- "Zooty, zoot, zoot!"
- – The Machine
Rebo & Zooty are a comedy/magic team from Earth.
The team consisted of two men, one tall (Rebo) with long brown hair dressed in a black suit with a matching black hat, and a shorter (Zooty) silent man carrying a small machine shaped like a bobblehead which speaks his thoughts. They specialize in everything from jokes to physical comedy and magic. Their trademark line was the infamous "Zooty - Zoot Zoot." Apparently, their humor is not limited to just Earth humor, for they have studied alien humor as well. This was demonstrated in 2262 when they came to Babylon 5 with Zooty telling a Minbari joke spoken in their language. The duo were immensely popular throughout Earth Alliance, guest starring on just about every popular show. Even during the Clark régime, the duo said things on their show that other people wouldn’t dare to say in public.
By the time they visited Babylon 5, they claimed to have become tired of the usual routine and be considering entering politics. Rebo even remarked that politics would be no different from what they do now and that the real comedy is in the senate, where they do one idiotic thing after another. It is not known whether they were really serious about what they said.[1]
Notes
- Sheridan, Lt. Corwin as well as G'Kar and a few other aliens were very fond of them.
- Londo Mollari didn't exactly like them, saying he didn't "get it"[2] but later told them he would watch all their shows and requested them to perform at his inauguration, then gave them advice on making Centauri laugh (advice we did not get to hear).
- Captain Lochley wasn't particularly fond of them, finding a snarky way to get around President Sheridan and away from their live show.
- Zooty is quoted as having said only two things without 'The Machine". To Rebo he once said "why" (generating an Abbot and Costello reference) and to Sheridan he whispered "because it tells me to," while pointing at "The Machine".
- They were mentioned several times throughout the series, but their sole appearance was in the episode "Day of the Dead".
- During one comedy bit, Rebo asks Zooty, "For you, fifty thousand years of Human evolution was something that happened to other people, wasn't it?" This mirrors a joke about the Renaissance in the UK television comedy, Blackadder, which was a "small tip of the hat to my friend Richard Curtis", as noted by Neil Gaiman in the book containing the script for this episode.
- Upon Rebo's entrance, he informs the customs officer on duty, "I have nothing to declare, my dear Sir, except my genius!" This is a quotation traditionally attributed to Oscar Wilde (Oscar took this quote from Victor Hugo). To which Zooty (via The Machine) states, "And I have nothing to declare except Rebo's genius either! Ha ha ha! Zooty zoot zoot zoot."
Behind the Scenes
- They were played by the well known comedy/magic duo Penn & Teller.