MovieChat Forums > The Naughty Nineties (1945) Discussion > a different version of Who's on First

a different version of Who's on First


Been looking for this in several places and nothing has turned up....Years ago, I heard a version of Who's on First where Lou, upon getting to the part when Bud says,"I don't know, third base", repeats the line simultaneously and then ad-libs, "now I know it just as good as you!'. At a second pass at that part of the routine Lou then shouts, "Now I know it BETTER than You!". I can't recall if it was a video or audio version, but this certainly predates YouTube, etc so the medium I heard it on was probably audio but doesn't mean it was a filmed segment of the skit. Might have been on the Kate Smith show as I think this version was when they were younger. Any help is appreciated.......

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They had several versions over the years. The movie version of course, but I had a cassette tape years ago taken from radio that was slightly different. And I have a VCR tape of their old TV show where it's almost entirely different. Sometimes I think they had a loose framework and ad-libbed the rest.

A heart can be broken, but it still keeps a-beatin' just the same.

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One Night in the Tropics (1941). A&B's first film. Although Costello was a stuntman in the mid twenties it was the first screen appearance for Abbott.

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The story is Bud and Lou could make “Who’s on First” fit almost any length they needed to fill. It could be short, say four minutes, or up to 8 or 9 minutes if needed. I used to have a cd that had a live version of the routine, and there was one really fascinating part where you can hear Bud say, “Come on now, get it over with!” It’s right after Lou hollers, “Same as you! Same as you!” There’s a lot of laughter, but you can hear Bud direct Lou to wrap it up.

Abbott and Costello had perfect timing.

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