@kenshirriff I have some of his stand-up on CD. Lincoln's press agent opens with "Hey, Abe baby! How ya doin?"
He used to do a two-hand act, but the other guy wasn't ready to go pro, so Newhart rewrote their routines into one-sided telephone calls.
I highly recommend stand-up by Andy Griffith ("Romeo and Juliet"), and the classic Nichols and May (they invented improv comedy). Nichols directed "The Graduate", Elaine May did "Birdcage". Ferocious talents, and mostly forgotten.