Comedy fans and aspiring comedians take note. Here is a fest: the great comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello performing their famous, hilarious burlesque-derived Susquehanna Hat Company skit. In two versions — each with its own character and comedy flow.
First: a version from one of their early movies from the 40s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WIQ67vRg6c&feature=PlayList&p=2AC5D99EA4C3965D&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4
Second: a version done more than 10 years after the one above for their still-fresh-as-new TV comedy show. I like this one better. The timing of Costello (who would die in 1959 at age 52 of heart disease) was impeccable — and it has a classic ad-libbed appearance at the end by Joe Besser, one of the least loved Curley replacement Three Stooges, as the little kid brat Stinky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ7czHix9zU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.google.com%2Fvideosearch%3Fhl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial%26hsiurl%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fi1.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FtQ7czHix9zU%2Fhqdefault.jpg&feature=player_embedded
If you want to watch more of Abbott and Costello’s great work you can buy it HERE.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.