I’ve also never heard “Niagara Falls”
But then, a friend and I did “Who’s on First” for a talent night in college. Of course, people laughed (it’s great material) but the number of people afterwards who came up and told us that it was really funny and original was truly scary.
Apparently it’s not universally known. (And I have serious doubts as to how far the Dead Parrot sketch has seeped into the minds of ordinary citizens.)
Who’s on first?
Dead Parrot.
Vitameatavegamin.
Lucy and the chocolates.
A little googling turns up that it was an old burlesque bit but I couldnt find a link to a transcript of it. Anyone?
The “Niagara Falls” bit was probably the biggest thing around when Abbott and Costello did it. It predated them in vaudeville.
Here’s a transcript of the routine. Nothing can compare to seeing it. IT was later? used by the Three Stooges.
Upon reading the OP, my first thought was “Who’s on First.”
This is a very old and respected circuis routiene called the “lupino mirror”
You were considered a comedic master if you mastered it to european standards
Does it count if it’s part of a movie?
How about the conveyor belt scene in Modern Times?
Who’s on First is definitely the clear winner here. For runner-up, I would nominate not Spam, not Dead Parrot, but Nudge Nudge. It seems like everyone, even people who aren’t Python fans, have a vague idea of Nudge Nudge. Or maybe it’s just the kind of thing you don’t really need to “get” to pick up and enjoy.
As far as SNL goes, well, so many of their famous bits are recurring characters or catchphrases, famous in toto and not so much as “sketches” per se. I’d say the most famous sketches proper on SNL are 1) Lorne Michaels trying to reunite the Beatles, 3) the “job interview” sketch with Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor, and 3) Land Shark. (Yes, I go for the classics.)
If you’re judging by today’s popularity standards, one of the more recent famous comedy sketches is Celebrity Jeopardy on SNL. There’re very few college students in America who have never seen or heard of these skits. I would have to agree though with those who say that the “Who’s on First?” skit wins out for all-time famous.
Step by step, inch by inch…
Maybe this is MY ignorance showing, but I thought that was a nod to Buster Keaton, not Chaplin.
Slight hijack from the OP, but Animaniacs, a few years ago, had a fantastically hilarious homage to “Who’s On First.” It took place at Woodstock, and it concerned The Band, The Who, and Yes.
I just tried to find a link, but haven’t been able to locate one yet. Suffice it to say, it went something like this:
Slappy Squirrel: What’s the name of the band?
Nephew: Who
Slappy: The band on stage
Nephew: Who
Slappy: You’re starting to sound like an owl. Is there a band on stage?
Nephew: Yes.
Slappy: Does the band have a name?
Nephew: Yes.
Slappy: Is Yes the name of the band?
Nephew: No, Aunt Slappy. Yes isn’t even AT this concert.
Actually, I appear to have located audio to the Slappy Squirrel/Who’s On First homage:
http://www.giffer.com/public/dos/pjokes/jokes008.htm,/url]
Disclaimer: I make no guarantees as to the quality of the info. The sound is down on my computer at the moment, so I wasn’t able to listen to it.
Fixed link
I’m not so sure - this thread is the first I hear of it, and judging by the transcript, I take it it’s based on baseball announcing? That’s a very American sport - so doesn’t translate very well overseas, I think. It seems a very localised idiom. Also, Abbot and Costello? Who they? Like Laurel and Hardy? or the Three Stooges?
I’d go with the mirror one, personally - I know I’ve seen it in at least a dozen different cartoons, for instance. And live versions, too.
Another similar one would be the running through different doors in a corridor one, I’m sure I’ve seen that dozens of times too.
I think the parrot sketch is only really famous in those 2 circles know as Anglophiles (including the English themselves) and Geeks.
Who’s On First? - Undoubtedly the most famous and possibly the most parodied.
Another “rock band” version of this is 1) the Who 2) Guess Who and 3) Yes.
A few years ago, Charlie Sheen and Rachel Dratch on “Saturday Night Live” did a version of this where Charlie is asking about prostitutes and what each one does.
Amazing to think that a 50 year old sketch (or parodies thereof) can still get laughs.
I disagree. We’re supposed to be talking about a comedy skit here. 
Not being a bit parochial here, are you? You may find that wordlwide MP and their dead parrot are rather better known than a skit about a sport that most people (worldwide) know next to nothing about. For example, I saw “Who’s on First” for the first time about two weeks ago. And I’ve no idea what Niagara Falls is (apart from being a waterfall or two).
I’ve never heard of it. Can you provide a link please?
Python’s parrot and spam and nudge skits are certainly classics,but for my moolah,“The Argument” is as funny as the other three all rolled together.
Benny’s"I’m thinking,I’m thinking" sketch supposedly got the longest sustained laughter on TV,at least at the time,and may still hold the record. I hope so. I loved Jack Benny.
English person here. Despite the baseball setting “Who’s on first” still came to mind first, followed by the Ex Parrot.
I heard an A&C version on the radio a while back and thought it started funny but went on too long.