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.