My Favorite Comedy Team

Abbott & Costello

Okay, they lack the comic genius and charm of Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy, the zany intensity of the Marx Bros. , but nobody translated burlesque comedy to the screen better than these two guys.  In other words, nobody was better at being Bud and Lou than Bud and Lou.  Certainly no other team got more laughs out of the National past time than Abbott and Costello.   "Who's on First?" and most of their other top routines have a timeless quality.  Although their personal story was not necessarily a happy one, the legacy of their radio, TV and film performances is what's important.  Fifty years after Lou Cotello's death they are srill making us laugh.

The team is best appreciated by viewing their films.  My all time favorite is HOLD THAT GHOST!  It was the first of their films to play their comedy against against a mystery/horror background.  It was a formulae that produced suprisingly effective comic moments.  It was also a very successful format for the team and one that would inspire much imitation.  HTG featured inspired moments with Joan Davis (who I always thought was a funnier comedienne than Lucy) and a gag where Costello's room keeps transforming into a casino.

They made many more great pictures throughout their career.  Other favorites of mine included:  WHO DONE IT?, PARDON MY SARONG, LOST IN A HAREM, THE NAUGHTY NINETIES and HIT THE ICE.  Some films were stronger, some were weaker, but most delivered solid laughs, even in films late in their career like ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY.  By the time Bud and Lou were on TV in the mid-Fifties hard living and hard times were taking their toll.  But to paraphrase Mark Evanier:  "Even bad Abbott & Costello is better than none!"

Thankfully the best of their work has been preserved on DVD.

"HEYYYY ABBOTTT!"