Vol. 1, 1958, Nov.-1959, Oct.
BOX 45 Vol. 2, 1959, Nov.-1960, Oct.
BOX 45 Vol. 3, 1960, Nov.-1961, Oct.
BOX 45 Vol. 4, 1961, Nov.-1962, Oct.
BOX 45 Vol. 5, 1962, Nov.-1963, Oct.
BOX 45 Vol. 6, 1963, Nov.-1964, Oct.
BOX 45 Vol. 7, 1964, Nov.-1965, Oct.
BOX 45 Vol. 8, 1965, Nov.-1966, Oct.
BOX 46 Vol. 9, 1966, Nov.-1967, Sept.
BOX 46 Vol. 10, 1967, Oct.-1968, Apr.
BOX 46 Issues, unbound
BOX 46 Nos. 190-242, 1971-1972
BOX 46 Nos. 243-292, 1973-1974
BOX 46 Nos. 293-340, 1975-1976
BOX 46 Nos. 341-388, 1977-1978
BOX 47 Nos. 389-436, 1979-1980
BOX 47 Nos. 437-484, 1981-1982
BOX 47 Nos. 485-532, 1983-1984
BOX 47 Nos. 533-580, 1985-1986
BOX 47 Nos. 581-628, 1987-1988
BOX 47 Nos. 629-630, 1989
BOX OV 6 Material by contributors, undated See Oversize
BOX OV 7 Unpublished, new material, undated See Oversize
BOX OV 8 Unpublished, new material, undated See Oversize
BOX OV 9 Unpublished, new material, undated See Oversize
BOX OV 10 Unpublished, new material, undated See Oversize
BOX OV 11- OV 14 Red Skelton Hour
BOX OV 11 Miscellaneous material, 1964-1968, 1977 See Oversize
BOX OV 12 "Skelton Stockpile" topical file, circa 1964-1969 See Oversize
BOX OV 13 "Skelton Stockpile" topical file, circa 1964-1969 See Oversize
BOX OV 14 "Skelton Stockpile" topical file, circa 1964-1969 See Oversize
BOX 48 Speech pages, 1970s-2000s
(3 folders)
BOX 48 Speeches, 1970s
(4 folders)
BOX 49 Speeches, 1970s
(2 folders)
BOX 49 Speeches, 1980s-2013
(5 folders)
DF Speeches, video file, 2013
Digital ID: mss86325_201_006
BOX 50-52 Miscellany, 1945-2019
A small Miscellany series contains additional material documenting Orben's life and career including press clippings about or mentioning him and photographs depicting his work with President Gerald R. Ford. A scrapbook contains Orben's earliest published writings, most of which relate to magic.
Material types include card files, calendars, photographs, press clippings, lists, passports, a scrapbook, and video files from an award ceremony.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material or name. The file structure of the digital content maintained as received.
BOX OV 15 - OV 16 Address file
BOX OV 15 A-L, undated See Oversize
BOX OV 16 M-Y, undated See Oversize
BOX 50 Biographical information, circa 1970s, 1990, circa 2007, 2015
BOX 50 Calendars, 1976-1977
BOX 50 Christmas cards, 2007, undated
BOX 50 Drawing of Orben, 1987
BOX 50 Honors and awards, 1975-1979, 1992, 2013
DF Honors and awards, video file, 2013
Digital ID: mss86325_201_005
BOX 50 Lists, 1969-2013
(2 folders)
BOX 50 Orben, Jean
BOX 50 Notes, 1995-2016, undated
BOX 50 Passports, 1964-1985
BOX 51 Passports, 1964-1985
BOX 51 Photographs
BOX 51 Portraits, 1950s-1980s
(2 folders)
BOX 51 Various events, 1973-1986, 2004, undated
BOX 51 White House, 1974-1976 See also Oversize
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