# Do you think Who's on First is funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2020, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018 "2020-03-06T16:21:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/21 "2020-03-06T17:39:32Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > It’s not funny; it’s hilarious. Kitsch phrasing? Repetitious? Slightly oddball? Yeah, this would seem to be right up your alley. (The only thing better would be if it went somewhere and threw something, right?) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/22 "2020-03-06T17:42:00Z")
I find it just as funny as when I first heard it. Costello’s frustration is still a high point. You probably don’t like the pellet with the poison, either. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/23 "2020-03-06T17:45:45Z")
Absolutely hilarious. Still is. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/24 "2020-03-06T17:47:19Z")
Third base! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/25 "2020-03-06T17:50:12Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > As a baseball fan, I’ve suffered through the foul smelling excrement that is the ‘comedy’ routine of Who’s on First. > > It sucks! Maybe I had to be there. Maybe comedy doesn’t age well. Regardless, it’s awful and I’m glad it seems be dying a slow boomer death. You won’t see it during a baseball rain delay any longer. > > [https://youtu.be/kTcRRaXV-fg](https://youtu.be/kTcRRaXV-fg) Abbott and Costello first did the routine in 1938. It was derived from turn-of-the-century vaudeville bits. So your gratuitous slap at Boomers is unwarranted. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/26 "2020-03-06T17:59:01Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Abbott and Costello first did the routine in 1938. It was derived from turn-of-the-century vaudeville bits. So your gratuitous slap at Boomers is unwarranted. I was thinking the same thing. This thing was old when I was a kid. I sometimes think these youngins are going to start blaming boomers for the civil war. And yes it was, and still is, funny. ---
**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:** [March 6, 2020, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/27 "2020-03-06T18:16:36Z")
When I was a kid I begged my parents to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The thing I remember most was finding the Who’s on First routine. It was the funniest thing I’d ever read. I’ve heard it and seen it a million times since. The words are clever, but for real humor you have to find a great rendition, since the level of hilarity completely depends on Costello’s timing and tone of incredulity. What’s amazing is that nobody is sure who wrote the sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/28 "2020-03-06T18:30:24Z")
The first time you hear the routine, it’s because you never heard it before. The last time you hear the routine, it’s because you \*have \*heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/29 "2020-03-06T18:57:05Z")
I’ve heard it many times, and I still laugh. Not as hard as I did the first time I heard it, but I still laugh. My daughter attended a high school for the visual and performing arts. I went with her to the orientation session in the school’s auditorium, and it closed with two theatre students doing “Who’s on First?” I had my doubts that a bunch of fourteen-year-olds would appreciate the humor, but they all thoroughly enjoyed it. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/30 "2020-03-06T19:02:45Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > What’s amazing is that nobody is sure who wrote the sketch. Its origins go way back: > **[Who's on First?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who%27s_on_First%3F)** > > "Who's on First?" is a comedy routine made famous by American comedy duo Abbott and Costello. The premise of the sketch is that Abbott is identifying the players on a baseball team for Costello. However, the players' names can simultaneously serve as the basis for questions (e.g., "Who is the first baseman?") and responses (e.g., "The first baseman's name is Who."), leading to reciprocal misunderstanding and growing frustration between the performers. Although it is commonly known as "Who's on ... ---
**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:** [March 6, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/31 "2020-03-06T19:03:27Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I _think_ this was also done on _Eight is Enough_ in 1981 - there’s definitely a “three bands” version, but I am not sure if they were The Who, The Guess Who, and Yes. A similar version from _Animaniacs_, with The Band, along with The Who and Yes: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Mdqv5xIsFLM/hqdefault.jpg "Slappy Squirrel - Who's on Stage?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mdqv5xIsFLM) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/32 "2020-03-06T19:08:34Z")
I think it’s hilarious. I used to have a poster with the entire routine on it (it was publicizing the book _Who’s on First_, and featured Al Hirschfeld caricatures of Abbott and Costello). They took similar vaudeville routines and refined them and extended them into a masterpiece of the form. It evolves from some very simple wordplay into a more complex routine, as Costello’s character at first thinks he’s starting to figure it out – he thinks the players name is “naturally” – but, of course, his logic is off, and his attempts to work everything out results in failure and more frustration, so he finally thinks “the hell with it” and unconsciously goes with the flow. Time and repetition have surely made the bit stale for a lot of folks, but I find that when I listen to the full routine (as in the movie _The Naughty Nineties_ – there are also shorter versions in other films, TV shows, and radio recordings) I find myself cracking up. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/33 "2020-03-06T19:14:38Z")
xxx ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/34 "2020-03-06T19:18:47Z")
It’s so well known and repeated and parodied, at this point it’s beyond funny or not funny. It just is. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/35 "2020-03-06T19:21:41Z")
Once you know a joke, repetition is only tolerable when the performance is the thing to be appreciated. Palin and Cleese have performed the Parrot Sketch countless times to both uproarious laughter and embarrassing silence (remember that disastrous SNL performance?) The words are exactly the same, but the performances are not. Nobody has done Who’s on First better than Abbot and Costello, and, probably, nobody has done it worse. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/36 "2020-03-06T19:51:58Z")
It’s better than old Xmas carols we’ve heard a zillion times. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/37 "2020-03-06T20:07:55Z")
Yes, funny. Calling it part of Boomerism, hilarious! I think of it, and some of the Marx Brothers, as part of cultural literacy. It was part of broadly introducing Vaudeville bits to the general American public and became a form to emulate in broad popular culture. It is a referential touchpoint now more than anything else. That said the misunderstanding each other format of funny goes back for … forever? At least the Greek comedies and probably before as soon as language developed! One step above pokes in the eyes nyuck nyuck. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/38 "2020-03-06T20:17:10Z")
Embarrassed to admit that as a young boy I felt the same frustration as poor Mr. Costello for the first several exchanges. I mean the guy is asking simple straight forward questions, even giving examples to help the one giving answers. Why? WHY can’t the gentleman just give a straight answer (the great uncles on both sides of my family were semi-reformed confidence men who LOVED to make other men look stupid [even very young ones under four feet tall]). So when I learned I had been the butt of the joke (along with the frustrated Mr. Costello), I laughed at myself extensively. How clever to catch me and the rest of America so very flatfooted!! I also believe this routine to be the inspiration for the funniest moment in the entire Airplane! Movie franchise: Witness: “No, we lost Howie the next day” Lawyer: “Over Macho Grande?” Witness: “No…… I don’t think I’ll ever be over Macho Grande. (pause) Those wounds run . . pretty deep.” The misdirection is perfect – just like paying Who’s/whose wife the first baseman’s salary. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/39 "2020-03-06T20:41:45Z")
It’s still quite funny even after seeing it a hundred times. It was hilarious the first time. My favorite version is the one from the first season of Kids in the Hall. “Oh! I see the problem here. You’re confused because their names all sound like questions!” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018/40 "2020-03-06T20:47:26Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > My favorite version is the one from the first season of Kids in the Hall. “Oh! I see the problem here. You’re confused because their names all sound like questions!” See post #19 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-whos-on-first-is-funny/849018.md?page=3)