text:  To relieve the tedium of cubicles and calculators, he and a friend began to concoct routines of telephone calls between historical figures. When his friend left to take a job in New York, Bob Newhart kept doing the phone bits with just one side of the call. Like, say, Abraham Lincoln's PR man telling the president, next time they bug you about Grant's drinking, tell him you're going to find out what brandy drinks and send a case of it all to your other generals. Trust me, Abe, the PR man reassures a skeptical Lincoln. It's funny. Do it.