One of the most beloved sketches from The Carol Burnett Show showcases Tim Conway’s comedic genius. In this side-splitting segment, Conway takes on the role of a newly graduated dentist who unwittingly injects himself with Novocain on his very first day on the job, while Harvey Korman plays the unwitting patient in need of treatment.
As Harvey enters the dental office with a throbbing toothache, the assistant divulges that he’ll be attended to by the freshly graduated dentist. She mentions, “You’re his very first patient,” adding a note of caution due to the dentist’s potential nerves. Harvey humorously responds, “He won’t be the only one,” aptly capturing the anxiety of both sides.
Tim Conway’s dentist character is palpably jittery upon seeing his inaugural patient seated in the waiting room. The patient conveys his agony, pleading, “I want you to do something to stop the pain. Either fill the tooth or pull it.” The dentist, with comedic honesty, admits, “See in dental school, in filling and pulling, I only got C’s. I was just kind of an average grade,” going on to amusingly suggest, “You want me to clean it for you?”
As the skit unfolds, Harvey eventually consents to the dentist’s average grades and entrusts him with the task. The hilarity escalates as the dentist divulges that he cheated on his final exam and repeatedly attempts to convince the patient of his ineptitude. The pinnacle of humor arrives when the dentist, after consulting a manual book, mistakenly injects Novocain into his own hand, then his thigh, numbing both appendages. The ensuing scene of chaos and slapstick laughter is a masterpiece of comedic timing.
Interestingly, this uproarious dentist skit draws inspiration from a real-life dental mishap experienced by Tim Conway during his military service. Before pursuing a career in comedy, Conway served as a soldier and encountered a mishap at the dentist’s office on the base. A true story recounted to Conan O’Brien reveals that a novocaine jab accidentally punctured Tim’s cheek and went through to the dentist’s thumb. The reimagining of this personal tale for the sketch is a testament to Conway’s comedic brilliance, bringing joy to audiences just as much as the original mishap must have amused him.