Sol Rosenberg

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Shop the official Jerky Boys Store for hilarious Sol Rosenberg merchandise. Get your favorite Sol quotes on shirts, hats, and more. Laugh out loud with Sol!

Sol Rosenberg is one of the most iconic and enduring characters in the legendary prank-call comedy universe of The Jerky Boys. Created and masterfully voiced by Johnny Brennan, Sol is the quintessential neurotic, perpetually beleaguered everyman: a frail, insecure, middle-aged to elderly New York Jewish man whose life is an endless parade of absurd calamities, comical medical mishaps, and hilariously awkward social interactions.Debuting in the early 1990s on Jerky Boys tapes and albums, Sol quickly became a fan-favorite archetype of exaggerated anxiety and misfortune. His high-pitched, tremulous voice—evoking a Woody Allen-style delivery infused with classic New York inflection—delivers lines that spiral from mundane complaints into outrageous, often explicit absurdity. Classic calls include botched eyeglasses orders leading to bizarre demands for turnstiles (to control crowds viewing his mother’s unfortunate “haycicle” incident) in Sol’s Glasses, the infamous thermometer mishap in Sol’s Thermometer Mishap, requests for a welded steel “masturbation box” in Masturbation Box, chainsaw advertisements interrupted by shocking exclamations in Sol’s Chainsaw Shock, and treatments for ailments like genital warts or even a fear of his own shadow.As described officially by The Jerky Boys, Sol suffers from “various, and often comical problems and ailments.” His childish demeanor and constant distress make him the franchise’s ultimate butt-monkey—a character to whom disaster clings like a bad suit. Signature skits such as “Sol’s Glasses,” “Sol’s Thermometer Mishap,” “Sol’s Chainsaw Shock,” “Send a Salami to Your Boy in the Army,” “Masturbation Box,” and “Sol’s Warts” showcase his signature blend of vulnerability, outrage, and sheer bewilderment, often culminating in unforgettable one-liners and sound effects that fans have quoted for decades.Sol’s influence extends far beyond the original albums. Johnny Brennan later repurposed elements of the voice and personality for the recurring Family Guy character Mort Goldman, cementing Sol’s place in broader pop-culture history. Even in more recent releases—like the 2020 revival track “Sol Rosenberg’s iRobot is Trying To Kill Him”—Sol remains a central figure, proving the timeless appeal of his frantic energy amid smart devices and modern woes.The Sol Rosenberg category in the official Jerky Boys Store celebrates this legendary character’s legacy with a curated selection of merchandise and media. Shop authentic classic audio skits (often marked [Explicit] for their raw, unfiltered humor), apparel featuring his most memorable quotes on t-shirts and hats, and playful modern reimaginings—sometimes dubbed “woke versions”—that reframe his mishaps through contemporary lenses of body positivity, consent, sustainability, and inclusivity (think titles like “Sol’s Body-Positive Beach,” “Sol’s Eyewear Dilemma,” “Self-Love Pod,” and more).Whether you’re revisiting the original prank-call gold from albums like The Jerky Boys 3, The Jerky Boys 4, or Stop Staring at Me!, or discovering fresh takes on his endless string of disasters, this category delivers the pure, laugh-out-loud essence of Sol: a man forever on the edge of catastrophe, yet somehow always ready for the next absurd phone call.Shop here to own a piece of comedy history—because with Sol Rosenberg, every mishap is classic, every complaint legendary, and every outburst guaranteed to make you laugh out loud.

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Sol’s Glasses

 

Sol’s Glasses: The Jerky Boys Classic Call Explained

Some comedy depends on punchlines.

The Jerky Boys built an empire on confusion.

From their very first classic comedy album, the Sol Rosenberg “glasses” call perfectly captures why these prank calls still hold up decades later. There are no insults, no screaming matches, and no elaborate setup. Just one man who believes his glasses are broken, and an employee slowly realizing the problem might not be the glasses at all.

Sol is certain that something is wrong with his eyesight.

The optician is certain Sol was never there.

And neither of them ever reaches the same reality.

The Setup

Sol Rosenberg calls an eyeglass store to complain that the glasses he bought are making his eyes “go crazy.” The employee politely searches their records and finds nothing. At this point, a normal caller would apologize and hang up.

Sol does not.

Instead, the story evolves. Slowly, it becomes clear he never visited the store. He went to the Empire State Building observatory and somehow associated the visit with buying glasses.

The employee tries to stay professional. Sol tries to cooperate. The conversation becomes a masterpiece of polite miscommunication.

The Call (Full Transcript)

0:00 Phone rings.

0:01 Voice 1: “Hello.”

0:02 Sol Rosenberg: “Hello.”

0:02 Voice 1: “Yes?”

0:03 Sol Rosenberg: “Yes, I bought glasses there. My name is Sol Rosenberg.”

0:05 Voice 1: “Yes.”

0:06 Sol Rosenberg: “And my eyes are going crazy.”

0:09 Voice 1: “Okay, let me pull your record card. Hold on, please.”

0:11 Sol Rosenberg: “Okay, thank you.”

0:15 Voice 1: “Mr. Rosenberg, I don’t have a record card on you. Where did you buy your glasses? You sure it was here?”

0:19 Sol Rosenberg: “Yes, I did and… do you wear glasses?”

0:22 Voice 1: “No, where did you buy ’em?”

0:24 Sol Rosenberg: “Uh, at your place there.”

0:25 Voice 1: “What address did you go to?”

0:27 Sol Rosenberg: “It’s… It’s the one right in the city there. I don’t quite remember.”

0:30 Voice 1: “Well, there’s a lot in the city, and sometimes you can get confused. I don’t have a record card on you. How long ago did you buy it here?”

0:35 Sol Rosenberg: “About four days and my eyes are going crazy.”

0:38 Voice 1: “Hey, Mr. Rosenberg, I don’t believe you bought it at this office because I’m the only one here. I don’t wear glasses, and if it was four days ago, I… I would have remembered you, and I don’t, and I don’t have a record card on you. Did you go to the…”

0:53 Sol Rosenberg: “I…”

0:53 Voice 1: “…Empire State Building?”

0:53 Sol Rosenberg: “I… I went… I went to the Empire State Buildin’ and I can’t see so good.”

0:58 Voice 1: “So… so you went to see Dr. [Inaudible 01:00]?”

1:00 Sol Rosenberg: “Yeah, but he’s an asshole. I couldn’t see so well from the Empire State Building.”

1:04 Voice 1: “When would you like to make an appointment and come in and see us?”

1:06 Sol Rosenberg: “I went to the observatory, but ’cause of these glasses, I can’t see goddammit!”

1:11 Voice 1: “Okay, would you like to come in and see us?”

1:13 Sol Rosenberg: “Sure.”

1:14 Voice 1: “Okay. We’re at 30 East 60th Street.”

1:17 Sol Rosenberg: “Thirty-five, 78th Street. Okay.”

1:19 Voice 1: “No, no, no. We’re 30… 30, three zero.”

1:23 Sol Rosenberg: “Okay.”

1:24 Voice 1: “East 60th Street.”

1:25 Sol Rosenberg: “Alright. Should I bring all my glasses with me?”

1:27 Voice 1: “No. Do you need an examination?”

1:29 Sol Rosenberg: “And all my glasses.”

1:30 Voice 1: “Mr. Rosenberg, do you need an examination?”

1:32 Sol Rosenberg: “Okay.”

1:33 Voice 1: “Do you need an examination?”

1:35 Sol Rosenberg: “Alright.”

1:35 Voice 1: “Yeah, alright. You need an appointment.”

1:38 Sol Rosenberg: “Right and sh… I’ll bring all my shoes and my… my glasses with me… so I have them.”

1:45 Voice 1: “Mr. Rosenberg.”

1:46 Sol Rosenberg: “Sure.”

1:47 Voice 1: “Do you need… do you want to see the ophthalmologist?”

1:49 Sol Rosenberg: “Right.”

1:51 Voice 1: “Do you need an appointment?”

1:52 Sol Rosenberg: “I’m sorry.”

1:53 Voice 1: “Do you need an appointment?”

1:54 Sol Rosenberg: “Okay.”

1:55 Voice 1: “Okay, hold on. I’ll have my girl make an appointment for you to see the doctor. Okay, do you have the address?”

2:01 Sol Rosenberg: “Fantastic then.”

2:02 Voice 1: “You have the address?”

2:03 Sol Rosenberg: “Yes.”

2:04 Voice 1: “Let’s see. What road?”

2:06 Sol Rosenberg: “Uh, four… I… I don’t know. You said 35-8-7?”

2:10 Voice 1: “No, 30 East 60th Street.”

2:13 Sol Rosenberg: “Thirty East 60th Street, okay. Thank you.”

2:15 Voice 1: “Oh, you need an appointment. Hold on.”

2:17 Sol Rosenberg: “Right.”

2:18 Voice 1: “Barbara.” Background noise.

2:19 Barbara: “Hello.”

2:20 Sol Rosenberg: “Hello.”

2:21 Barbara: “Hello.”

2:21 Sol Rosenberg: “Barbara?”

2:22 Barbara: “Yes, sir. I have to make an appointment with you, sir. When would you like to come in?”

2:28 Sol Rosenberg: “Whenever you want me to, honey… whatever’s good for you.”

2:32 Barbara: “Uh, you want to come in tomorrow?”

2:34 Sol Rosenberg: “Sure, if you’re free.”

2:36 Barbara: “Yes, okay. You can come in at… uh, 12 o’clock.”

2:39 Sol Rosenberg: “Okay, honey baby. Alright?”

2:43 Barbara: “Yes.”

2:44 Sol Rosenberg: “Thank you, sweetheart.”

2:46 Barbara: “You’re welcome.”

2:47 Sol Rosenberg: “Bye-bye.”

Why This Call Still Works

The comedy comes from sincerity.
Sol is not joking. He believes every word he says. The employee responds logically, which only makes the situation stranger.

That realism is why Jerky Boys prank calls still feel modern today.

The Legacy

The Jerky Boys changed comedy by proving a phone call could create a character as memorable as any film role. Sol Rosenberg became one of the most quoted personalities from the original albums, and calls like this helped define audio comedy long before podcasts existed.

And somehow, even after all these years, it still sounds like a real conversation that just went completely off the rails.

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