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 RUclips.
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.
Disinformation. They are represemted in The Baseball Hall of Fame Museum, but RUclips 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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?
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!!!
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.
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.
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.
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 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!
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.
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.
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"
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 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 ❤❤❤
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 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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
That's one on my collection 01 Loan Me 50cents 02 7x13 =28 03 Dice 04 The Lemon Game 05 'Jonah and the Whale' 06 The Mustard Sketch (A Classic!) 07 Smacked Around By The Landlord 08 The Niagara Falls Sketch (Slowly I Turned) 09 Sasquehanna Hat Company 10 Handcuffs 11 Meatballs 12 Psychiatrist's Office 13 Field's Employment Agency 14 At The Restaurant Long Version 15 The Payphone Sketch (Alexander 4444) 16 Crazy House Sketch With Hillary Brooke & Murray Leonard 17 Courtroom Scene From TELEVISION Episode 24 Birthday Invatation 25 3 Classic Bits At The Charity Bazaar 27 Rent A Car
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
I actually have had this type of conversation when trying to explain this to people before realizing I was doing the same confusing thing and stating the players names clearly.
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 🤣
Who's On First is so iconic, at least in the parts of America that I've lived in, that you every second talent show had someone preforming this with their buddy. Since I'm so used to it, it's really fun to see someone experience it for the first time.
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
Those genius comedians had already performed the sketch, which is why someone asked for "the baseball" {routine]. But geez, it was still improvised as they went along: they simply knew the names of the players.
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.
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 RUclips. 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.
At the time of this show, everything on TV was done live. The mistakes were evident but often funnier than what was written in the script because the actors had to think on their toes to improve corrections to fit. The actors often had to do all the advertisements too. It was a great time in television. But this is a practiced skit performed live.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
(Bud) Abbott and (Lou) Costello started working together in 1935. Not only did they do radio shows, but they made several movies and had their own television show. Very well known and loved.
They were famous for that routine. It was actually first written by someone else in the 1920s. They they picked it up and perfected it on radio in the 1930s. There are several different recorded versions. They were so good that a radio or TV director could tell them how much time he needed and they would improvise by adding different player names and positions. The version you just watched was from a live TV show from about 70 years ago.
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 "Who's On First" routine was written for Abbott & Costello around 1940. A 78 (both sides) of this comedy classic was awarded a Gold Record, and that very trophy sits on a wall at the Baseball Museum in Cooperstown, NY. PS-- the audience member handing Lou his props is his pal, Bobby Barber. Bud refers to him when mentioning nicknames as "Booby Barber".
I grew up on their movies and so did my mother, though I was to young to see them when they first came out. I used to watch their tv show as well before school.
This routine by Abbott and Costello is one of my all time favorites. It was done live back then they didn't have the ability to tape and edit as much so they did a lot of the television stunts in front of live audiences. They are great hard to believe this was done in the 1930s or 40s
They wrote this skit, but hell of a performance, right? Their timing is incredible, and they made not one single mistake. (And the audience isn't just people off the street; most of them work at the studio where this was filmed.)
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!!!♥️👴🏻 ♥️👵🏻♥️
Yes, this is one of their famous routines. That routine was in one of their movies & became so popular they started do it at their live shows! That's why the audience asked them to do it! I believe Abbott & Castello has been around since the early 50's, possibly 40's. They are so popular that their movies were still playing on Free TV long after both had passed away! Right now a DVD or Blu-Ray of their movies will cost you big time!
Classic part of their standup, made them famous. Ive heard comics take a shot at this routine doing concert planning - yes, the who, guess who, poison, grateful dead, you get idea. Never heard one as good as the original
I love that you made a reaction video for this. Someone else also has one, but watching you enjoy it is fabulous. They were a brilliant comedy duo! All scripted, but genius!
It was a live performance but it was set up ahead of time. It took amaxing amount of practice and timing to get that right. It is arguably the greatest comedy skit in American history and it really says something when a skit like this stands the test of time and is just as funny now as it ever was.
This routine originated on radio and was repeated many times on radio and television. Everyone there knew they were going to do the "Who's on First" routine. They had done it so many times, they can whiz right through without mistakes.
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).
Abbott & Costello, . . . Lots to say about these two. They began as Burlesque comics, . . . moved into movies (worth reacting to) and finally had a TV show, . . . which was in constant reruns for kids afternoon programming for decades. Lou Costello's character always had a child like quality that kids could relate to a Bud Abbott always played the responsible part. It was a formula that was pure gold. This performance of "Who's on First?" looks like it might be from the TV show, . . . the script for which was likely written to showcase this bit.
![Diggy Graves - Red Vineyard [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8Ro085T0mnQ/mqdefault.jpg)
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. 🙂
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.
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'
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 RUclips.
@@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.
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 RUclips 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.
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.
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.
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.
"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 RUclips 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!
Thank you Lewis. I haven't seen Abbott and Costello in a long time. Glad you enjoyed the laughs 😂😂🤣🤣
Lewis, I'm so happy you enjoyed this !! Especially considering it's almost 100 years old now. This is genuine, honest to God comedy. 😅
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!😜
"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?
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!!!
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.
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!!!
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.....
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 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!
This is slapstick comedy😂 they had a style that was just funny. We will never get that kind of comedy again.
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.
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.
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."
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"
This is a practiced routine, but performed live and they occasionally respond to the audience reaction.
"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
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.
This still cracks me up!
I haven't heard "Who's on first" in years! Still as hilarious as the first time! 😂😂
As I’ve seen this at least a hundred times, watching Lewis watch it for the first time was gold!!!
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 ❤❤❤
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 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!
YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE TWO A TRUE CLASSIC ❤❤❤
CLASSIC Sketch!
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
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!
This was one of their normal routines that they were famous for 😅🤣😂🤣😂!! It's what we call oldies but goodies 😉 ❤!!!
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.
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.
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.
Watching your reaction was PRICELESS!😂😂😂
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.
I love watching old, classic, shows and movies. It’s still entertaining and I like experiencing and getting to know by gone eras.
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.
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.
Your reaction is much like mine when I first saw it as a kid before school age. My Dad was laughing the same way!
A couple of comedy Legends , watched them growing up
ABBOTT & COSTELLO 7 TIMES 13 EQUALS 28 Trust me. Watch that one too.
That's one on my collection
01 Loan Me 50cents
02 7x13 =28
03 Dice
04 The Lemon Game
05 'Jonah and the Whale'
06 The Mustard Sketch (A Classic!)
07 Smacked Around By The Landlord
08 The Niagara Falls Sketch (Slowly I Turned)
09 Sasquehanna Hat Company
10 Handcuffs
11 Meatballs
12 Psychiatrist's Office
13 Field's Employment Agency
14 At The Restaurant Long Version
15 The Payphone Sketch (Alexander 4444)
16 Crazy House Sketch With Hillary Brooke & Murray Leonard
17 Courtroom Scene From TELEVISION Episode
24 Birthday Invatation
25 3 Classic Bits At The Charity Bazaar
27 Rent A Car
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
In the movie Rainman, Raymond is obsessed with this skit.
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.
They did this skit thousands of times!! That is why they are so good!!
I actually have had this type of conversation when trying to explain this to people before realizing I was doing the same confusing thing and stating the players names clearly.
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 🤣
Who's On First is so iconic, at least in the parts of America that I've lived in, that you every second talent show had someone preforming this with their buddy. Since I'm so used to it, it's really fun to see someone experience it for the first time.
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
This was one of their bits. This was practiced and rehearsed and some live many times before this.
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
Those genius comedians had already performed the sketch, which is why someone asked for "the baseball" {routine]. But geez, it was still improvised as they went along: they simply knew the names of the players.
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.
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 RUclips. 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.
LOL!! I’ve seen this skit a million times!! I STILL laugh out loud everytime I watch it!!😂😂😂
It was pure gold!! Thanks
At the time of this show, everything on TV was done live. The mistakes were evident but often funnier than what was written in the script because the actors had to think on their toes to improve corrections to fit. The actors often had to do all the advertisements too. It was a great time in television. But this is a practiced skit performed live.
Best comedy skit of all time. For those that don’t know they were a comedy team back in the 60’s.
Way before 60s
Abbott & Costello's joint career spanned more than 20 years, from 1935 to 1957.
80 years and an entire ocean away and this is still funny AF.
thats comdey gold right there !
Classic skit. Love this! More comedy plz!
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.
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.
It’s their most famous skit.
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
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.
The writing, the delivery... such a classic. Makes me laugh every time.
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.
I haven't heard this one in years!!! Love those two
Absolutely fabulous routine, anything from Abbott and Costello is well worth watching
(Bud) Abbott and (Lou) Costello started working together in 1935. Not only did they do radio shows, but they made several movies and had their own television show. Very well known and loved.
They were famous for that routine. It was actually first written by someone else in the 1920s. They they picked it up and perfected it on radio in the 1930s. There are several different recorded versions. They were so good that a radio or TV director could tell them how much time he needed and they would improvise by adding different player names and positions. The version you just watched was from a live TV show from about 70 years ago.
What's even more amazing is that I think this can work for basically any language.
Absolutely love this skit!
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 "Who's On First" routine was written for Abbott & Costello around 1940. A 78 (both sides) of this comedy classic was awarded a Gold Record, and that very trophy sits on a wall at the Baseball Museum in Cooperstown, NY. PS-- the audience member handing Lou his props is his pal, Bobby Barber. Bud refers to him when mentioning nicknames as "Booby Barber".
I grew up on their movies and so did my mother, though I was to young to see them when they first came out.
I used to watch their tv show as well before school.
This is a performance years after they made the bit famous. They are performing it on live t.v.
This routine by Abbott and Costello is one of my all time favorites. It was done live back then they didn't have the ability to tape and edit as much so they did a lot of the television stunts in front of live audiences. They are great hard to believe this was done in the 1930s or 40s
They wrote this skit, but hell of a performance, right? Their timing is incredible, and they made not one single mistake. (And the audience isn't just people off the street; most of them work at the studio where this was filmed.)
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!!!♥️👴🏻 ♥️👵🏻♥️
Yes, this is one of their famous routines. That routine was in one of their movies & became so popular they started do it at their live shows! That's why the audience asked them to do it! I believe Abbott & Castello has been around since the early 50's, possibly 40's. They are so popular that their movies were still playing on Free TV long after both had passed away! Right now a DVD or Blu-Ray of their movies will cost you big time!
30's.
Classic part of their standup, made them famous. Ive heard comics take a shot at this routine doing concert planning - yes, the who, guess who, poison, grateful dead, you get idea. Never heard one as good as the original
I love that you made a reaction video for this. Someone else also has one, but watching you enjoy it is fabulous. They were a brilliant comedy duo! All scripted, but genius!
That was pure gold
It was a live performance but it was set up ahead of time. It took amaxing amount of practice and timing to get that right. It is arguably the greatest comedy skit in American history and it really says something when a skit like this stands the test of time and is just as funny now as it ever was.
I love that people r reacting to the comedy I grew up with
This was a part of their TV show in the 50's! Who's on first, this is a classic routine of theirs!
This routine originated on radio and was repeated many times on radio and television. Everyone there knew they were going to do the "Who's on First" routine. They had done it so many times, they can whiz right through without mistakes.
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).
Abbott & Costello, . . .
Lots to say about these two.
They began as Burlesque comics, . . . moved into movies (worth reacting to) and finally had a TV show, . . . which was in constant reruns for kids afternoon programming for decades.
Lou Costello's character always had a child like quality that kids could relate to a Bud Abbott always played the responsible part. It was a formula that was pure gold.
This performance of "Who's on First?" looks like it might be from the TV show, . . . the script for which was likely written to showcase this bit.
That was hysterical - haven't seen it in years! So fun to revisit and see you enjoy it!