Hearing from her appearances on talk shows that Ellen DeGeneres considers me an influence in her early stand-up fills me with a great deal of pride. When I was starting out in stand-up, many people influenced me, including Jack Benny, George Gobel and the duo Bob and Ray. When you first do stand-up, you tend to hide behind someone else, so that it isn't you dying out there, until you develop your own voice and become confident. DeGeneres, 48, has certainly done that in a very short time, as embodied in her "Camping and Hunting" routine, my personal favorite. Benny once...
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