Hart and Lorne - The Comedy of Hart And Lorne

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Election Interviews	02:52
	2	Hippy Skit	02:27
	3	Shopping Plans	03:28
	4	Airline Pilot	04:09
	5	Bank Robber	03:35

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Canadian Indian	03:17
	2	Canadian Beaver	02:33
	3	Old Neighborhood	03:49
	4	Film Skit	03:47

Photos

Videos

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Information/Write-up

Hart & Lorne were a distinctive Canadian comedy duo whose sharp, literate humour bridged the worlds of radio, television, and recorded comedy at the close of the 1960s. Formed while both were students at the University of Toronto, the partnership paired Hart Pomerantz, a law student with a talent for sly absurdity, and Lorne Michaels (born Lorne Lipowitz), an English graduate whose restrained delivery and structural instincts grounded their satire. Together, they developed a style built on mock interviews, character-driven sketches, and gently subversive commentary on Canadian politics, culture, and identity.

The duo first gained national attention as a recurring feature on CBC Radio’s The Russ Thompson Show during the 1967–1968 season. Their weekly sketches quickly became a highlight of the program, combining wordplay, irony, and a distinctly Canadian sensibility that set them apart from broader, American-style sketch comedy. Material from those broadcasts was captured on the LP The Comedy of Hart & Lorne (1968), released by CBC/Radio-Canada. The album showcased signature pieces such as “Election Interviews,” “Bank Robber,” and “Canadian Indian,” preserving their radio work in scripted form and marking their first commercial recording.

Among their most memorable creations was the Canadian Beaver, portrayed as an anxious national emblem perpetually negotiating its relationship with the dominant American Eagle. Through characters like this, Hart & Lorne explored national self-image with humour that was pointed yet accessible, often disguising social commentary within seemingly casual dialogue. Their work was articulate rather than slapstick, relying on timing and language rather than punchlines.

In 1968, Hart & Lorne relocated to Los Angeles, where they were hired as contributing writers for American television, including Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In and The Phyllis Diller Show. The move exposed them to high-pressure network production and broadened their approach to sketch writing, experience that would soon feed back into Canadian television.

CBC invited the duo to return north to headline The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour, a fast-paced variety and sketch series broadcast during the 1970–1971 season. The show blended blackout sketches, filmed segments, and musical guests, and featured a remarkable supporting cast that included Dan Aykroyd, Andrea Martin, Victor Garber, and Paul Mooney, along with performances by contemporary singer-songwriters. Though short-lived, the series is now widely viewed as a formative step in the development of modern sketch comedy, foreshadowing both the tone and production style that Michaels would later refine.

After the series ended, the partnership gradually dissolved. Michaels returned to the United States, where he went on to create Saturday Night Live in 1975, becoming one of the most influential figures in television comedy. Pomerantz resumed his legal career while remaining a familiar presence in Canadian media, notably through television series that blended humour with legal analysis.

For a brief but influential period, Hart & Lorne occupied a critical space in Canadian comedy history, capturing a moment when national humour
-Robert Williston

All material written and performed by Hart Pomerantz and Lorne Michaels.

Cover Design by Bill Boyer

Liner notes:
“The Comedy of Hart and Lorne” is a series of skits taken from the CBC Network Radio Variety series, "The Russ Thompson Show," which ran during the 1967–68 season, of which Hart and Lorne were a weekly feature.

Both University educated, Hart Pomerantz (a practising lawyer in Toronto) and Lorne Micheals (a B.A. from the University of Toronto) started working together doing a comedy team a couple of years ago. During that time, they have appeared on many of the CBLT, Toronto television variety programs, and more recently were on CBC Radio, and are contributing writers for the “Phyllis Diller Show.”

We welcome these two distinctly Canadian comedy writers to our roster, and hope, that their first album will bring you much laughter, as it did, from your program-ming.—Dave Bird.

“The Comedy of Hart and Lorne” propose, outre les talents réels et reconnus de deux légers, des extraits de la série radiophonique “The Russ Thompson Show,” qui remporta un énorme succès à sa station émettrice, la Radio-Canada, pendant la saison 1967–68. Ces extraits ne manquent ni de qualité ni d’originalité.

Il y a quelques années, ces deux diplômés universitaires, Hart Pomerantz et Lorne Michaels entreprenaient une carrière de comiques. Depuis, ils ont parcouru un long chemin. L'idée d’unir leurs talents les décidé enfin à se produire sur la scène de divers centres, au plus grand plaisir des résidants de Toronto. Vous les avez vu à la télévision de Radio-Canada et aussi ils sont collaborateurs au “Phyllis Diller Show.”

Cet album marque leur première incursion dans le domaine des disques et nous espérons qu’il soit accueilli avec enthousiasme par les auditeurs et tout particulièrement par nos commanditaires fiers d’inclure “The Comedy of Hart and Lorne” qui apportera, il en est fait, diversité dans votre programmation.
-Dave Bird

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