# Burton Cummings Is... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527 "2011-11-20T06:16:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/1 "2011-11-20T06:16:09Z")
[Gordon Lightfoot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jlmcx06aiAI&feature=related) [Elvis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSj5kQJeC4k&feature=related) [Bobby Darin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m32GcGy_KTU&feature=related) [Fats Domino](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7un7UCORBU&feature=related) I have no idea when this is from, but I was looking for something unrelated and ran across the Gordon Lightfoot skit and thought it was pretty funny. You can’t deny, it was pretty spot on (and creative). I assume Burton must have had some sort of late night skit show. There’s a few more of you go through sidebar on the youtube sight. Also… Burton Cummings has, what’s probably [good advice](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-e5qPusCH8&feature=related) for Justin Beiber and most other pop stars that can’t define themselves as singer/songwriters. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/2 "2011-11-20T07:24:27Z")
Guess Who? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/3 "2011-11-20T17:44:50Z")
Thanks for that. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/4 "2011-11-20T18:54:09Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > Guess Who? > > 😃 I dunno. Who? 😃 Dammit, the Credibilty Gap’s version of “Who’s on First” isn’t online. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/5 "2011-11-20T23:01:44Z")
SCTV did a skit where there was a concert, and they riffed the “Who’s on first” with bands such as the Who, the Guess Who, Yes, and probably others. Can’t find it on youtube however. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/6 "2011-11-20T23:04:13Z")
It’s not everyday you see a good Gordon Lightfoot imitation. At least not in the 48 contiguous. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/7 "2011-11-20T23:32:05Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > It’s not everyday you see a good Gordon Lightfoot imitation. At least not in the 48 contiguous. If it makes a difference, The Guess Who (and Burton) are Canadian as well. I’m just curious what happened to his mustache in some of those skits. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/8 "2011-11-21T03:01:29Z")
Speaking of SCTV, and Gordon Lightfoot: [link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F08b_d_Sh0g) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/9 "2011-11-21T03:27:29Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > SCTV did a skit where there was a concert, and they riffed the “Who’s on first” with bands such as the Who, the Guess Who, Yes, and probably others. Can’t find it on youtube however. They did, although it was almost certainly, um, derived from a very similar sketch done by The Credibility Gap several years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/10 "2011-11-21T04:32:27Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Speaking of SCTV, and Gordon Lightfoot: [link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F08b_d_Sh0g) You beat me to it! It’s been 30 years since that aired, and I still can’t hear a Gordon Lightfoot song without thinking of that ad. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/11 "2011-11-21T04:49:46Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > They did, although it was almost certainly, um, derived from a very similar sketch done by The Credibility Gap The 90s cartoon show Animaniacs must have seen either SCTV or the Credibility Gap [too.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlXjIg4fH74) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/12 "2011-11-21T17:27:36Z")
As a group The Credibility Gap are forgotten today, although their members’ names are mostly familiar (Harry Shearer, David Lander, Michael McKean). At the time, though, they were part of the Golden Age of comedy albums (not stand-up, but skit-based comedy) along with the Ace Trucking Company, the Committee, the Conception Corporation, Duck’s Breath Mystery Theater, and the transcendental geniuses who comprised the Firesign Theatre. They (mostly) emerged from the same improv comedy scene as longer lasting troupes like The Second City, but they got a national audience with the records that Second City never had, even when they did touring companies. You can see their influence all over later comedy and about a million of their routines are classics, with hardly anybody knowing where they came from. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/13 "2011-11-21T22:18:01Z")
The only youtube I could find of the Credibility Gap who’s on first [routine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG8cGMbzmI8), animated but at least you get the lines ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burton-cummings-is/603527/14 "2011-12-09T21:25:33Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > They (mostly) emerged from the same improv comedy scene as longer lasting troupes like The Second City, but they got a national audience with the records that Second City never had, even when they did touring companies. Oops. Better throw away my Second City album, now that I know it doesn’t exist. 😃