Abbott and Costello "Who's on First" | Irish Girl First Time Reaction
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- Abbott and Costello are back and this time, they're in my Irish Girl reaction video! Watch as this Irish girl first time reacts to the classic comedy duo.
Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in the world during the Second World War. Their patter routine "Who's on First?" is considered one of the greatest comedy routines of all time.
While they had crossed paths a few times previously, the two comedians first worked together in 1935 at the Eltinge Burlesque Theater on 42nd Street in New York City. Their first performance resulted from Costello's regular partner becoming ill, and Abbott substituting for him.
Other performers in the show, including Abbott's wife, encouraged a permanent pairing. The duo built an act by refining and reworking numerous burlesque sketches with Abbott as the devious straight man and Costello as the dimwitted comic.
Decades later, when AMC moved the old theater 168 ft (51 m) further west on 42nd Street to its current location, giant balloons of Abbott and Costello were rigged to appear to pull it.
Be sure to check out the original video which can be found on the Universal Pictures Channel
at: • The Naughty Nineties |...
#abbottandcostelloreaction #abbottandcostellowhosonfirst #abbottandcostello IF YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN DIANE’S INNER CIRCLE OF LOVELY HUMANS :
▶ Patreon: / dianejennings
▶ Buy Editor Diane a Coffee on PayPal: www.paypal.me/...
▶ TH-cam Membership: / @dianejennings
▶ Merch: teespring.com/...
FOLLOW MY OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:
▶ Twitch: / dianodrama
▶ Second Channel: / @dianebeforedawn
▶ Instagram: / dianodrama
▶ TikTok: / dianodrama
▶ Twitter: / dianodrama
----------
MY EQUIPMENT & PROPS
▶ My Sony Camera + Lens amzn.to/3Qn0bVt
▶My Elgato Cam link amzn.to/3s8snDv
▶My Mic amzn.to/3QGU4MN
▶My Audio Recorder amzn.to/3FFFYFt
▶My Lapel Mic amzn.to/3FFFYFt
▶My Laptop amzn.to/3QeJLy4
▶My iMac amzn.to/3FIdBq1 (this is a newer model with the same speed and memory)
▶My mobile desk amzn.to/3FIdBq1
▶My “Gaming” Chair amzn.to/46VyOZo
▶ My Gimble amzn.to/49muggg
▶My Wallpaper amzn.to/40q01kO
▶My Mirrored Desk amzn.to/3QolqWF
▶Ikea “Lack” Shelves amzn.to/4622t1U
----------
I usually upload Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays at 10:15pm (CET) - sometimes only 2/3
I always check comments in the First Hour Club, the first hour after I upload below! So let me know what you’d like to see on the channel ↓
FEED THE ALGORITHM MONSTER! It’s FREE to feed him and he likes eating your Subscriptions, Comments and Likes. See surprise uploads by turning on the bell
----------
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
Dianodrama-ID
My name is Patrick Costello. It is pronounced both ways. In America one way in Ireland and parts of newfoundland it's pronounced the Irish way
Ohhhh cool!
I really enjoyed hearing you pronounce it the Irish way. Don't hear it often here. Thanks
And if you ever wanna change your last name to Costello, that could definitely be arranged. 😂
In this particular comedy team, is absolutely pronounced Cos-TELL-o.
This is after Laurel and Hardy. This comedy team would pronounce the name Cos-TELL-o. This bit goes back to the 1930s, has its own Wikipedia page, and would be murder for someone unfamiliar with baseball to follow.
This skit was first performed on Vaudeville performances. It is great because it was brought to the big screen and not lost to history like most Vaudeville skits. A great piece of history! Thank you!
The stage to radio to movies to tv. Now to the internet. This is from tv in the 50's but this has been going on almost 90 years and we are still laughing at it. Another classic bit is the dice game. My favorite bit is when Lou tries to make a long distance call
@@AI_Image_Master "The Dice game" .. Club House!
BILL MURRAYS BROTHER!!!!
It was pretty common at the time to borrow these core routines from minstrel and burlesque shows and expand upon them. Bud Abbott attributed this one to an old minstrel cross talk routine called who's the boss. There were many variations on the theme. There was a bakery version called nuttin' for a living, where they joke they do nuttin' all day and loaf around. There was a dry cleaner version, dying to live, with the joke can't live if I can't dye. Another called, I work on Watt street. To name a few examples. All used the characters who, what and ida know. There's a performance of the 7 x 13 = 28 routine in the minstrel film yes sir, mr bones on youtube. It's interesting to watch it back to back with Abbott and Costello's version. A lot of this style comedy has it's roots in ethnic caricatures with the jokes being about immigrants not understanding the culture and language. Thankfully that mostly died out and the comedy was re-contextualized to not be so offensive. But it's certainly interesting to learn about the history.
@@nowthenzen Yes "Club House". Also 13x7. Perhaps my favorite "The Susquehanna Hat Company".
Abbott and Costello is the kind of comedy that is just as funny now as it was then. Pure genius
You can say that for just about every Vaudeville act that made the transition to TV and film. Still hilarious to this day.
Funny and clean.
Im 57yo, ive watched this bit i dont know how many tims since the '60s. But i think i laugh just as today as i did the first time i seen it. It never gets old.
I have got you by 6 years and you are absolutely correct.
I've never seen anybody overthink anything and take all the fun out of it... but here it is.
She never really seemed to clue in to the ambiguity at the heart of the misunderstanding, did she? Most people get it on the first go-round, after which the fun lies in seeing just how far (and creatively) what is essentially the same joke over and over can plausibly be spun. Oh, well... not everybody's brain works the same way.
Tomorrow’s pitching,
and today’s not catching.
@@eMemoryCard Or Yesterday's pitching, with the same result from whatever's behind the plate today... ;-)
Some of these first reactions are hard to believe and I am not talking specifically about her. The other day I watched a record producer watch and listen to Bohemian Rhapsody for the “first time.”
Diane, This skit was a heavily practiced one especially by the time this version was recorded. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello first performed this on stage as part of their act. When they were given a contract to perform on radio they actually went through a period where they performed it at least once a month. The skit did change a bit over time, but the player names did not change. I actually used to own an old cassette tape made from one of their old radio shows. In that one instead of the team being for the Old Actors Home, that version has Costello planning on joining the Yankees to replace Joe DiMaggio who was injured at the time.
As for the names:
First Base - Who
Second Base - What
Third Base - I Don't Know
Left Field - Why
Center Field - Because
Pitcher - Tomorrow
Catcher - Today
Shortstop - I Don't Give a Darn
Right Field - (not named in this sketch.)
As for the part with "Who" , "Naturally". They are playing on the lack of a comma and Costello not getting it. He's saying "I throw the ball to Who." The response is "Naturally" because as Who is on first you would naturally throw the ball to him.
In the non-TV censored version, the shortstop was I Don’t Give a Damn. It became Darn for the TV.
It may be a fair guess to suppose that the unnamed Right Field player is named "Naturally" since Abbot keeps telling Costello not to throw the ball to Naturally, but to throw it to Who.
I’ve seen many versions of this sketch, and I’ve never seen Right Field named in any of them. In multiple online discussions I’ve read, it’s been generally agreed upon that the right fielder’s name is Nobody because nobody is there.
@DennisKovacich I dunno... I go with *"Naturally"* here for the right fielder. I'm with @nedporkus8602 on this one... 😏
@@cornelldgreen, if Naturally were the right fielder’s name, Abbott wouldn’t have said “Naturally” when Costello said “I throw the ball to Who.” They slip up occasionally, but they do their best to make sure they don’t use any of the players' names elsewhere. Or when Costello said “I pick up the ball and throw it to Naturally,” Abbott would have said “No, he’s in right field. You throw it to Who.”
I've seen this skit about a dozen times and it still cracks me up. It can have me giggling like mad and in awe of the immaculate word play at the same time.
I don't get the confusion. He's just trying to tell him about one of the best baseball lineups ever... Jimmy Hu, Fred Watt, Victor Aidunough, Tom Wye, Cesar Tamara, Haruto Tidei, and Eidon Givatarn.
Same. I actually have the audio in my playlist so same days a song will end and then these two will start up and I crack up every single time. The delivery is just so perfect, and it works without the need for a visual, unlike 7 x 13 = 28, the other one from them I love.
@@Mr.Ekshin I really wish i could up-vote this comment more than once, because this is *chef's kiss*
I had to perform this in drama class in high school. I never giggled so much in rehearsal in my life.😂😅😊
This is not improvisation. It's absolutely perfect comic timing.
Even watching this now after seeing it countless times over many decades, this still has me genuinely cracking up. Costello's performance just sells it for me every time.
This skit honestly never gets old
The only way this skit could get old is if English changes drastically or if people completely forget what baseball is.
Love your reactions. Here just wanted to mention by this time they have been doing this routine for many years [over ten for sure] and they never do it the same way twice. These two have been working together for so long they have developed an understanding of each other and the way this routine [as so many of theirs do] works is to follow each other's lead. By key phrases they move it along. They do "mess up" a little sometimes but it goes so fast it's easily overlooked as when either does miss a cue or lead incorrectly into the next line they correct each other to keep it moving. Notice in the video when Bud puts his hands on Lues arm he is trying to "cue" the next part of the bit. But Lou feels he has missed some more lines that he wants to add so he re-directs Bud into the next few "miss-understandings". [bud was trying to take Lou to the "receipts" part of the bit, but Lou will get there a little later after adding what he wants to {from all the ways they have of doing it} so Lou took charge of the direction for just the next short while, when usually it is the "straight man" that leads the "conversation". Bud, of course is the straight man in their acts] So Lou took over for just a few more of their practiced lines before relinquishing the lead back to Bud. Notice at just a few seconds later Lou now touches Bud on his shoulder and says [seemingly as part of the routine, they do it so well] [Touching each other must be the cue to the other he's talking to him more directly, not as much a part of the routine as it is some messaging to each other to help or guide the other] "I'm going to stop asking you soon". That is Lou re-assuring Bud that he will bring it back to the receipts part soon enough and that he knows where they are in the sketch [and he is letting Bud know he did pick up on the direction bud wanted Lou to go]. From there they go very smoothly. I know Bud has to correct Lou in a "lead up" line later on. You'll notice, as Lou is negotiating the middle of the pitcher's name bit Bud has to help Lou to lead him into the next miss-understanding [I'm calling the joke punch lines that. I don't know how else to describe each line] He has to ask Lou "what time what?" to get Lou to ask the question again, only phrased correctly for the joke [miss-understanding line] to work. [Lou needed to ask, "what time tomorrow you going to tell me who's pitching [Lou missed adding "who's pitching" to the whole line that he first fed back to Bud] [first he asked, "what time tomorrow you tell me the pitchers name?". He missed the important part: who's pitching] This is how smoothly they work together and how they can move so fast through it. They have several practiced remarks to each "lead in" and can use them as they feel to, to move the story along. Very polished team. [the best in the nation in their prime] [that lasted over ten years] Basically from vaudeville, the duo comedy routines often had a "straight man" [leading the direction of the story] and a kind of dim-witted man who made the routines funny. Basically, the dim-witted guy got all the laughs. They truly were the best of that fading art from the vaudeville days. Again, love your reactions. [I watched a couple react to this a while back and the guy didn't get it till almost the end! He really thought Bud wasn't answering Lou!] [But the weirdest of all was a girl reactor who Never Did understand the routine! She got all the way through and NEVER Understood that those were the names of the players!!] [needless to say, all she had was anger for Bud for not telling Lou what he wanted to find out and she didn't like the humor] [felt sorry for her] Of course you got it right away, as you should if actually listening to it, and it's great fun to watch your following it as the routine progressed. So, keep up the reactions! Love to be a part of them when I get a chance to watch. Good work!
holy cow thats a lot of info i really hope diane reads this its good stuff
This was done for the second and final season of The Abbott and Costello Show in 1953. It was part of their stage show, and performed on radio in late 1937. They had done this bit thousands of times over sixteen years.
Thanks for the commentary, this is good stuff. Helps me appreciate their skit in a different way.
I don't know about them making mistakes that seams a big assumption on your part. I have Sean this bit from several sources an it is the same. I'm sure that they might not have always had enough time to do the whole skit and may not have done it completely. I dont claim they where perfect I just never saw them screw up the bit. If what you claim is true then I can only respect them more for pulling it off in front of an audience. What is your proof it was them making mistakes and it not being time limits?
Knowing that much detail caused me to suspect you might be a comedian. There is a John Bruton (John vs Jon) comedian. Are you a professional, or an enthusiastic fan? I am a long time fan.
This is one of the most famous classic comedy skits of all time. The timing is impeccable!
I always thought the broadcasts were too quick, and want to hear an early version, before it was performed so many times... There are usually small gaps between questions and answers and here, there aren't, because it's so practiced.
..."So how does the guy sign his name?""Who""The first baseman""Who"""All I want to know is how the first baseman signs his name""Who"...
There's no break between ...
They did this routine for decades varying in length from 5 to 40 minutes. About 30 years ago on a radio interview show on WNYC a PhD candidate was discussing his dissertation on this routine. He'd gathered over 200 recordings and over 100 written transcripts and found that no two were identical.
This is the most common one taken from their TV show.
I have tried to find the dissertation on this. It would be a cool read.
Abbott and Costello were in what is considered to be the best horror film of all time by many. It was loaded with comedy as well. - "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein".
Love it!
Oooh
It is a black and white film, but it also has the Werewolf (played by Lon Cheney Jr.) and Dracula (Bela Lugosi) as well as Frankenstein.
They also met the Killer, Boris Karloff'; the Invisible Man; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; and the Mummy; not to mention the Keystone Kops and Captain Kidd.
Africa Screams was funny too.
This sketch was very carefully crafted, and has been a classic for almost a century, now. It helps if you approach their routines with the idea that words were like Legos to these two.
Imagine the practice that went into perfecting the team and timing they had with this.
Yep, about twenty years at that point. Never exactly the same. A version plays in nonstop in a booth at the baseball HALL OF FAME.
I grew up listening and watching this skit. Must have heard it a thousands times and it never fails to have me LMAO 50 years later. 🤣
Abbott and Costello did a weekly TV show when I was a child and they were great. They were among the most popular comedians in America in the 1950's. To me, the best part of the old routines is that they can be incredibly funny without curse words and without being offensive. I have seen this routine many times and it never gets old. Yes, watching Diane react to this added to the effect. Very enjoyable video.
Editor Diane saying "stop copying me" got me 🤣
Abbott and Costello are great! Who's on First is one of their classics and it's brilliant.
They wrote the entire skit, but during this filming it was all done in one take without stopping. They had perfect timing and everything they ever did. This is even more incredible when you realize that they hated each other in real life. A few years after this skit, they decided to end their relationship for good because the hatred had gotten so bad.
The hatred started later in their career. Similar to Martin & Lewis.
The skit was written by a guy named John Grant. He wrote most of their routines.
They had a falling out in '45-'47, but still performed together. They broke up, over a misunderstanding, in '57. The breakup was said to be due to a prank played on them by Errol Flynn. They never "hated" each other. Lou Costello died of a heart attack in '59, just short of his 53rd birthday. In '60, Bud Abbott tried a comeback with a different partner, but quit because he said, "No one could ever live up to Lou." Abbott only worked sparingly after that, but did lend his voice to 156 five minute long Hanna-Barbera Abbott and Costello cartoons. He died of cancer in '74, at age 76.
@@5stardave It was never really hatred. As their health declined they grew apart.
The routine was not written by Abbott and Costello or anyone else who can be identified. It goes back to early vaudeville with an unknown exact origin.
However, Abbott and Costello honed the routine over many years and was so identified with it that no one else dared to do the routine. The routine did change slightly over the many decades that the team performed it.
They never did this routine exactly the same way every time, so there are a couple thousand versions of it. Pure genius! I've seen it maybe 100 times, and amazed by the perfect delivery every time.
The “oh that’s our shortstop!” is one of the best punchlines ever 🤣
just classic. and still funny especially if you haven't heard it at 9 trillion times 😂🇺🇲
In brief: Laurel and Hardy were big in the 1920s and 1930s. The Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges were big in the mid-1930s, but lasted throughout the 1940s. Abbot and Costello became most popular in the late 1940s. Martin and Lewis became big in the late 1940s through the mid-1950s.
Cheech and Chong in the 60/70s
The Three Stooges were performing and making movies all the way into the 60s.
@@ericstoverink6579 After Jerome and Samuel Horowitz passed away, there was nobody who played their part that was funny.
My favorite was Laurel and Hardy, followed by the Three Stooges, then Dean's singing.
The timing of Abbott and Costello is perfect. This is a classic.
They first did this skit on The Kate Smith Hour radio show on March 24, 1938, and copyrighted it in 1944. So, by this performance, they had done it hundreds of times. That is why their timing is so perfect.
Absolutely _brilliant_ , classic wordplay comedy. *Love* this routine! 🤣
Greatest skit ever written and delivered. You just witnessed the Holy Grail of all skit comedy
The greatest comedic team ever. I have always loved this skit
You'll want to watch this again with a little background; mostly that all the audience already knew of the routine, but they now get a chance to actually see it. It's like a great play you're already have as part of your own history. Who's On First was a sketch created in the '30s, performed on stage and radio. Knowing what line is coming next doesn't distract from the fun; the anticipation and execution is what people love. It's fair to compare to the song Hallelujah being covered by dozens (or hundreds) of performers, this Abbott and Costello routine is a duo-test for children and adults alike.
This was the first comedy routine, clean comedy routine, I ever heard. Love these 2 guys! Wish they were still around.
Your reaction is priceless, however I have watched and listened this "bit" so many times and I can't stop laughing every time I watch it.
They did this routine so many times on stage they had that flow where it seems improvised. There's actually a few flubs in this but they just immediately get back on track and keep going.
I have heard of this comedy routine for so many years, but this is the first time I've seen anyone react to this. I found it to be quite humorous and I am glad that you had managed to enjoy it Diane. Have a great weekend and be well!
Quite Humorous?
@@josephstanton4872 Yes I do.
They were in the movie, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), co-starring Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr, was a massive hit and revitalized the duo's careers.
The guy who played the Frankenstein monster in that movie (and several others) later was the bartender on "Gunsmoke", Glenn Strange. He was also a pretty good songwriter.
Watching your brain start to fry at about the 9-minute mark was about the cutest thing ever. I never cease to laugh at this bit and watching you react to it going in completely blind with no idea about it, the premise or baseball made it just that much more enjoyable. Thanks for making this 🤣
hehe - I think she's having a hard time following their speech. It's amazing how fast and how accented American speech used to be. Now we can't think that fast.
Ah, the classic skit by this duo. The excelled at wit and word play with some physical comedy thrown in. They are one of the classic classic comedy duo's. A little baseball knowledge is helpful to land the jokes.Couldn't make first hour club cause at CFR. The reaction to this video was more animated than I expected but as usual left me smiling.
Abbott and Costello's Who’s on First is the most iconic sport skit ever
The comedians were definitely responding to the key word, Who, what, I don't know, responding with a set number of responses that also elicit another response. It is a brilliant execution of planned chaotic miscommunication. It is their original material. It became so popular that the the skit you watched has been inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown NY. It runs on a loop all day, and is the only non sport memorabilia to ever be inducted into the hall of fame.
IIRC, John Fogerty's song "Centerfield" is also in there.
@@BC-ui9yt I didn't know that. Thanks
I've been familiar with this skit for almost 50 years and you're the first person that I've ever seen watch it with a look of bewilderment. DG
Arguably the best known classic comedy bit ever. I still love watching it. :)
This is one of my favorite skits! It’s a classic and most people know it here in the states
" Who's on 1st " is a classic bit that was made famous after WW2 and into the early 1950s . Laurel and Hardy came much before , around the late 1920s .
I am doing a version of this routine right now in Pantomime in Wales and am very pleased to report that it still works with audiences of all ages.
They were the most popular comedians of the 1940s and early 1950s. They were stars on radio, movies, TV and they even had a show on Broadway. In 1942 they were the top box office attractions in the country in the movies. They were on the top box office attraction for eight years between 1941 and 1951. Who’s on first is considered the greatest comedy routine of all time. This is from there early 1950s TV show. They may 36 movies together between 1940 in 1955. I’ve been one of the biggest fan since I was six years old in 1961.
An updated variant of this routine was about a concert that had the bands The Who, Guess Who, and Yes performing 😁
Animaniacs. One of my favorite bits lol
I think I saw that on Animaniacs.
@@josephedward7534 it was a Slappy Squirrel cartoon on Animaniacs
That was actually done (audio version) in the late 70's - early 80's. Heard on Dr Demento show.
Aww heck yeah! Where can I find it?😃
Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, and The Three Stooges were all contemporaries throughout the 30's and 40's. Watching you react to this skit was fun. It was clear at the end you were having trouble keeping up with the names yourself. 😄
Baseball has two positions, batters and fielders. All baseball teams switch between batting (hitting the ball with a bat and running the bases) and fielding (catching the ball and trying to strike batters out) each inning. There's four bases the batters have to run to complete score (Home Run), 1st base, 2nd base, and 3rd base - and a fielder guards each base. The 4th base is called Home base and it's defended by a catcher. The pitcher throws the ball to the batter, who tries to hit, and catcher catches it if the batter misses. If the batter hits and it's a run, he has to go round each base until the other fielders retrieve the ball (usually these are out fielders) and the in fielders strike them out. If you get struck out 3 times, the teams switch, if both teams played that inning, it goes into the next inning. There's no limit to how many runs you can get in an inning, but given the various skills of each team's batter (every member of the team will bat when it is their turn), the scores don't go up too high. But the games are LOOOONG because there's 9 innings. There's lots of other rules too, but that's basically it.
I'm old and still love this old skit about the sport I loved to watch and play.
That Comedy team was the best I've ever seen. Both on and off screen those guy are legendary.
Today, Diane reacts to Abbott and Costello
And she’s looking stylish in a jacket that’s plaid
The routine almost turned her brainhead to jello
But she’s got a heart on her face, so fun was had 🖤
🎉🎉🎉🎉😂
Very nice
A "watch for the first time" reaction works best if the person has a good knowledge of baseball. Or the meaning of some of the rapid fire lines could be lost.
This is my favorite comedy bit of all time. I have listened to it sooooooo many times. I've even listened to it on repeat for hours. It just never gets old to me. I just laugh and laugh and laugh.
To see your realisation of this famous skit, priceless xx
A classic skit perfectly performed. You looked as confused as Lou once they got going.
This is a classic from old time comedy. It seems like such a simple skit but is it so complicated. I tried to perform in my Junior High School drama class ... I could not get my lines down because they weave together in just the right way but sound so much the same.
I crack up everytime I watch these two! Absolute LEGENDS!
That is probably the most famous comedy sketch they've done. It's right up there with how they do math.
Ah yes a video that requires both sports and numbers, two of Diane's favorite things in life!
😂 you know me well
@@DianeJennings Have you ever done music reactions. I would love to see you watch an original video followed by a parody of that song by Weird Al Yankovic. A lot of people enjoy Michael Jackson's "Bad" and Weird Al Yankovic's "Fat".
The best version of "Who's on First" is from the movie "The Naughty Nineties".
The whole routine is done without mistakes or hesitations.
This version which wasn't as smooth as the movie version.
no but it was longer. I watched the one you mentioned recently and it was shorter. They combined different parts of the bit for this shooting. AS for the movie, i am sure they filmed it several times before it was perfect
Yeah, Abbott is clearly not on his game by this time. I think the best version by far is from their radio show.
Abbott and Costello made 36 movies together between 1940 and 1956, a staggering number. Their most famous film is Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein(1948), which actually features them meeting FOUR of the classic Universal monsters.
There was a Tiawanese Baseball player that played for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010, who's name is Chin-Lung Hu. The first time after he singled, the game announcer said this "Ladies and gentlemen, I have waited my whole life to say this, Hu is on first."
Diane I was rolling the entire time. Call me old fashioned, but I miss comedy like this. Loved your reaction. Valid questions from anyone who isn’t old.
Matter of opinion if it's the greatest but it does run on a continuous loop at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and is most definitely a comedy classic
My semi regular request for the elephant or dentist sketch from the Carol Burnett show
The best sketch from the Carol Burnett show was, without question, "Went with the Wind", and the best part of that was when Burnett came down the stairs wearing the dress made from curtains. th-cam.com/video/-8wVvGQ0P4Y/w-d-xo.html
She definitely has to watch some sketches from "The Carol Burnett Show" . While both of those would be great for her to react to, the one I'd like to see her react to is the one with the two Nazis interrogating their American prisoner during World War II. But really: Any sketch from that show featuring Harvey Korman and Tim Conway would be great; as she'll see great examples of how Korman would struggle to stay in character as Conway would improvise something goofy during the sketch that was clearly not in the script they had rehearsed for the whole week prior.
The Dentist being my favorite....
@@michaelsommers2356 With the curtain rod still in it!
@@scottydog1313 Exactly.
This is my all-time favorite sketch of theirs. No matter how many times I've seen it, I am rolling on the floor with laughter.
This was such a fun watch. It has been some time since I'd last seen it. Almost as fun as watching Diane nearly have a short-circuit trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Lol. Early in the skit Abbott tells Lou that they give players very strange nicknames followed by the two of them bantering back and forth a few of examples. Such as Sticky Fields and Boobie Barber. This was to clue the audience that Abbott (playing the straight man) would be using comical, unexpected nicknames for the names of players while Lou, playing the dimwitted comic, would mistake these so-called nicknames for their literal meaning. I think perhaps you missed this "clue" and that would explain why it took you quite some time to catch on. Even so it was great fun to watch it again and watch you follow along trying to figure it out 🤪. Abbott and Costello's skit called "7 x 3 = 28" is also really fun to watch as Lou proves how 7x3 = 28. It's another Must See or Must React To.
If Diane had trouble with this, the fast wordplay of the Marx Brothers would be a real challenge.
It's curious how that kind of wordplay seemed to pass out of American comedy with the performers who came up in vaudeville. British comics have routinely used similar styles of wordplay since the 1950s, about the time it finally died here. I wonder if they picked it up from American movies, or whether there were similar trends in pre-WWII music hall and pantomime performance?
I agree, "7×13=28" is another great sketch by these two comedy greats. My favorite version is here: th-cam.com/video/oN2_NarcM8c/w-d-xo.html
Abbot & Costello had been doing this popular routine for 20 or 30 years, by the time this video was filmed. They could read each other's minds by this time, so they were able to real time mix it up a little to make it seem fresh. Of course, most of the audience in the video had heard it many times, but it almost never got old!
Yea it helps to know baseball to really appreciate the joke. It's been famous here in the states for generations. Even in the baseball hall of fame.
I remember seeing this old vaudeville routine on TV (14 inch screen) when I was about 7 years old in1950. It still makes me laugh and pay close attention as I work my mind keeping up.
These guys were the greatest comedy duo between Laurel and Hardy and Martin and Louis from the later 50s. I consider this clever as much as funny. It’s pretty amazing from a timing standpoint.
abbott and Costello were superstars. hard to believe they've slipped into obscurity. Glad that you have discovered them!
I love those guys. They used to make movies like “Abbot and Costello meet the Mummy” or Dracula and they were hilarious. It’s a treat when I get to see them.
they are huge i'm 63 and when i was a lid they wer on sat tv all the time alll the time a golden oldie this is a classic bit of american whos on first
I listen to comedians to fall asleep. I first heard this at 2am and laughed so hard I didn't fall back to sleep until nearly 5, it was torture getting up for school (6:30) but I love this amazing act
Abbott and Costello, laurel and hardy and the three stooges are all amazing comedian groups from the 40's and 50's. They still make me laugh so hard ill cry
You look so confused !!! That's probably heard there's a million times in my life. One of my favorites of all time !!
I never get tired of the Who’s on first skit. Probably my all time favorite comedy sketch. A fabulous modern comedian is Gabriel Iglesias, also known as Fluffy.
Good pick of vid, a classic. I'm a 42 Y/O English guy, and been a fan of their films since i was a kid in the 80's.
So brilliant in both writing and in execution...one of the most iconic and classic comedy skits of all time! 😊
One of the best skits ever. Just the way they play off each other and don't ever miss a beat. Everything was scripted perfectly. They never break down for a moment. You need to check out Abbott and Costello skit...13x7 is 28! Love your reviews!! Cheers!
It's an old skit that they did and they're so familiar with it that it can be improved. They know it so well that they can make changes and still get it. It is a brilliant piece of work. Others have tried it but nobody does it better.
They are where Mel Brooks got the "Hey Abbott" for "Robin Hood Men in Tights"
Genius. They did this at first time of asking.
There is a script but you’ll notice that each line cues a specific response (ie: “what’s the guys name on first?” Gets the response of “ what’s on second” which gets the response “I’m not asking you who’s on second” which prompts “who’s on first” which prompts “I don’t know” which prompts “ he’s on third”. So if you see it in these groupings of several sentences, they can improv their way through the sketch. The short guy might lead them into a section and they riff on that for 10 seconds and then he might ask another question which takes them into another section. Costello (the short one) moves the skit from one section to another. Plus they listen to each other very closely so they can respond quickly. Hope that makes sense. It helps to watch several TH-cam videos of this sketch. They are all slightly different and you can get a sense of how they move the script along with specific lines.
Abbott and Costello are my favorite comedy duo; a kid in the 1970's, watching "old black and white" shows from the 1950's just cracked me up. You have to take it literally, remember early in the video, 'baseball players have odd names.' Who, what, I don't know. I still crack up when I watched it; even now! LOL
Pure comedic genius! Over the head of pretty much everybody until you watch several times.
Always a classic...lol
Yes, the act was pre-written and followed to a tee. That's why it is done so smoothly.
And in the USA, we say, "CAH....stello". Like...idk...Like a stellar car. At least we have for as long as I can remember it.
Lou Costello and my grandfather were friends growing up in Paterson, New Jersey at the beginning of the 20th century. He told me both played basketball and Lou was pretty good
This is probably the most famous comedy skit ever!
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were a comedy team that started out in the Vaudeville Circuit, and became famous for a series of comedy films that they starred in during the 1940s and 1950s. They also did a lot of appearances on radio, and starred on two early television series; “The Abbott And Costello Show” on ABC in 1953 (this sketch, which was done on radio and television numerous times, was part of an episode of this TV series), and as one of a group of rotating hosts on “The Colgate Comedy Hour”, which aired on NBC from 1950 to 1956. Abbott and Costello were working very hard in the 1950s, and the workload took its toll on them. They broke up in 1956. Lou Costello died of a heart attack in 1959.
Back in the day, people couldn’t so readily watch or listen to things like that over and over in a shirt stretch. So they couldn’t process it and dissect it the way we do today. In its day, this was a brilliant piece that amazed listeners.
They did it a thousand times and never the same way twice.
Don't overthink it, just go with it. It's a carefully crafted well rehearsed classic comedy routine by a pair of the best comics ever.
When you crossed your eyes at about the 6-minute mark I just about fell outta' my chair with laughter! LOL! 😂
I remember laughing so hard the first time I saw this. I think I was about 10.
You can just see the blue screen error lighting up in Diane's eyes. 🤣
This skit was first introduced (at least to a wider audience) on radio, and became their most well know skit. It is still legendary today, and a lot of comedians still use it to learn how to "riff" off of common words.
One of the most hilarious routines ever
They probably performed this routine close to 1000 times between 1936 and 1955. They actually preserved many of the classic burlesque routines that were lost, in their movies and on TV.
It's not tightly scripted, but they worked very well off of each other. They knew the general script (and you can tell, because it changes from recording to recording) and knew each other very well. Bob and Ray are another great duo.
A couple of fun facts, on May 29, 1956, the recording for this skit was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Also, in January of 2003, when the Library of Congress decided to create an effort to preserve American sound recordings, this was among the selected 50 recordings to start the national registry.
If you get confused just remember that Bud Abbot’s (the tall one) remarks are almost all statements and Lou Costello’s lines are almost all questions. Lou asks “Who’s on first?” and Bud will answer “Who’s on first” as a factual statement.
“Naturally” is just used as “of course” or “sure” clarifying that of course you would throw the runner out at first on a bunt play. He’s agreeing with Lou’s postulation that one would indeed throw the ball to that particular person. But…Lou doesn’t know this and after so many confusing back and forths, he assumes “Naturally” is just another player’s weird names like the others.
I am 51 years old and I still remember my dad showing me this skit when I was maybe 4 years old. It’s the first bit of comedy I remember ever watching.