Disinformation. They are represemted in The Baseball Hall of Fame Museum, but TH-cam personell idiotically don' t understand the distinction between disinformation and misinformation and only have the ability to report misinformation. Yet then again neither dies the general public. Anyway, I reported this commebt as misinformation since the actual correct reporting of disinformation is non-existant.']
@@sheilah8516 From a Google search: Abbott and Costello are not “in the Hall of Fame,” as inductees, but rather their work is in the Museum and the Library. 2. It is far from the truth that they “had nothing to do with baseball,” as this comedy routine is among the most popular and beloved segments of American popular culture.
Fun fact: In the beginning of the skit, the gentleman who hands them the props is a guy named Mel Blanc. He was a cast member on such shows as Abbott and Costello and The Jack Benny Show (another comedian of the time). He eventually became famous as the voice actor who brought Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and so many others to life.
There's a documentary on Blanc somewhere on YT. I knew he did a lot of work back then, but the truth is that he did a TON of work. Apparently he walked from studio to studio doing shows and voice recordings all the time. He had to have been making serious bank off his high demand.
@@fermisparadox01oh, so many. He was Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons, Captain Caveman, Yosemite Sam (my personal favorite 🙂), the list goes on for awhile. He even did the sound effect of Jack Benny's automobile. He's considered by many to be the greatest voice actor ever.
No this is not random. This is a practiced skit which they are famous for. They first performed it on radio then brought it to the stage. They were supporting actors in the movie, One Night In the Tropics, and performed this skit along with some of their other skits and were signed to a 2 year movie deal. There Abbott and Costello started out as a Burlesque comedy duo and appeared on Vaudeville, film, radio, and television. They had their own tv show and made many movies together.
My understanding is that they started out separately in Burlesque, but once they teamed up they were able to moved up to Vaudeville where they became famous for this "Who's On First" bit. There's a couple of other things of theirs can be found here on TH-cam.
I'll object to "first radio, then stage", since they performed in burlesque and Vaudeville, which are stage media. They were among the best successes in transitioning from Vaudeville to radio, TV, and film. "Talkies", i.e. film with sound, became more popular than Vaudeville and killed it. Europe has its own tradition equivalent to Vaudeville--touring live performance, going back many centuries.
I think I heard that they did not originate the skit. The baseball skit origins is lost in the history of Vaudeville and the writer(s) of it is now unknown. Abbot & Costello did the skit in Vaudeville and brought it from the stage to radio and film. Their version is the best and it now belongs to them indelibly.
It is classic. Almost everybody in America has seen it multiple times and laughed just as hard each time. It is so classic it is the Baseball Hall of Fame.
You better believe it. You can't just do it, you have to think 2 lines ahead WHILE still talking at full pace. It doable, but you both have to be on your game.
I've seen 4 separate videos of this skit. They are all a somewhat different. In one Lou asks when will you tell me the name of a player then asks about the pitcher
Especially since messing it up on Lou’s part would only require 1 look of comprehension about Hu(Who), or any of the other players. Also why punctuation and voice inflection matters.
You have to understand that they have been together so long their timing is absolutely brilliant. They make it look effortless. You are witnessing comedic genius!!!
It wasn't random. They performed this skit many times in countless venues over many decades. It never gets old and expanse generations, bringing laughter to all ages. I am 80 and I still have not grown tired of hearing these two talented men even though I was a child when I first heard it on the radio.
A story goes that a Japanese player named Hu made it to first base in a game. The announcer was excited to finally be able to say that Hu was on first.
As a kid in grade school, my buddy and I did this bit in the talent show. My God it was hard to get right, and even harder than that NOT to laugh every second we were trying to memorize it all.
This is just like listening to my grandparents over dinner!! What’s even funnier is that he ended up mostly deaf and God bless her. She ended up 90% blind. Those conversations were even funnier!! She kept telling him to turn down the television and he kept pretending he couldn’t hear her replying “WHAAT?!” and she’d ask him to turn down the tv again and he’d respond, “WHAAAT??!!” then she’d usually say “if you’d turn down the tv you could hear me!!” And then she’d finally leave the room… then he look at us kids and laugh and laugh!! They were perfect together!!♥️♥️They were married for 68 years before he passed. They were a beautiful couple!!! And I bet conversations like this are still going on in Heaven!! I love you, grandma and grandpa!!!♥️👴🏻 ♥️👵🏻♥️
"Who's On First" has gone down in comedic history as one of the best comedy routines of all time. Bud Abbott (the straight guy) and Lou Costello have been gone for many decades, but their simple clean humor lives on. Refreshing, isn't it?
Listen how fast and well-rehearsed they are! I had to show this reaction to my father, who grew up with this comedy. It's fast, it's funny, it's "punny," and it doesn't belittle anyone but themselves. Pure comedy. Love it!
Abbott and Costello are hysterical. They did movies - check out Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. My favorite movie of theirs was The Time of Their Lives.
I soooo miss watching these guys on Sunday afternoons back in the 70s. This was one of the BEST TV SHOWS OF ALL TIME!! Abbott n Costello meet the mummy , werewolf, In the army now ... 😅😅😅😂😂😊❤❤❤ and soo many more ❤❤❤
I and a friend memorized & performed this sketch for a church dessert theater many years ago. Took TONS of playing/rewinding of an old cassette tape to learn it. Got plenty of laffs!
Love this skit! I grew up in the '60's and '70's and watched their show in reruns every Sunday after church. They are icons of comedy! Their movies were great too!
Abbott and Costello had done this skit so much and it was so frequently requested that they could make it seem spontaneous and add new twists and not miss a beat!
They were really doing a benefit performance for The Retired Actor's Home. The audience knew the routine, and it was the one they wanted to hear...so the one guy DID bring the props on the hopes they would ask what the audience wanted to see.
I'm 39 and I grew up watching abbott and costellos shows movies and skits and everything I watch even now I end up crying cause I laugh so hard.. I will forever love them.. their show are rehearsed but executed effortlessly.. amazing comedians.. forever my favorites
My grandpa had this on laser disc and I watched this and other movies of them. It was hilarious. This was in the 80’s and I was only 8. Silly comedy was just right for me at the time and they hit a home run.
They had their own show back in the day doing skits. Even better, they did monster movies with comedy. I think the best one was Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein because it also has the werewolf and mummy in it. Bud Abbott is the tall guy, and Lou Costello is the chubby guy. He started a club for inner city kids, and they both stayed friends the rest of their lives.
Abbott and Costello were most famous for this comedy routine. It's one of the most iconic comedy skits of all time. There are occasionally cultural references to it or imitations of it so it's a good piece of entertainment history to know.
Two of America's greatest comedians, The Abbott and Costello Show 1952-1957 and numerous Movies, I grew up watching 👀 them in the 50's and 60's, "Abbott and Costello meets Frankenstein" a Classic😅 Peace ✌️ Gary 😊 great reaction 🤣
Abbott and Costello were absolutely legendary comedians almost completely based on this routine. They did several movies, but this is true genius. Thanks for the reaction.
The "who's on first" bit had already been performed by Abbott and Costello numerous times, and was pretty famous by the time this was filmed. You can even hear a couple people in the audience specifically request "who's on first" after the first person says "baseball"
Yes it was a live performance and my dad loved this skit he even got a tea shirt with all the players on it.. look them up for other skits. Keep safe all 🥰🥰🥰🥰💖💖💖🙏🙏🙏🙏
Yep, that was a skit by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. It was done many multiple times for audiences all over the country. Relating to your comment about the seemingly different roles the two played off each other, it was (and still is) a common thing to have a duo comedy pair with one being the silly, slapstick-type and the other being the no nonsense type. A couple of other examples from the early days of TV and movies, in the order of silly 1st and no nonsense 2nd, were: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy; Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. More recent examples are: Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder; Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong; Chris Farley and David Spade; Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele; and Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller, to name just a few.
Abbott and Costello are the perfect examples of the comedy duo that use "the straight man" and "the funny man." Just like the Smother Brothers, many others, and to an extent, Penn and Teller. This was rehearsed into perfection. This sketch alone has been a building block for comedians everywhere.
Abbott & Costello hit with this routine, later known as "Baseball", in 1937 in a live touring theater variety show called Hollywood Bandwagon, part of the vaudeville theater circuit. They performed it for a national radio audience for the first time on The Kate Smith Hour in 1938. Lou Costello said it was based on a crosstalk routine from minstrel shows in the early 20th century called "Who's the Boss". There was also a British comedian, Will Hay, who performed a crosstalk routine in the early 1930s in music halls, in which he's a teacher talking to a schoolboy named Howe who used to live in Ware but since moved to Wye. You can imagine.
The Marx Brothers also did crosstalk routines in all their movies although none of them were as long or complicated as Who's on First.. They were between Groucho as the straight man and Chico as the comic.
I'm 75 and these guys were big when I was a child. They were considered brilliant and had to be just to remember that routine, which they began doing on the radio. BTW, this was a script they created and memorized the routine.
Abbott and Costello were a comedy team in America from the 1940s and 1950s. They came out of the burlesque theater era, then radio and finally had a TV show towards the end of their careers. i remember may happy times watching them as a kid.
This is your first time seeing this? I'm so happy for you. This is absolutely the best joke ever, and I'm 50. I'd love to be able to see it again for the first time. Although there were paid actors in the crowd and this was rehearsed instead of off-the-cuff. But that doesn't make it less brilliant.
I love these kinds of videos because I feel like I'm watching something I've seen a hundred times with someone who's just now seeing it the first time and it feels great
This is the perfect example of comedy that stands the test of time. They first performed this sketch in 1938 on the radio. Nearly a century later, and it still slays. Even if you're hearing it for the 100th time.
When I was in college back in the dark ages as my son calls it, the 70’s, our college president and the dean did this routine at our variety show. It brought down the house!
The routine had been practiced for decades, which is why the audience could request it. What's amazing is that Abbott, the straight man, could keep those deadpan answers.
They started out on the Vaudeville circuit, roughly equivalent to your Music Halls. They follow the well established arrangement of comedy duos, a straight man and a funny man.
Thisis the only skit that's in the baseball hall of fame, it's played continuously. these two first played this in the movie (1945) The Naughty Nineties
I've seen this countless times, growing up. When i was going through training to be a police dispatcher, they made us watch this to show the importance of clear communication. 🤣
I'm happy you're finally introduced to these two, but also sad that so many reactors have never known the joy that was Abbott & Costello. In my youth there were two comedy duos often mentioned: Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello. There were other great duos, but these stood out. These guys were masters of word play comedy. "Who's On First" was their best, but there were several others. My favorite was their one abusing race horse terminology. I've not checked but its possible that some of the other word-play routines have been posted to TH-cam. The pair also had a 1950s TV series, which I believe this clip comes from, frequently did radio (some recordings of which survive) and did several movies as well, many of them pairing the duo with a Universal Studios monster like Frankenstein or the Mummy.
11:49 Mark! 19,146 Views + Mine! 🎉 2.8K Thumbs Up + Mine! 👍 You're welcome, and thanks! 😊 Notes: Seeing that "McDonald's" cup made my stomach growl! Payday is on the 24th, though. Ugh. I only have water for now. I have the LP ("Long Playing") vinyl record album of either their "Greatest Hits" or "The Best of..." that is recorded from their radio show. 😊 What you heard and saw was the sanitized for television version. The more adult version uses "I Don't Give A Damn" instead! 😮 Bye-bye for now. 🙏
This is very well scripted act that they rehearsed exhaustively. Scripted, but delivered entirely in one take with no cut-aways or cue cards. Amazing. A favorite; great choice and excellent review!
I'm not sure I'd call this "scripted", so much as "outlined". I've heard or seen three different recordings of this skit, and they are all very different from each other.
Comedy Gold!! This is a classic routine I knew about for most of my young life before I finally watched it when I was about 12 or 13 and it was hilarious. (By the way - no this was not ad lib'd - it was rehearsed). Future suggestion: "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" with Bela Lugosi reprising his role as Count Dracula - just awesome!! Another by the way - 1940's American shows and movie had a lot of fast talkers - it was a fad at that time.
There were parodies of this as well. My favorites: From the comedy troupe The Credibility Gap, about booking rock groups (actual names!) From The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (playing president Reagan) and from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K), a "host segment" about Japanese theater (Noh).
You remind me that once at a cast party for an amateur theatre group I was involved in, I saw some talented friends improvise a scene involving the villainous "Dr. No" and his adversary "Mr. Yes." It was nowhere near as elaborate as "Who's on First," but it took clever advantage of the possibilities for wordplay involving the teo names.
My kids love Abbott and Costello. I showed them a few of their movies and they think it’s wild how movie makeup has changed. I recommend you watch Abbott and Costello meet Dracula. Also there’s a video floating around of some kids doing a Shakespeare twist on this gig. It’s just as funny.
Watch their movie “The Naughty Nineties” it contains the entire who’s on first routine. Plus it’s a funny old movie. The “Who’s on First Routine” is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
I was sooo young remembering this and the Three Stooges. I got 3 rat boys for free with cage. They are Moe, Curly and Shemp. I always forget the fourth Stooge. Yes there were four as one passed away or something. Can’t remember exactly. Can’t remember right now the 4th Stooge 😢 LARRY. ❤ the stooges and that’s my 3 rat boys names!
This is not random. I think this particular bit might have been done live for the actual retired actors home as a benefit or fundraiser. But "Who is on First" is one of the most famous comedic bits in American history. Abbot and Costello were a comedy duo, and everyone knows this routine. There's another one of their routines that you can find online about paying rent that's also pretty good. Though I'd really direct you to Animaniacs, which had a bit between Slappy Squirrel and her nephew Skippy called "Who is on Stage" that was a great homage to this one, but using the names of '60s bands.
Hey L3W, hope you are enjoying your vacay! Abbott and Costello are comedy legends from the 1930s - 1950s. In the 1930s, they were doing vaudville and radio broadcasts. In the 1940s & 50s, they got into movies. Some of your reactions to horror reminds me of them in a way if you watch their "horror" movies you will see. They aren't scary, but extremely comical. Catch on your lives when you get back. Wakela Runen (the one you call Lauren on Twitch).
It's called a "Routine, bit or skit". Comedy acts perform routines that they write before hand. Abbot and Costello were very Famous for their acts and their movies from the 30s and 40s and into the 50s. The speed with which this woks is so amazing and they never messed it up anytime I have ever heard it. you might want to watch the MARX BROTHERS and Moe Larry and Curly. I showed this bit to my son when he was about ten in 1992 and he laughed hysterically. It is one of his favorite comedy skits.
These guys made a bunch of movies as a comedy team. They were one of the best thru the 40s and 50s. Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein is one of they're funniest.
As a child in the 70’s I would wake up around 3 or 4 am and watch the reruns of these guys.. I still love watching them, they have made many movies like “Abbot and Costello meet the mummy”.. the best comedy
I'm 71 and I never get sick of this classic! "Who's on First?" is anything but random my Brit friend. Abbott and Costello performed it first in vaudeville, then on radio, then the movie The Naughty Nineties" and finally on television. I believe this clip is from their TV series. This brilliantly conceived routine is considered by most comedians to be the best in the history of comedy. It's even been inducted into our National Baseball Hall of Fame! Pure genius.
Seventy years on and this skit is still comedy gold.
80+ years for this recording, and 90+ for the earlier versions of this routine
That's how you know it's a timeless classic.
It always brings a smile to my face, and at least one chuckle. If I'm awake and really into comedy I just can't stop laughing.
'Naturally' is like saying 'of course'
This is one of the greatest comedic acts in US history
Totally agree with you 👍 💯!!!!
Could easily be argued that it IS the best of all time.
THE Greatest 🙂
Abbott and Costello were inducted into the baseball hall of fame because of this routine!!!!😂😂😂😂
No they weren't. IT plays at the HOF
Great fact, thanks
Disinformation. They are represemted in The Baseball Hall of Fame Museum, but TH-cam personell idiotically don' t understand the distinction between disinformation and misinformation and only have the ability to report misinformation. Yet then again neither dies the general public. Anyway, I reported this commebt as misinformation since the actual correct reporting of disinformation is non-existant.']
@@chrischar9428 Abbott & Costello were inducted into the baseball HOF in 1956 along with a recording of this bit which is on continuous play.
@@sheilah8516 From a Google search: Abbott and Costello are not “in the Hall of Fame,” as inductees, but rather their work is in the Museum and the Library. 2. It is far from the truth that they “had nothing to do with baseball,” as this comedy routine is among the most popular and beloved segments of American popular culture.
Fun fact: In the beginning of the skit, the gentleman who hands them the props is a guy named Mel Blanc. He was a cast member on such shows as Abbott and Costello and The Jack Benny Show (another comedian of the time). He eventually became famous as the voice actor who brought Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and so many others to life.
There's a documentary on Blanc somewhere on YT. I knew he did a lot of work back then, but the truth is that he did a TON of work. Apparently he walked from studio to studio doing shows and voice recordings all the time. He had to have been making serious bank off his high demand.
Barney Rubble, Elmer Fudd
I didn't know that was Mel Blanc, such a huge talent, thanks for the info!
@@fermisparadox01oh, so many. He was Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons, Captain Caveman, Yosemite Sam (my personal favorite 🙂), the list goes on for awhile. He even did the sound effect of Jack Benny's automobile. He's considered by many to be the greatest voice actor ever.
You're very welcome. I'm old enough to remember him from Abbott and Costello, The Jack Benny Show and Burns and Allen. Lucky me. 🙂
No this is not random. This is a practiced skit which they are famous for. They first performed it on radio then brought it to the stage. They were supporting actors in the movie, One Night In the Tropics, and performed this skit along with some of their other skits and were signed to a 2 year movie deal. There Abbott and Costello started out as a Burlesque comedy duo and appeared on Vaudeville, film, radio, and television. They had their own tv show and made many movies together.
I'm sure they sent kids and grandkids to college on this skit!
My understanding is that they started out separately in Burlesque, but once they teamed up they were able to moved up to Vaudeville where they became famous for this "Who's On First" bit. There's a couple of other things of theirs can be found here on TH-cam.
@@DoyleRichards-v1l Correct. They initially had other comedy partners before they were paired together and comedy gold was born.
I'll object to "first radio, then stage", since they performed in burlesque and Vaudeville, which are stage media. They were among the best successes in transitioning from Vaudeville to radio, TV, and film. "Talkies", i.e. film with sound, became more popular than Vaudeville and killed it. Europe has its own tradition equivalent to Vaudeville--touring live performance, going back many centuries.
I think I heard that they did not originate the skit. The baseball skit origins is lost in the history of Vaudeville and the writer(s) of it is now unknown. Abbot & Costello did the skit in Vaudeville and brought it from the stage to radio and film. Their version is the best and it now belongs to them indelibly.
That was a live event, but the “who’s on first” bit was already famous by then so the audience requested it.
Yep, it was a skit request from the audience.
Thank you Lewis. I haven't seen Abbott and Costello in a long time. Glad you enjoyed the laughs 😂😂🤣🤣
It is classic. Almost everybody in America has seen it multiple times and laughed just as hard each time. It is so classic it is the Baseball Hall of Fame.
That is one of the most difficult bits to pull off without messing up.
You better believe it. You can't just do it, you have to think 2 lines ahead WHILE still talking at full pace. It doable, but you both have to be on your game.
@@EvHervey 100% truth
I've seen 4 separate videos of this skit. They are all a somewhat different. In one Lou asks when will you tell me the name of a player then asks about the pitcher
Rainman did it.
Especially since messing it up on Lou’s part would only require 1 look of comprehension about Hu(Who), or any of the other players. Also why punctuation and voice inflection matters.
Lewis, I'm so happy you enjoyed this !! Especially considering it's almost 100 years old now. This is genuine, honest to God comedy. 😅
You have to understand that they have been together so long their timing is absolutely brilliant. They make it look effortless. You are witnessing comedic genius!!!
It wasn't random. They performed this skit many times in countless venues over many decades. It never gets old and expanse generations, bringing laughter to all ages. I am 80 and I still have not grown tired of hearing these two talented men even though I was a child when I first heard it on the radio.
That makes 2 of us!😜
"Abbott and Costello" have a skit, 7 times 13 equal 28. Very funny!
Testing your math skills since 1945.
I really loved that one- everything they did was great!
another ICONIS skit....just hilarious
Id love to see him react to it!
I was going to suggest this as well
A story goes that a Japanese player named Hu made it to first base in a game. The announcer was excited to finally be able to say that Hu was on first.
I've got a picture of Hu with his foot on first base.
I need to see if that’s on TH-cam too!
It'd have been amusing if they'd had ajother one 2nd base named Watt
Yeah that was so funny.
it IS on youtube....its a fact!
As a kid in grade school, my buddy and I did this bit in the talent show. My God it was hard to get right, and even harder than that NOT to laugh every second we were trying to memorize it all.
This is just like listening to my grandparents over dinner!! What’s even funnier is that he ended up mostly deaf and God bless her. She ended up 90% blind. Those conversations were even funnier!! She kept telling him to turn down the television and he kept pretending he couldn’t hear her replying “WHAAT?!” and she’d ask him to turn down the tv again and he’d respond, “WHAAAT??!!”
then she’d usually say “if you’d turn down the tv you could hear me!!” And then she’d finally leave the room… then he look at us kids and laugh and laugh!! They were perfect together!!♥️♥️They were married for 68 years before he passed. They were a beautiful couple!!! And I bet conversations like this are still going on in Heaven!! I love you, grandma and grandpa!!!♥️👴🏻 ♥️👵🏻♥️
"Who's On First" has gone down in comedic history as one of the best comedy routines of all time. Bud Abbott (the straight guy) and Lou Costello have been gone for many decades, but their simple clean humor lives on. Refreshing, isn't it?
Listen how fast and well-rehearsed they are! I had to show this reaction to my father, who grew up with this comedy. It's fast, it's funny, it's "punny," and it doesn't belittle anyone but themselves. Pure comedy. Love it!
Abbott and Costello are hysterical. They did movies - check out Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. My favorite movie of theirs was The Time of Their Lives.
That one is my fave too!!!!
My favorite too!
Revolutionary ghost Lou, loved it.
So good!!!
I soooo miss watching these guys on Sunday afternoons back in the 70s. This was one of the BEST TV SHOWS OF ALL TIME!! Abbott n Costello meet the mummy , werewolf, In the army now ... 😅😅😅😂😂😊❤❤❤ and soo many more ❤❤❤
I and a friend memorized & performed this sketch for a church dessert theater many years ago. Took TONS of playing/rewinding of an old cassette tape to learn it. Got plenty of laffs!
Love this skit! I grew up in the '60's and '70's and watched their show in reruns every Sunday after church. They are icons of comedy! Their movies were great too!
Abbott and Costello had done this skit so much and it was so frequently requested that they could make it seem spontaneous and add new twists and not miss a beat!
They were really doing a benefit performance for The Retired Actor's Home. The audience knew the routine, and it was the one they wanted to hear...so the one guy DID bring the props on the hopes they would ask what the audience wanted to see.
I'm 39 and I grew up watching abbott and costellos shows movies and skits and everything I watch even now I end up crying cause I laugh so hard.. I will forever love them.. their show are rehearsed but executed effortlessly.. amazing comedians.. forever my favorites
This is slapstick comedy😂 they had a style that was just funny. We will never get that kind of comedy again.
My grandpa had this on laser disc and I watched this and other movies of them. It was hilarious. This was in the 80’s and I was only 8. Silly comedy was just right for me at the time and they hit a home run.
They had their own show back in the day doing skits. Even better, they did monster movies with comedy. I think the best one was Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein because it also has the werewolf and mummy in it. Bud Abbott is the tall guy, and Lou Costello is the chubby guy. He started a club for inner city kids, and they both stayed friends the rest of their lives.
You need to watch Guzzler gin by Red Skeleton..
Every Sunday morning at 11:30 - 1 PM were the movies. Abbott and Costello meet the.....
Abbott and Costello were most famous for this comedy routine. It's one of the most iconic comedy skits of all time. There are occasionally cultural references to it or imitations of it so it's a good piece of entertainment history to know.
Two of America's greatest comedians, The Abbott and Costello Show 1952-1957 and numerous Movies, I grew up watching 👀 them in the 50's and 60's, "Abbott and Costello meets Frankenstein" a Classic😅 Peace ✌️ Gary 😊 great reaction 🤣
Abbott and Costello were absolutely legendary comedians almost completely based on this routine. They did several movies, but this is true genius. Thanks for the reaction.
Love seeing your reaction! A lot and Costello are awesome. Try watching Tim Conway and Harvey Korman’s skit “The Dentist”!
The "who's on first" bit had already been performed by Abbott and Costello numerous times, and was pretty famous by the time this was filmed. You can even hear a couple people in the audience specifically request "who's on first" after the first person says "baseball"
Yes it was a live performance and my dad loved this skit he even got a tea shirt with all the players on it.. look them up for other skits. Keep safe all 🥰🥰🥰🥰💖💖💖🙏🙏🙏🙏
Yep, that was a skit by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. It was done many multiple times for audiences all over the country. Relating to your comment about the seemingly different roles the two played off each other, it was (and still is) a common thing to have a duo comedy pair with one being the silly, slapstick-type and the other being the no nonsense type. A couple of other examples from the early days of TV and movies, in the order of silly 1st and no nonsense 2nd, were: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy; Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. More recent examples are: Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder; Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong; Chris Farley and David Spade; Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele; and Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller, to name just a few.
Abbott and Costello are the perfect examples of the comedy duo that use "the straight man" and "the funny man." Just like the Smother Brothers, many others, and to an extent, Penn and Teller.
This was rehearsed into perfection. This sketch alone has been a building block for comedians everywhere.
I haven't heard "Who's on first" in years! Still as hilarious as the first time! 😂😂
This still cracks me up!
I love watching old, classic, shows and movies. It’s still entertaining and I like experiencing and getting to know by gone eras.
They are funny. I have a lot of their movies. My favorite movies are "The Time of Their Lives" & "Hold That Ghost".
This was one of their normal routines that they were famous for 😅🤣😂🤣😂!! It's what we call oldies but goodies 😉 ❤!!!
Abbott & Costello hit with this routine, later known as "Baseball", in 1937 in a live touring theater variety show called Hollywood Bandwagon, part of the vaudeville theater circuit. They performed it for a national radio audience for the first time on The Kate Smith Hour in 1938. Lou Costello said it was based on a crosstalk routine from minstrel shows in the early 20th century called "Who's the Boss". There was also a British comedian, Will Hay, who performed a crosstalk routine in the early 1930s in music halls, in which he's a teacher talking to a schoolboy named Howe who used to live in Ware but since moved to Wye. You can imagine.
The Marx Brothers also did crosstalk routines in all their movies although none of them were as long or complicated as Who's on First.. They were between Groucho as the straight man and Chico as the comic.
It was pure gold!! Thanks
In America when there is a bit of confusion going on it isnt unlikely to hear someone say "its like who's on first around here."
As I’ve seen this at least a hundred times, watching Lewis watch it for the first time was gold!!!
I haven't heard this one in years!!! Love those two
YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE TWO A TRUE CLASSIC ❤❤❤
I'm 75 and these guys were big when I was a child. They were considered brilliant and had to be just to remember that routine, which they began doing on the radio. BTW, this was a script they created and memorized the routine.
Abbott and Costello were a comedy team in America from the 1940s and 1950s. They came out of the burlesque theater era, then radio and finally had a TV show towards the end of their careers. i remember may happy times watching them as a kid.
This is your first time seeing this? I'm so happy for you. This is absolutely the best joke ever, and I'm 50. I'd love to be able to see it again for the first time.
Although there were paid actors in the crowd and this was rehearsed instead of off-the-cuff. But that doesn't make it less brilliant.
I remember watching this with my dad. Freaking awesome, there will never be anyone like these
They’re no Laurel and Hardy 🤷🏻♂️
@@Desmond.TuTu. I know, they are Abbott & Costello, it say's who they are
This is a practiced routine, but performed live and they occasionally respond to the audience reaction.
OMG...l watched all the sketches by these two guys when I was a child. They were so funny. Back in those days, comedy was in front of a live audience.
CLASSIC Sketch!
80 years and an entire ocean away and this is still funny AF.
thats comdey gold right there !
I love these kinds of videos because I feel like I'm watching something I've seen a hundred times with someone who's just now seeing it the first time and it feels great
"Who's on first" is an American classic, that's one of just of many of there acts. I love that they have no script
Abbott and Costello are hilarious
This is the perfect example of comedy that stands the test of time. They first performed this sketch in 1938 on the radio. Nearly a century later, and it still slays. Even if you're hearing it for the 100th time.
When I was in college back in the dark ages as my son calls it, the 70’s, our college president and the dean did this routine at our variety show. It brought down the house!
The routine had been practiced for decades, which is why the audience could request it. What's amazing is that Abbott, the straight man, could keep those deadpan answers.
They started out on the Vaudeville circuit, roughly equivalent to your Music Halls. They follow the well established arrangement of comedy duos, a straight man and a funny man.
Watching your reaction was PRICELESS!😂😂😂
Classic skit. Love this! More comedy plz!
Thisis the only skit that's in the baseball hall of fame, it's played continuously. these two first played this in the movie (1945) The Naughty Nineties
LOL!! I’ve seen this skit a million times!! I STILL laugh out loud everytime I watch it!!😂😂😂
I've seen this countless times, growing up. When i was going through training to be a police dispatcher, they made us watch this to show the importance of clear communication. 🤣
I'm happy you're finally introduced to these two, but also sad that so many reactors have never known the joy that was Abbott & Costello. In my youth there were two comedy duos often mentioned: Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello. There were other great duos, but these stood out. These guys were masters of word play comedy. "Who's On First" was their best, but there were several others. My favorite was their one abusing race horse terminology. I've not checked but its possible that some of the other word-play routines have been posted to TH-cam. The pair also had a 1950s TV series, which I believe this clip comes from, frequently did radio (some recordings of which survive) and did several movies as well, many of them pairing the duo with a Universal Studios monster like Frankenstein or the Mummy.
This is my favorite of all their skits. You might want to check out (Stan) Laurel & (Oliver) Hardy too.
11:49 Mark! 19,146 Views + Mine! 🎉 2.8K Thumbs Up + Mine! 👍 You're welcome, and thanks! 😊
Notes: Seeing that "McDonald's" cup made my stomach growl! Payday is on the 24th, though. Ugh. I only have water for now.
I have the LP ("Long Playing") vinyl record album of either their "Greatest Hits" or "The Best of..." that is recorded from their radio show. 😊
What you heard and saw was the sanitized for television version. The more adult version uses "I Don't Give A Damn" instead! 😮
Bye-bye for now. 🙏
A couple of comedy Legends , watched them growing up
My 6th grade teacher had us do this routine once. Honestly, the wit was wasted on us, but it was still fun.
These guys were in Vaudeville performing on stage before moving up to movies in Hollywood. They're classics.
Your reaction is much like mine when I first saw it as a kid before school age. My Dad was laughing the same way!
Love to see people see this routine for the first time in their life!!
This is very well scripted act that they rehearsed exhaustively. Scripted, but delivered entirely in one take with no cut-aways or cue cards. Amazing. A favorite; great choice and excellent review!
I'm not sure I'd call this "scripted", so much as "outlined". I've heard or seen three different recordings of this skit, and they are all very different from each other.
Legends. And this is definitely a classic comic routine
They did this skit thousands of times!! That is why they are so good!!
Dude, you have to watch some of their movies, such as Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein. Truly hysterical
Comedy Gold!! This is a classic routine I knew about for most of my young life before I finally watched it when I was about 12 or 13 and it was hilarious. (By the way - no this was not ad lib'd - it was rehearsed). Future suggestion: "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" with Bela Lugosi reprising his role as Count Dracula - just awesome!! Another by the way - 1940's American shows and movie had a lot of fast talkers - it was a fad at that time.
I don't know how they did this.
I would've messed up sooo many times 😂😂😂
There were parodies of this as well. My favorites:
From the comedy troupe The Credibility Gap, about booking rock groups (actual names!)
From The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (playing president Reagan)
and from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K), a "host segment" about Japanese theater (Noh).
You remind me that once at a cast party for an amateur theatre group I was involved in, I saw some talented friends improvise a scene involving the villainous "Dr. No" and his adversary "Mr. Yes." It was nowhere near as elaborate as "Who's on First," but it took clever advantage of the possibilities for wordplay involving the teo names.
Bro, you gotta watch their movies! Africa Screams is hysterical!!
My kids love Abbott and Costello. I showed them a few of their movies and they think it’s wild how movie makeup has changed. I recommend you watch Abbott and Costello meet Dracula. Also there’s a video floating around of some kids doing a Shakespeare twist on this gig. It’s just as funny.
Watch their movie “The Naughty Nineties” it contains the entire who’s on first routine. Plus it’s a funny old movie. The “Who’s on First Routine” is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
I've heard them (and others doing some variation on it) do this routine dozens of times over the years. I still laugh.
In the movie Rainman, Raymond is obsessed with this skit.
It was a famous set routine that they did. Funny every time I watch it.
This is pure genius.
It never gets old 😂😂
I was sooo young remembering this and the Three Stooges. I got 3 rat boys for free with cage. They are Moe, Curly and Shemp. I always forget the fourth Stooge. Yes there were four as one passed away or something. Can’t remember exactly. Can’t remember right now the 4th Stooge 😢 LARRY. ❤ the stooges and that’s my 3 rat boys names!
😂😂😂
You gotta check out "who's line is it anyway"! Especially when Robin Williams was a guest
😂😂😂
This is not random. I think this particular bit might have been done live for the actual retired actors home as a benefit or fundraiser. But "Who is on First" is one of the most famous comedic bits in American history. Abbot and Costello were a comedy duo, and everyone knows this routine.
There's another one of their routines that you can find online about paying rent that's also pretty good.
Though I'd really direct you to Animaniacs, which had a bit between Slappy Squirrel and her nephew Skippy called "Who is on Stage" that was a great homage to this one, but using the names of '60s bands.
Hey L3W, hope you are enjoying your vacay! Abbott and Costello are comedy legends from the 1930s - 1950s. In the 1930s, they were doing vaudville and radio broadcasts. In the 1940s & 50s, they got into movies. Some of your reactions to horror reminds me of them in a way if you watch their "horror" movies you will see. They aren't scary, but extremely comical.
Catch on your lives when you get back. Wakela Runen (the one you call Lauren on Twitch).
This routine is a classic. They use to have a half hour comedy show on TV.
... yeah .. they lived at mr. field's boarding house .. lol
It's called a "Routine, bit or skit". Comedy acts perform routines that they write before hand. Abbot and Costello were very Famous for their acts and their movies from the 30s and 40s and into the 50s. The speed with which this woks is so amazing and they never messed it up anytime I have ever heard it.
you might want to watch the MARX BROTHERS and Moe Larry and Curly. I showed this bit to my son when he was about ten in 1992 and he laughed hysterically. It is one of his favorite comedy skits.
That was pure gold
It was live, but who's on first was their most famous "routine." Abbot and Costello knew it like the back of their hands.
This was one of their bits. This was practiced and rehearsed and some live many times before this.
These guys made a bunch of movies as a comedy team. They were one of the best thru the 40s and 50s. Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein is one of they're funniest.
As a child in the 70’s I would wake up around 3 or 4 am and watch the reruns of these guys.. I still love watching them, they have made many movies like “Abbot and Costello meet the mummy”.. the best comedy
I'm 71 and I never get sick of this classic! "Who's on First?" is anything but random my Brit friend. Abbott and Costello performed it first in vaudeville, then on radio, then the movie The Naughty Nineties" and finally on television. I believe this clip is from their TV series. This brilliantly conceived routine is considered by most comedians to be the best in the history of comedy. It's even been inducted into our National Baseball Hall of Fame! Pure genius.