European Reacts: Abbott & Costello - Who's on First?
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2024
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✔️European Reacts: Abbott & Costello - Who's on First
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Feel free to hit the like button and subscribe for more content. I would also love to hear your suggestions for future reactions-drop them in the comments below!🙏
they started as a stand up duo and finished as some of the best comedians in the world. they have several movies that you can watch, the monster movies are my personal favorites! they became popular when movies were the only place to get info. about the world. just like those WWII movies that were called news reels.
Hey man, what's up? I'm from the United States. If you're gonna throw a little comedy in, that'd be cool.
Have you heard of Shane gills If not, check him out and do his Special Olympics bit and Biden VS Trump bit. Check it out. I'll keep watching ,Paul from Utah
Have you seen Carol Burnet "the dentist"
Carol Burnett, elephant scene
a classic comedy routine that is rapidly approaching 100 years old. Bud Abbott (taller guy) and Lou Costello (the short one) were famous in the 30's and 40's for their clever, rapid-fire comedy. they generally relied more on wordplay than slapstick (physical) comedy.
1st -- who
2nd -- what
3rd -- i don't know
left field -- why
center field -- because
right field -- *_NOT MENTIONED_*
pitcher -- tomorrow
catcher -- today
short stop -- i don't give a darn
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were the highest paid entertainers during WWII. They are superb, and in my humble opinion, this skit is the pinnacle and should be the standard of the best skit.
Do the 7 times 13 is 28 dollars.
That's a great one too.
OP : there is no way i can improve or add to your comment. well said.
This, and "Who is on the phone" on Johnny Carson.
Abbott and Costello are the only non-baseball related people in the Baseball Hall of Fame in New York, solely for this skit. They originated it on the stage, took it to radio, then the movies, then to television. They performed it hundreds of times and it was always just a tad different each time. Their radio show was filled with similar bits, where Costello didn't "get it" no matter how many times Abbott explained it to him.
Mary Tyler Moore said something interesting during a retrospective on The Ed Sullivan Show. She said the "straight man" in a two man team often collected 60% of the pay while the comedian only collected 40%, because everyone wanted to be the comedian, no one wanted to be the straight man. You never see them anymore, but two man teams like this were very common back in the day. George Burns was the straight man to Gracie Allen.
The only correction I would make is "They performed it thousands of times..."
There are a host of comedy teams, including Laural and Hardy, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as well as The 3 Stooges. And don't forget Our Gang that later became the Little Rascals. Those are some of the most famous and talented people back in the day.
Fun fact about George Burns and Gracie Allen. At first, Gracie was the straight man, and George was the one making the jokes. But, the crouds laughed for Gracie, so they switched roles.
@@mamaliamalak7825 You sure about that? I grew up with JUST George and never thought he was funny. It was only years later that I learned he was the straight man in a two man show.
@@anonygent I read it in George Burn's book Gracie: A Love Story, in the section about their early days in Vaudeville.
You'd like their clip "13 x 7 = 28"
Yes! 💯
Yes. For sure.
Yes
Agree 💯%. André might find that easier to translate for his friends as well.
THIS
A few years back the Los Angles Dodgers had a korean 1st baseman....name.....Hu !
The announcers were "I've been waiting my whole life to say this' Hu's on First!'"
Its on RUclips!
Link?
@@marcusdire8057
ruclips.net/video/PWei5rfeSPA/видео.html
and
ruclips.net/video/mbb_qxs2skg/видео.html
ha ha! too much fun :)
ruclips.net/video/ME0xHVNdNgo/видео.htmlsi=xvej9t4EOSbcSde5
😂😂😂😂😂
@@marcusdire8057 not sure if the links went through. just type in DODGER HU ON FIRST and at least two will come up.
Personally I like the fans video better. Hu gets a base hit and is on first!! har har.
Classic Comedy! about 75 years old and still funny. Now that's talent!!!
If it's really funny it stays funny forever, like the cheese shop or the lumberjack song from Monty Python.
Immortal
There is at least one more skit you will want to watch from Abbot and Costello.
It is entitled "7 into 28" and is also amazing. It's not just wordplay, but also simple mathematics.
Hilarious.
Who On First, Was voted the greatest comedy Skit ever. It’s in the baseball Hall of Fame.
New Jersey accent 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.
The part of New Jersey they're from is practically a suburb of New York City, so it's okay to think they've got a New York accent, as their WW2 era New Jersey accent would be one of many New York accents of the time.
A suburb of New York? Really? There’s a reason that there’s a river between New York and Jersey.
@@tychayNew Yorker here and that comment would have my grandfather rolling in his grave 😂
This performance was filmed in 1953. This was their most famous sketch. They first performed it on radio in 1938, and continued on TV into the 1950s. It was never the same twice, because they were usually improvising. They would adapt the sketch to fit whatever time slot they need to fill. They were incredible together.
This is an American classic. It's 84 years young. First appearance was on the Kate Smith radio show in 1938.
Thank you for some new information! Didn’t realize it was first done on the Kate Smith Show.
@@leecarlson9713 They can't find the tape unfortunately, but the show notes have it on there.
Back in the early 80s, I had a cassette tape of this skit, and the radio announcer (on the cassette tape) introduced the skit as from the Kate Smith show in 1938. The cassette tape was a conglomeration of several of their skits from old recordings. I wore the tape out.
Abbott and Costello were comedians and actors. They made many movies and had a television series. They are both long dead. This seems to have been filmed in the 1950s.
1953 to be precise, it is 70 years old and still hilarious.
This comedy bit is considered the greatest of all time. Abbot & Costello were made honorary members of the Baseball Hall Of Fame because of their comedic contribution to the sport.😮😊
“"Who's on First?" is Abbott and Costello's signature routine. Time magazine (December 26, 1999) named it the best comedy routine of the 20th century. The sketch was based on other earlier burlesque wordplay routines. They began honing the routine shortly after teaming up in 1936, and performed it in vaudeville in 1937 and 1938. It was first heard by a national radio audience on March 24, 1938, when the team were regulars on the Kate Smith radio show.[3] By then, John Grant had been writing or adapting other sketches for the team and may have helped expand "Who's on First?" prior to its radio debut. He stayed on as their head writer into the 1950s.
Depending upon the version, Abbott has either organized a new baseball team and the players have nicknames, or he points out the proliferation of nicknames in baseball (citing St. Louis Cardinals sibling pitchers Dizzy and Daffy Dean) before launching into the routine. The infielders' nicknames are Who (first base), What (second base) and I Don't Know (third base). The key to the routine is Costello's mounting frustration set against Abbott's unyielding formality. Audio recordings are readily available on the Internet.[14]
A notable version is the first television performance on the 1951 Colgate Comedy Hour.[15]
Abbott and Costello performing "Who's on First?"
"Who's on First?" is believed to be available in as many as twenty versions, ranging from one minute to up to ten minutes. The team could time the routine at will, adding or deleting portions as needed for films, radio or television. The longest version is seen in "The Actors' Home" episode of their filmed TV series, running approximately eight minutes. A live performance commemorating the opening day of the Lou Costello Jr Youth Foundation in 1947 was recorded, and has been included in numerous comedy albums. The team's final performance of "Who's on First?" on TV was on Steve Allen's variety show in 1957.”
The right fielder's name in this performance was deleted. The right fielder's name was nobody.
Well done, I know native English speakers who have struggled to follow this (mainly because of Lou’s accent and fast talking).
They have a math related skit which is very good as well.
Who’s on first is a comedy classic. It was first performed in 1938. The characters Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza used George Abbott and Costello’s comedic style in the television show Seinfeld.
This skit is beyond genius...the fact that all these years later it still holds up shows that.
The duo had been doing that routine for 20 years at least by the time they filmed this episode, so they were so familiar with it, plus practically everyone in the audience had heard it at least once on the radio and knew what was coming!
I'm very impressed how European Reacts was able to follow the humor in this sketch, which is an absolute classic. Not only was he able to follow the English expressions, but demonstrated an understanding of baseball--very impressive! I can't recommend any other sketches from Abbott & Costello, they were a great comedy team for many, many years, but this was their greatest work.
Baseball was bigger at this time you are correct. They also did this skit for years. This one is a later performance. Yes, watch a few more!
I actually learned this skit. It's absolutely brilliant and goes down in the comedy Hall of Fame. There's not an American under the age of 40 that doesn't know this skit I actually showed it to my grandchildren. That's how important this routine is to me.
70+ year old. classic. Greatest comedy routine ever.
This is the absolute gold standard of comedy and humor. No one will ever surpass this. The premise is so simple. No fancy words, no cultural things to understand it. And I have yet to find someone who doesn't laugh their own face into pain from it. And you wonder just how long they can keep this simple joke so damn hilarious, because they keep going, and you keep cracking up.
Abbott and Costello were the most popular comedians of their time. You should most definately watch their other skits.
They have also done quite a few movies as well.
Abbott and Costello are absolutely beloved comedians. Great duo, amazing skits.
Lou has a New Jersey accent - which is very similar to NY accent if you're new to listening for them, good guess
Who’s on “foist”?
Television was an art form at that time. Most everything was live and the actors had to pay attention to cues from the stage directors, floor markings, lighting, etc. Watching Television was like sitting on the front row of a play.
Now if when you're in the states and somehow in conversation someone jokes "who's on first" you'll understand 😂
Abbot and Costello were very famous in the 1950's. They made movies and had a TV show that ran for several years. When I was a kid I used race home from school in time to watch Abbot and Costello on black and white TV. They never failed to make me laugh, fond memories of them. You asked if this was their best skit, in my opinion it was but they were always funny.
One of my all time favorites. I've seen it so many times that I can tell when one of them makes a mistake, but they're so good and quick to pick it up and keep going.
It's the speed and timing that makes this skit so iconic. That's why you'll probably never see a duo try to repeat it. They were just too good at selling it.
These two guys are very funny. They did a lot of movies together. This is an amazing sketch that's stood the test of time.
Edit: I felt like my comment didn't really capture how good these guys were. Genuinely one of the best comedy duos ever.
Abbott and Costello were amazing. Their timing impeccable. You might enjoy the dentist skit from the Carol Burnett Show. Classics for sure.
Oh please please translate. I've been so curious to know how well it would work in other languages. Abbott and Costello are legendary, they came up through vaudeville doing live routines like this in countless shows, honing their banter to pure perfection. And they are doing some adlibs if I am not mistaken. Groucho and Chico Marx did routines like this as well.
Abbott and Costello are absolutely great classic comedians. They also made several great comedy movies, too.
By this time on television this routine was old hat for them as they first did this same skit on the radio on The Kate Smith Hour in 1938! This is only a tiny fraction of their talent. They had many hilarious skits, not just the most reacted to ones on youtube. Their board skit, gold ore skit, Costello's farm, the story of Moby Dick...and then there are their movies. My favorites are their "scary" comedies like Hold That Ghost, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Abbott & Costello Meet The Mummy, etc. Costello's accent is New Jersey as he was from Patterson, New Jersey.
Andre, you said in your comment about this being golden. You hit it right on the head. This era in American TV was known as the golden age of TV, the late 40s through the 50s. I'm 73 years old and I grew up with this. Many people commented on the video 7 into 28 equals 13 is a classic also. If you are a fan of good comedy search Netflix and even on RUclips for American TV classics of the 50s and 60s you will not be disappointed.
Abbott and Costello were comedic geniuses. They made movies, performed their stand-up routines in nightclubs, appeared in Las Vegas and did many television appearances. Thank you for this as it reminds me of times when comedy was very funny and wholesome. A pretty e I ate this. 👏👏🇨🇦
Such a classic! Clean humor, if you can follow along. They talk so fast! My father was raised on this, and introduced it to me in the 1970s. Keep this in a file somewhere to show your child when they're old enough to understand the basics of it. It gets funnier every time you watch it.
This skit had been created many years before this video. They were famous on TV, stage, and in the movies. This is a very impressive. Speed, delivery, and content. No messing it up.
This is a classic. I've seen it a dozen times. They use to have a weekly television show back in the 50s.
They did various versions of this routine. And one of them, “Naturally“ was one of the players.
Naturally and Nobody were rotated as names for the right fielder.
They were absolutely brilliant. I dont think snyone else could have or ever can perform this. Genius!
I've always loved them! Nobody's better with their routine.❤😂
You understood this a lot better than some other English-speaking people I've seen. Great reaction.
Abbott and Costello were very funny in the 40's and 50's and a bit beyond. Also funny and worth watching is Tim Conway from the Carol Burnett Show. Try Tim Conway falling down the stairs in slow motion or the infamous Elephant story. These and several other skits are available on You tube.
You got splinters in the windmills of your mind!
They did comedy for ages and always so good. The skits like you just watched are funny but later they even got to do movies such as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
These guys were very popular about 80 years ago. One of the best comedy teams ever. They were right up there with Laurel & Hardy and The Marx Brothers. Laurel & Hardy were always my favorites, but I would never pass up a chance to watch Abbott & Costello either. When I was a kid back in the 60s they used to show these old films from the 30s and 40s on Sundays afternoons on TV.
Remember, that routine had been in use and practice for DECADES by them at the time that video was recorded. This bit has some of the classic elements of comedy, miscommunication, frustration, and a little bit of implied slapstick (when Lou Costello, the shorter gentleman, hits himself with the bat). The timing is tight, and unless it's required by the routine, they don't talk over each other, so it's easier to understand. It's not rude, coarse, obscene or profane. It even quietly explains the basic premise of the entire joke, when Bud Abbott mentions that baseball players are using silly names, then goes on to show how every named player is using an unusual name.
You're absolutely correct. To pull off this bit must have had a Ron of rehearsal to pull it off as flawlessly as they did. That's why it's comedic history because they didn't miss one skip of the beat.
Only about twenty years of practicing it,
I have to admit, I wasn't sure about you at first. But I am becoming a recent fan because brilliant videos you are reacting on. You are reacting to so many different and interesting videos, on your music channel and in general. I especially appreciate the long form videos about the border and culture. I know there's an idea out there that people don't have any capacity for longer videos, but if that's true, Joe Rogan wouldn't be so huge. Rogan is popular for long 3 or more hour podcasts. People are looking for in-depth. I love the border content, don't worry it's long. It's what people are really concerned about.
One of the thing that was so amazing about their talent, was how well they had these routines down. This routine specifically, could be lengthened or shortened on the fly and they could easily keep it straight and make it funny. Their comedic timing was impeccable.
They were amazing. My parents introduced it to me and when I had a son I introduced them to him. There are several really great movies. “Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein”. And “Africa screams”. “Abbot and Costello and the Mummy”. “ hold that ghost” and one about Benedict Arnold that I cannot remember. Every Halloween we watch abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein 😊. I am thrilled that my son loves them as much as me and will pass it on to his children. 😊
7×13=28 is my favorite skit
This is pure gold! And it will always be pure gold.
This comedy skit is perfection. Comedy is timing and delivery but this routine also required mental concentration. I remember seeing them on TV in the 1950s.
They did some movies too! Mostly along the lines of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 also did the same type of word play sketch, called Noh-Japanese Theater. It's good.
The entertainment from the time of Abbott and Costello is pure gold, whether singing, dancing, or comedy,it was the best. Television was worth watching, and the radio programs were great for developing our imagination. Pure entertainment.
In the movie Rainman this skit played a big role. Dustin Huffman would recite these lines whenever he became upset
thanks i was wracking my brain where i heard a reference to that sketch not understanding it because i didn't know it til now. So yeah it was Rainman.
So they were really popular comedy duo back in the 50s I believe ? Theyve been in a few movies as well . For English being your second language you speak it better then some of us Americans 😁
my folks loved this back in the day, i was little.
Commenters have said who these guys are. I’ll add that, while we don’t see them much today, they were still well known to pop culture when I was a kid in the 1970s - even though Costello died in 1959. Their old black & white movies would still run on TV and there’d been a cartoon series that ran on TV in syndication - every kid was well aware of them.
I grew up in the 1960's watching these two guys every Saturday afternoon. Their movies are funny. Thanks for watching this. Bringing back a lot of fond memories. A time when life was so much simpler. 😊
Blessings and ❤️ From the Great State of Texas 🇺🇸
Also please react to the other comedy skits they have. Just as good as this one. Abbott is the taller guy and Costello is the fast talking short guy 😄
Oh thank you. Is fair to say they are very famous?
@@european-reacts Very.
Classic Old School Comedy!
I love that you did this!! 😂
This is the first time I have been able to watch this in a very long time. My son & His best friend did that skit in the talent show in the 5th grade. (2010) His best friend died this last year. Thank you for doing this video It was so good To be able to laugh again at this Comedic gem.
Abbott & Costello started before movie theaters. There was something called vaudeville theaters. They were live acting events, music, and even burlesque shows. It was a variety show and appealed to a lot of people. It was very popular until movie theaters were everywhere. Abbott & Costello made the transition to movies and made a lot of them. They were very popular. Most of their movies are pretty funny, but “Who’s on First?” is their best. It’s also short and easy to watch.
Abbott & Costello by the time of this particular recording had been doing this routine for almost 20 years, one of the all time classic comedy skits
This comedy skit is still considered by many people, the greatest comedy routine ever performed.
English not being your first language, you understood the jokes faster than most Americans. Kudos to you.
Bud Abbot (the tall one) and Lou Costello started out in Radio, and during the war made many comedy movies, the baseball sketch was by far their most popular, and was regularly requested in live appearance like this one, so they had literally performed this sketch hundreds of times
This comedy skit is so famous and iconic that it is on display at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
At the time, they were the highest paid act in business. They went from a radio show to star in several movies and a weekly TV show. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is their best film. Costello is from Paterson. New Jersey
I’m so glad that you can understand and appreciate such a classic comedy sketch from America. I’m also glad that it was so well done that you don’t have to be super proficient in English to understand the joke. I think that’s why this sketch is so timeless.
I love Abbot and Costello. Yes it is a New York accent. I am 60 and watched all their movies in reruns on Sundays after church. They are a fuuny duo! I am an Italian American so most of my family had the same accent.
I think it's amazing that you caught onto this so fast. There are so many reactors that don't quite catch onto the joke. I've been watching this routine for 50 years and what gets me is how Costello can feign ignorance. It keeps the entire thing fresh.
Português de Portugal? Que legal! Maravilhoso!
Eu sou Americano mas minha esposa e Brasileira.
Parabéns para entender essas piadinhas.
Eu concordo… e muito deficil para entender e como eles podem fazer sem erros.
Eu estou mais impressionado que você conhece Seinfeld.
Seinfeld e muito legal mas isso é clássico!
Even as a Millennial, I grew up watching Abbot and Costello, they made hundreds of films, and their on screen/stage chemistry is second to none. I would recommend looking up their movies and watching them in your free time. Naughty Nineties, Hold that Ghost, Time of their Lives, Africa Screams, and just about any other one you can find.
These guys were geniuses, in their day, and nobody has topped them.
Abbot and Costello was one of the best comedy teams thru the the late 40's and 50's.They're movies were one of my all-time favorites as a young boy...everything they did was a classic and is highly recommended. They even had a tv show on every evening thru the 50's that i watched every night as a young boy. Funny man, Lou Costello, was Italian-American from my home town of Paterson,NJ....but I swear, we all didn't speak like that! 😂 Unfortunately, Lou died of a sudden heart arrack at the very young age of 52 yrs in Mar.1959.😢
They have a bunch of comedy movies as well, "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein" is one of my favorites.
Yes, this is quite possibly the most well crafted and perfectly executed comedy bit of all time.
This had to be practiced so much to not mess it up. My parents had some movies with these two.
Tim Conway is another great comedian from the past.
Yes! Tim Conway was great!
I just posted Carol Burnet's show with him. 😅
Carol Burnett is the boss of the show. She just had her 90th birthday celebration show. Her English friend, Julie Andrews joined her.
Tim Conway played the show straight in the afternoon. Then, in the evening show, he would try to break up the others, often successfully.
Before 1950 top three American sports
were 1) Baseball 2) College Football 3) Race Track (horses). Once a Television was in every American home and the country become more urbanized (less farms), then Pro Football became more popular
Lou Costello is from my hometown of Paterson, New Jersey. If you watch some of their movies you will notice that Lou always mentions Paterson somewhere in the movie.
With English not being your first language you understood and got the humor of it perfectly. It takes knowledge of English and Baseball to get it properly and you got it. I've seen some who spoke English that didn't get it. But the most impressive aspect of the skit is the incredible timing of Bud and Lou and how they were able to play off of each other so well. It's obvious they were so proud of and enjoyed doing their accomplishment: "Who's On First?"
There are many stories of a Chinese baseball player named Hu and the skit. Here's the most accurate one:
During the 2007 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers added an infielder named Chin-Lung Hu. After Hu singled in his third at bat in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 23, Dodgers announcer Vin Scully said, "OK everybody, all together... Hu's on first!"
I've also read that Vin Scully said, "I've been waiting 50 years to say this, "Hu's on first."
I have seen this video and heard this routine at least 1000 times. It never fails to crack me up. The funniest comedy routine ever!
I was watching them in the mid 50s. They did a couple of movies too. Very popular.
After all these years it's still funny because it's an almost flawless skit.
I was raised on comedy movies by Abbott and Costello. Always loved them.
Highly impressed that you can follow this with English as your second language! Well done! Your English is better than you claim! As a child in the 70s I watched their movies on weekend afternoons and just giggled all afternoon!
Around 1977 or so the youth group at the church my family attended had "vaudeville" night fundraiser and my older brother and one of the other boys around his age (they would have been about 12 or 13 at the time) did this sketch. They were both baseball players in the local Little League, and wore their uniforms for the sketch. I was about five at the time, and I was in stitches laughing at it, as it was the first time I'd ever seen it performed. It's definitely a classic, and it's so incredibly well done, in a way that has become increasingly rare in American comedy.
An icon during the 40's and 50's. And baseball is still king!!!
By the early 1930s, a "Baseball Routine" had become a standard bit in burlesque in the United States. Abbott's wife recalled him performing the routine with another comedian before teaming with Costello. Bud Abbott stated that it was taken from an older routine called "Who's the Boss?", a performance of which can be heard in an episode of the radio comedy program It Pays to Be Ignorant from the 1940s. After they formally teamed up in burlesque in 1936, he and Costello continued to hone the sketch. It was a big hit in the fall of 1937, when they performed the routine in a touring vaudeville revue called Hollywood Bandwagon.
I grew up watching Abbott and Costello movies as a kid. They would usually show them early Sunday morning on tv before Church. Other movies were the Bowery Boys, the Little Rascals, and Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.
they were quite famous in America. This skit actually made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame/Museum. I'm so glad you got the joke right away; a lot of people, including Americans, don't get it. Amazing!
In addition to comedy routines like this one, they also starred in a series of comedy monster films. Titles like Abbot & Costello meet Frankenstein, Abbot & Costello meet the Mummy. They made 36 movies together (not all of them were monster movies).
I was driving in Modesto CA in the 90's and the local radio station played this skit. I was laughing so hard that I had to pull over to avoid getting into an accident. I was not the only one - When I regained my composure I saw that there were about a dozen cars on the side of the road, with everyone that I could see, laughing hysterically!
The early days of television were all live, and were fertile grounds for comedians! Stand-ups like Abbott and Costello came through WWI and made it big on our tiny little TV screen in the 40s! (My father put together the first TV set in our hometown!) Other comedy shows thrived throughout the 50s and 60s. This routine by A & C was, in my opinion, never outdone, and it still survives as a lesson on comedy. They were geniuses. I loved your reaction, especially thinking about how difficult it might be to follow the rapid-fire dialog in a second language! It's hard enough in my first!
The genius of this timeless skit exist in the vagarie of language itself.
“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,[1] a version of which appears in their 1945 film The Naughty Nineties.
The team's first known radio broadcast was on The Kate Smith Hour on February 3, 1938.[3] At first, the similarities between their voices made it difficult for radio listeners (as opposed to stage audiences) to tell them apart during their rapid-fire repartee. As a result, Costello affected a high-pitched, childish voice. "Who's on First?" was first performed for a national radio audience the following month.[3] They performed on the program as regulars for two years, while also landing roles in a Broadway revue, The Streets of Paris, in 1939.[5]
Abbott and Costello on radio (note Abbott without toupee normally worn in films)
After debuting their own program, The Abbott and Costello Show, as Fred Allen's summer replacement in 1940,[6] Abbott and Costello joined Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy on The Chase and Sanborn Hour in 1941. Two of their films (Hold That Ghost and Buck Privates) were adapted for radio that year. Hold That Ghost was presented as a half-hour adaptation on August 1, 1941 on Louella Parsons' Hollywood Premiere,[7] and Buck Privates was presented on Lux Radio Theatre as a one-hour adaptation on October 13, 1941.[8] Their program returned in its own weekly time slot starting on October 8, 1942, with Camel cigarettes as sponsor.
The Abbott and Costello Show mixed comedy with musical interludes (by vocalists such as Connie Haines, Ashley Eustis, the Delta Rhythm Boys, Skinnay Ennis, Marilyn Maxwell and the Les Baxter Singers).
In January 1951, Abbott and Costello joined the roster of rotating hosts of The Colgate Comedy Hour on NBC. (Eddie Cantor and Martin and Lewis were among the others.) Each show was a live hour of vaudeville in front of an audience, revitalizing the comedians' performances and giving their old routines a new sparkle.”
They were very famous in the 1950's when I was a kid.