WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — After Sarah Little watched her former boss of 20 years, Sen. Pat Roberts, deliver his farewell speech on the Senate floor Dec. 10 after 40 years in Congress, she left a voicemail to express her appreciation.

Later that day, she got a call from a man claiming to be Wally Ballou. Little knew immediately who it was.

Wally Ballou was a creation of Bob and Ray, a radio comedy team whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1980s. Roberts, a former journalist, adopted Ballou, a bumbling "man on the street" reporter, as his alias when he'd call his office and pose as an angry const...