Before Bob & Ray, comedians told jokes. After Bob & Ray, they told stories. When they first got together in 1946 on WHDH-AM Boston, no one guessed that their subtle, intelligent, deadpan brand of humor would revolutionize the comedic landscape.

With a gift for an improvisation and a keen understanding of the absurd, Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding created a universe of wonderful characters and rewrote the rules for what’s funny. Consider any important comedy star since—Bob Newhart, Garrison Keillor, Woody Allen, Johnny Carson, George Carlin, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jerry Seinfeld—and you can hear the debt to Bob & Ray.

This collection honors the two and only with selections from their early years (1950s, ’60s, and ’70s) and public radio years (’80s), their 1984 Carnegie Hall performances, and previously unreleased archival recordings.