MINDFULNESS, BURLESQUE COMEDY AND MONOMANIA

One of my life-long interests (academic and otherwise) has been burlesque---especially the ‘old school,’ ‘golden age,’ classical type of American burlesque with, yes, a moderate amount of striptease---provided it is more ‘tease’ than ‘strip’---as well as, most importantly, baggy pants comedy that goes to the right degree of anarchic bawdiness and surreal silliness.

Famed ecdysiast (that is, stripper) Ann Corio [pictured left], who was sometimes referred to as the ‘Queen of Burlesque,’ once said---indeed, she said it many times---that burlesque without the comedy and the comics was, well, not burlesque at all. I tend to agree. Modern-day burlesque, for the most part, is little more than no-holds-barred, bare-faced (and bare everything else) striptease, the sole aim of which is erotic stimulation. (Don’t get me wrong. I’m no prude.) Gone are the comics---with only a few exceptions. Go back to the start of last century, and the burlesque comic was the acknowledged star of the show. Of that there was no doubt. Even the strippers were conscripted into the blackout sketches as walk-ons or in more substantial roles. For example, the one and only Gypsy Rose Lee, in her later years, proudly recalled playing small comedic roles in such sketches as ‘Floogle Street’ (see below) and the Kafkaesque ‘Pay the Two Dollars’ (the latter written by Billy K Wells [burlesque’s most proficient writer] and comic Willie Howard, based on an idea by Finley Peter Dunne, Jr), two of my favourite ‘bits.’

Vaudeville had its ‘circuits,’ and burlesque had its ‘wheels.’ Both had their comedians or comics. Some of the great burlesque comedians in the United States of America were Abbott and Costello [pictured right], The Three Stooges, Joe Besser and Joe DeRita (both of whom, in their later years, were also members, one [DeRita] after the other [Besser], of The Three Stooges [as ‘Joe,’ and ‘Curly-Joe,’ respectively], with DeRita having also worked in burlesque with both Bud Abbott and Red Skelton), Gallagher and Shean (Al Shean being the uncle of The Marx Brothers), Will Rogers, W C Fields, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, Al Jolson, Eddie Cantor, Joe Weber and Lew Fields, Sid Fields, Joe E Brown, Ed Wynn, Murray Leonard, Leon Errol, Smith and Dale, Harry ‘Zoup’ Welsh, Bert Lahr, Rags Ragland, Buster Keaton, Joe Penner, Red Buttons, Red Skelton, Danny Kaye, Jack Albertson, Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, Jackie Gleason, Danny Thomas, Phil Silvers, Joey Faye, Herbie Faye, Joe E Ross, Morey Amsterdam, Robert Alda, and even Bob Hope (whom I saw perform in Sydney, Australia on two different occasions). They were all giants of both physical and verbal comedy---and I have laughed at them all. (‘Poor you,’ I hear some readers saying, or at least thinking. Others will be saying, ‘Who the hell are those people?’ All I can say in reply is, ‘You crazy, youuuuu!’ [with more than a little nod to the late Joe Besser].)

Now, in his wonderful book The Best Burlesque Sketches the late Ralph Allen wrote:

… The Burlesque show appeals to our inner passion for anarchy. It appeals also to our desire to renounce the painful effort of intelligence and behave as creatures of instinct not of will. …

The structure of a typical burlesque scene is a critique of common sense. And a critique also of sentiment. Pathos, of course, is another form of moral restraint, and Burlesque delighted in making fun of it.

Advertisement, Empire Theatre, Newark, New Jersey

Spot on. Burlesque presents a proletarian and egalitarian world-view, free from inhibitions and restraints of all kinds, be they social, cultural, political, moral or religious. You see, nothing, absolutely nothing, was too serious or sacred not to be mocked, belittled, ridiculed, or satirised in burlesque---and that included such things as love, lust, sex, marriage, religion, and even mental illness (shock, horror!). Yes, some of the most famous burlesque skits portrayed some form of insanity or monomania in full flight, generally accompanied with animalistic acts of violence and other grotesqueries of an almost ‘cartoon’ and hyper-realistic (if not surrealistic) kind. Monomania is not a term that is widely used in psychology and psychiatry these days, but it refers to some form or other of partial (or temporary) insanity conceived as a single pathological and obsessive preoccupation---be it emotional or intellectual---in an otherwise sound mind.

Take, for example, the famous burlesque chestnut known as ‘Floogle [sometimes spelled ‘Flugel,’ 'Flugle' or ‘Fleugel’] Street’ (and also known as ‘Which Way is Floogle [ditto] Street?’). A variant of it, as performed in the Abbott and Costello film In Society, is ‘Bagel Street’ (which is also known as ‘Susquehanna Hat Company’). In the A&C version, every time the words ‘Bagel Street’ or ‘Susquehanna Hat Company’ are spoken by the hapless patsy Lou Costello (who is trying to deliver a carton of straw hats to the Susquehanna Hat Company [or, in some versions, the Paskuniak Hat Company] located on that street), some third person in the form of a passerby---and there are several such passersby in the course of the routine---goes into a monomaniacal rage or frenzy. (The background to this routine is interesting, involving a strike at a hat factory, and a person who is hired as a strikebreaker without knowing it. He’s the one delivering the hats to the hat company, only to be confronted by a number of very angry strikers---the poor schlemiel. The story was reworked in burlesque for comic effect.) Anyway, here is one version of the immortal sketch, this one taken from In Society ...

It has been noted that quintessential burlesque sketches such as ‘Floogle Street’ feature other thematic displays---some of them being tasteless and quite politically incorrect these days---for example, displays or at least suggestions of such things as nymphomania (hypersexuality), necrophilia, tic douloureux (trigeminal neuralgia), and cleft palate. Some of these can be seen in the A&C version above. It seems that the secret of burlesque is this---the more tasteless the better. There is no place for any pity, pathos or sentimentality in burlesque comedy. Those emotions are full of moral pretence, and burlesque has no time for moralising of any kind.

There is a very similar monomaniacal motif in that other great burlesque rough-house but word-heavy routine known as ‘Niagara Falls’ (which is also known as ‘Slowly I Turned,’ ‘Slowly I Turn,’ ‘The Stranger with a Kind Face,’ ‘Pokomoko,’ and ‘Martha’). I have read that Joey Faye was the author of both ‘Floogle Street’ and ‘Niagara Falls,’ but several others have laid claim to the authorship of the latter, including Harry Steppe (who was a former burlesque partner of Bud Abbott, before the latter teamed up with Lou Costello) and Samuel Goldman, and I have also read that Billy K Wells wrote ‘Floogle Street’ in 1918 (which is probably the case). 

Having said that, most, if not all, of these classic well-travelled  and widely copied routines routines were the work of a number of people over time, with later comedians adding their own peculiar shtick to the work of others. In this sketch the comic meets a down-and-outer (the straight man) whose life---and sanity---have been ruined by his unfaithful wife. The down-and-outer goes into an absolute frenzy just at the mention of the words ‘Niagara Falls,’ being the place where he caught his wife and the guy who stole her from him ...

‘Niagara Falls! Slow-w-ly I turned. Step by step---inch by inch---I crept upon him. And when I got close enough I grabbed him by the throat---and I choked him--- (Beats up on COMIC.) ---and I hit him and strangled and bit and kicked and--- (COMIC is on the floor---STRAIGHT MAN suddenly comes out of it.) Oh! What are you doing down there?’

Here, then, is a near-seamless presentation of one version of this time-honoured standard routine, masterfully performed by the great Sid Fields (who wrote a version of the routine that has been performed by many great performers over the years) and the hapless patsy Lou Costello:

For those who are interested, here’s another version of the routine, done by TV greats Lucille Ball and Phil Silvers with great timing and precision ...

'Floogle Street' and 'Niagara Falls' are a type of burlesque sketch known as 'The Rave,' in which the performer gets dramatic and rants and raves. Frustration and rage are the  defining emotions in these sketches. 

And this post would not be complete without a passing reference to the surreal ‘Crazy House’ (also known as the ‘Nut House’) sketch in which, in one popular version of the sketch performed often by Abbott and Costello, our comic anti-hero checks himself into a 'clinic' to get some rest, only to be confronted and humiliated by the increasingly zany and anarchic antics of a series of grotesque walk-ons and their various bizarre and intrusive set-ups. In the original form of the sketch an applicant for a job in a mental hospital is mistaken for one of the inmates. This brilliant old warhorse also reveals old-time burlesque’s fascination with insanity, mental asylums, ‘rest homes,’ and so-called ‘crazy people.’ Remember, these were very early days for psychiatry, which was yet to be recognised as a separate medical specialty in its own right. (In many hospitals, the mental health needs of patients were attended to by neurologists.) Oh, there’s also this version of ‘Crazy House’ presented by Ann Corio. It’s very faithful to the way it was usually done in the burlesque houses of yesteryear ...

All of these absurd, but very funny, burlesque sketches have one thing in common. Well, they have many things in common, but this one is very important to the achievement of the overall humour, namely, that there is, in both form and content, an ever-escalating sense of unreality. The sketch builds and builds in silliness, and you get swept along with it all. You see, for all the anarchic and uninhibited silliness, good burlesque comedy has a certain logic about it---an internal order, structure, and overall coherence. It is never static, but always dynamic. It is a living thing … and it is a work of art. That is how I and many others see it. I never get tired of watching these skits over and over again. They are so very clever---and funny---and they hold a mirror up to life, enabling us to become aware of life’s ‘as-it-is-ness’ … in all of its gross absurdity.

Steel Pier (Atlantic City, New Jersey) handbill from 1938.

Note that the two famous comedy teams The Three Stooges

and Abbott and Costello were appearing in different stage shows
at the Steel Pier at the same time.

Billy Minsky's Republic Theatre, 42nd Street, New York City

Now, what has all this burlesque comedy stuff got to do with mindfulness, you may be asking? Well, as I see it, we are all a bit monomaniacal. ‘Speak for yourself, Ellis-Jones!’ Well, I am---and whether you like it or not I am also speaking for you … and you … and you. You see, we all get ourselves into a state---or our minds tend to get fixated on some more-or-less automatic reflex thought, idea, emotion, or memory---that goes into flight when the right trigger presents itself. ‘Snap’ … and there’s the reaction. It’s like this. We experience a ‘sensation’ of some sort or other, which may be physical or mental (including, of course, emotional). If we react to that sensation with ‘liking’ or ‘disliking’---that is, with craving, attachment or aversion---that is karma. The word karma means 'action'---in this case mental action in the form of a mindless, involuntary reaction to some input. The result? Pain, suffering, distress, frenzy … and even temporary insanity! However, if, on the other hand, we simply allow ourselves to be dispassionately and choicelessly aware of the sensation, then there is no ‘cause’ to produce any pain, suffering or distress. In other words, no reaction, no cause … and no effect.

The important thing, as I see it, is to take the cause-and-effect process back one step earlier. In much self-help literature, the primary emphasis is on avoiding negative thinking, and instead thinking positively, and the like, the rationale being that negative thoughts lead to negative results, whereas positive thoughts will inevitably lead to positive results---an obvious but debatable proposition. However, if we go back a step, and when something happens we simply do not allow a reaction (eg liking or disliking) to arise in the first place. In other words, we simply let the sensation (input) be. Then there will be no opportunity for any negative thought to arise at all. That is the way the so-called 'law' of karma really works. That is the way to mindfully ‘work’ the law of cause and effect (or 'sowing and reaping'). 

So, how best can we prevent or avoid that mindless, involuntary, seemingly automatic, even unconscious, reaction to some input (whether internal or external)? 

Well, cognitive behavioural therapy can assist, as can other forms of psychotherapy as well as mental cultivation of various kinds. Mindfulness can be particularly helpful, because it teaches us to ‘watch,’ ‘observe,’ and ‘wait.’ Instead of reacting like some sort of automaton we learn to simply be aware---choicelessly. Yes, it takes time, and much practice, but we can teach ourselves to put some ‘space’ or ‘distance’ between the observing person each of us and the event---internal or external---that, but for a mindful mind, results in a reaction.

Burlesque is a mindset and an attitude---and a way of looking at life, with directness and immediacy. So is mindfulness.

‘Slow-w-ly I turned. Step by step---inch by inch.’ Well, put some slow-w-ness---that is, watchfulness---into the turning of your mind … from one moment to the next. It will work wonders in your life.

IMPORTANT NOTICES

1. See the Terms of Use and Disclaimer. The information provided on this blogspot is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your medical practitioner or other qualified health provider because of something you have read on this blogspot. For immediate advice or support call Lifeline on 13 1 1 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800. For information, advice and referral on mental illness contact the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) go online via sane.org

2. Images of Lucille Ball are licensed by Desilu, too, LLC. Licensing by Unforgettable Licensing. All Rights Reserved. The licensable images of Abbott and Costello, the routine ‘Who's on First’ and other routines and materials of and by Abbott and Costello are controlled material of the Estates of the Late Bud Abbott and the Late Lou Costello. All rights reserved. The various clips (courtesy YouTube) are presented here for entertainment, nonprofit and non-commercial purposes only. There is no intention to infringe copyright or any other controlled material. This post, and the blog site itself, are solely for informational and educational purposes that are entirely non-profit and non-commercial in nature, intent and actuality.

RELATED POSTS

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO ON MINDFULNESS

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE ZEN MASTERS

PIERCING THE MOMENT WITH MINDFULNESS

MINDFULNESS AND OBSESSIONAL THOUGHTS

LORD BUCKLEY AND THE EVER-SO-HIP ART OF MINDFULNESS

‘Hipsters, flipsters and finger-poppin' daddies, knock me your lobes!’ That's 'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears,' in hip-speak.

Sadly, whole generations of people have never heard of this man Lord Buckley (pictured left as well as below), who, by the way, was not a real lord but he certainly sounded like a very aristocratic one when he wanted to. Why, in addition to his waxed moustache, he even wore a pith helmet at times along with his tuxedo. (Then, again, so did Groucho Marx on whose quiz show Buckley appeared in October 1956.)

His Royal Hipness Lord Buckley, who was one of the most influential figures in the American counterculture movement---he was a veritable 'Hip Messiah'---died over 50 years ago, and even in his own lifetime he never enjoyed more than a small jazz subculture cult following. Having said that, Buckley was a giant in what he did. ‘And what did he do?’, I hear you ask. Well, he was the ‘hippest cat of them all’ in the Beat era. I guess that doesn’t mean much to you either. No. Well, he had been a vaudevillian---ha, that’s been gone even longer----and a raconteur and monologist extraordinaire. No, he wasn’t a comedian as such, but he was very, very funny in a ‘black’ humour sort of way.

Perhaps the best way to describe Buckley is to say that he was a comic philosopher, actually a jazz philosopher. He was certainly a philosopher in the original sense of the word---a lover of truth. As for the jazz, well, he specialised in rhythmic hipster word-jazz---spoken jazz with scat---having taken onboard the slang and the rhythms of the black jazz musician along with the entire street language of black America. Yes, he was a strange mixture of pseudo-English toff, Sunday black preacher (no, he wasn’t an African-American), off-beat orator, storyteller, philosophy teacher, satirist, rapper (before its time), beatnik, 'flower child' (before there really were any), and, well, all-round hipster and 'personality.' What with his 'hip semantic' (that is, his own unique bop lingo ['bop talk']), Buckley's 'hipsomatic' retellings of Bible stories, Shakespeare and other literary works remain classics to behold to this very day. Yes, he was, in the words of one commentator, a 'white master of black patois.'

The hip-hopping, six times married Buckley, complete with his own 'royal court,' even founded his own 'church'---the first ever 'jazz religion'---known as the ‘Church of the Living Swing.’ To his undying credit, Buckley hated all forms of humbuggery including, most especially, organised religion, but he was very religious (‘spiritual’, we would say today) in his own way. Laughter, he said, is 'truly religious.' He also preached that only love could save the world, in the knowledge that if anything was divine, well, it had to do with people like you and me. 'I'm a people worshipper, myself,' he would say. 'I think that people should worship people. I really do.' And often he would utter these words to his audience---his acolytes---ever so respectfully and sincerely, and with a regal air: ‘M'Lords, M'Ladies ... beloveds, would it embarrass you very much if I were to tell you ... that I love you? It embarrasses you, doesn't it? Mmm.’ Buckley also said this: ‘The flowers, the gorgeous mystic, multi-coloured flowers are not the flowers of life, but people, yes people, are the true flowers of life.’ And this: 'Let me hip you to a little something brothers and sisters---When you make love – make it!' Beautiful stuff.

I first heard of Lord Buckley when I was in my late teens. That's about 40 years ago, counting daylight savings time. I heard this track on a comedy LP record, and I have dug Buckley ever since. Buckley had style---and class---and he had the knack of being able to capture and put into rhythmic words---yes, spoken jazz---the minutiae of life in all its glory and occasional decadence. Yes, he was an eccentric, but we need more of those people---not less. Clever people---truly talented people---are always eccentric. It’s the price you pay for genius. Mediocre people---that’s most of us---never understand. We’re too busy conforming and pretending to be normal.

Listening to Buckley is an exercise in mindfulness, requiring that you pay attention, and listen, yes, mindfully---that is, with choiceless awareness---to what unfolds from one moment to the next. Try that now. It’s not easy. For starters, it takes a while to learn the lingo and the idiom. It’s worth it, though.

Here, now, is the immortal Lord Buckley delivering his famous---and perhaps his greatest---hip language routine ‘The Naz.’ (The Naz [sometimes billed as the Nazz] is Jesus Christ, the 'carpenter kitty,' whom Buckley called ‘the hippest cat that ever stomped this green sphere,’ for he was ‘the kind of a cat that come on so cool and so groovy and so with-it that when he laid it down---it stayed there!’)

Now, that's what I call hip, man---you cool daddy-o.

RELATED POSTS

MINDFULNESS ON THE ROAD … WITH A BEAT

ERNEST HEMINGWAY AND THE ART OF MINDFUL LIVING

LISTENING TO MUSIC MINDFULLY

LIVING MINDFULLY IN A WORLD FULL OF NORMOPATHS

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE ZEN MASTERS

'Heeeyyy A-bbott!!'

I have always loved Abbott and Costello (pictured right, and below), and I especially enjoy their old burlesque routines. The films and television shows of Abbott and Costello have preserved those precious comedy routines. Unless we had those films and shows most of those routines would have been lost forever. That is why Jerry Seinfeld has rightly said that Abbott and Costello ‘are the only ones who preserved an entire era of American entertainment’ – namely, burlesque. In the words of Seinfeld, A&C were 'giants of their time, who truly immortalized burlesque forever,' and, as Abbott and Costello Quarterly has written, the showbiz team of A&C was 'the greatest comedy team to ever come out of burlesque.'

I also love Zen, and although I prize reason and logic above almost everything else I will readily admit that truth – that is, reality – cannot be grasped by rational analysis. Truth, and the experience of truth, are entirely a matter of direct experience. Once you start analysing truth, you are in the realm of ideas and opinions – you have ceased to be in direct contact with truth itself!

Now, back to A&C. I don’t want to make the boys out to be more cerebral or learned than they were – or weren’t – but their old burlesque routines have a Zen-like quality to them. That’s undeniable. Take Bud Abbott. He would lay out before Lou Costello a set of propositions that seemed logical – I say, ‘seemed’ logical ... in an illogical sort of way. Of course, on close examination and analysis – indeed, often at first glance – these propositions were demonstrably and self-evidently fallacious, even foolish ... just like Zen kōans.

These comedic kōans of A&C – just like their Zen counterparts – are not to be subjected to rational analysis. Those who find A&C unfunny tend to do just that. They listen to, say, ‘Who's on First?’ and say, ‘That’s silly!’ ‘Indeed,’ I retort, ‘but you miss the point.’

Take, for example, this brief portion of an old A&C burlesque routine:

BA: I bet you ten dollars you’re not here.

LC: Huh? Prove it!

BA: Well, are you in New York?

LC: No.

BA: Are you in Boston?

LC: No.

BA: Are you in Philadelphia?

LC: No.

BA: Well, if you are not in New York ... and you're not in Boston ... and you're not in Philadelphia ... then you must be some place else. Right?

LC: Right!

BA: So, if you are some place else, you can't be here!

That’s very reminiscent of the old Buddhist story, ‘You are on the other side.’ I did a previous blog on that one.

Then there’s this A&C old chestnut:

BA: Now I am going to ask you one more question. Say you’re in the Grand Central depot [sic] in New York City. You buy a ticket. Where are you going?

LC: I’m not going anywhere.

BA: Then what are you buying a ticket for?

LC: I’m not buying any ticket!

BA: Then why are you in the depot?

LC: You put me in there!

After a few more frustrating moments, the routine continues along these lines ...

BA: You’re in the depot. Where are you going?

LC: [in exasperation] I’m going away.

BA: Where? Where? Where are you going?

LC: Over that way.

BA: What’s over that way? ... Answer my question please! You’re in the depot. Where are you going?

LC: [saying anything] I’m going bye-bye ... I’m going to Paterson, New Jersey!

BA: What’s wrong with Philadelphia?

Then there's the 'Hole in the Wall' routine---written and copyrighted by the boys themselves---part of which goes like this:

BA: Take a good look at this wall. Suppose, you walk over there and for no reason at all, you bore a hole in that wall.
LC: Alright, I'll go over there and I'll bore a hole in that wall.
BA: Why should you go over and bore a hole in that wall?
LC: I'm not boring a hole in the wall. You said suppose I go over there and bore a hole in the wall.
BA: That's not the argument. What I want to know is, why should you go over there and bore a hole in that wall?
...

You can almost hear Zen Master Abbott say, 'And while you're at it, show me your original face before you were born.'

Silly? Yes. Corny? Yes, that too. But I still think they are very clever ... and very funny. Like Zen kōans these old comedy routines have a way of breaking through everyday consciousness. In defying both logic and rational analysis, they afford a new insight into ... truth!

Never forget this. Truth defies both logic and rational analysis. Truth just is ... and we are in direct contact with it at all times. It’s just that all too often we are mindlessly unaware of that fact. So, don’t be like Lou Costello. Stop struggling. Stop trying to understand. There is nothing to understand. Just be choicelessly aware of whatever unfolds from one moment to the next. You can do no better than that!

In June 1955 Bud Abbott and Lou Costello toured Australia (program cover pictured above left)---for their first and only time---performing in stadiums in Newcastle and Sydney, New South Wales and Brisbane, Queensland, and at the beautiful Palais Theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. (I've read that a man---most likely the legendary American-born promoter Lee Gordon---had turned up in the office of A&C's manager with $100,000 in cash tucked in a briefcase, which was the boys if they'd agree to doing 5 shows down under. Now, how could the boys refuse paying Australia a visit? I've also read that the boys supposedly lost the equivalent of their entire tour fee as a result of paying poker with the equally legendary radio personality Jack Davey. So wrote Max Moore, Gordon's sometime business associate, and the tour manager, in his 2003 autobiography Some Days are Diamonds.)

The boys arriving at the airport in Sydney, Australia in 1955

I wish my parents had taken me to see the boys perform at the old Sydney Stadium at Rushcutters Bay, but as I was then only 3 months old, I guess my parents knew best. The well-known Australian actor, comedian, writer and director Grahame Bond AM has written in his autobiography Jack of All Trades: Mistress of One about his fond memories of his parents taking him (at age 11) to see A&C perform at the old Sydney Stadium:

Even today I can visualise them standing on that tatty old stage with two microphones and no props, performing one of the most exquisitely written routines of all time, 'Who’s on First?'

(Clive James has different memories of A&C performing in Sydney. Each to his own.)

Earlier this year The Courier Mail ran a story on the team's adventures in Brisbane and dragged some old photos out of the archives which they presented, with narration, in this video format:

Not only did ragging students give the boys a bad time in Brisbane, forcing them to have to cancel some engagements to give themselves a chance to recover, but they also made headlines offstage in Sydney as well, when the car in which they were passengers hit a concrete-mixing truck on Sydney's Pyrmont Bridge. A&C were only slightly injured. Here's another small piece of memorabilia trivia from the boys' 1955 down under tour. When they were just about to board a flight back for the States at Sydney Airport some Aussie presented them with a real, live baby kangaroo to take home with them. Naturally, the boys were unable to do so, and they were quite disappointed.

The boys' two Brisbane Stadium shows each had an audience of 3,000-plus, which was very good for those days. Their shows at the Sydney Stadium were less successful. The Newcastle show---a tryout, so to speak, for the capital city shows---went well and has been labelled a hit. Melbourne was okay, all things considered. The bottom line---the boys' Australian tour was not a great financial success for promoter Lee Gordon, who also lost money that year bringing out to Australia other American entertainers including Betty Hutton and Bob Hope. One of the main reasons for A&C not drawing really big crowds related to timing---and demographics. It would not be until after television came to Australia---that happened in September the following year---that a whole new generation of fans (mainly kids) would discover A&C. By 1955 the boys' more mature (and largely young adult) fan base was more interested in setting up home in suburbia and starting a family. Still, A&C did manage to attract a large amount of media attention when they were in Australia, and a number of major newspapers ran feature stories on the boys and their careers.

As I see it, A&C were comedic Zen masters. Take this famous routine, 'You're 40, She's 10', which has all the paradoxical elements of the best Zen kōan:

BA: You’re 40 years-old and you’re in love with this little girl that’s 10 years-old. You’re four times as old as that girl and you couldn’t marry her, could you?

LC: Not unless I come from the mountains.

BA: All right----you’re 40 years-old, you’re four times as old as this girl, and you can’t marry her, so you wait five years. By that time the little girl’s 15 and you’re 45. You’re only three times as old as that little girl. So you wait 15 years and when the girl is 30, you’re at 60. You’re only twice as old as that little girl.

LC: She’s catching up.

BA: Yes, yes. Now here’s the question. How long do you have to wait until you and that little girl are the same age?

LC: Now what kinda question is that? That’s ridiculous!

BA: Ridiculous or not, answer the question.

LC: If I wait for that girl she’ll pass me up. She’ll wind up older than I am.

BA: What are you talking about?

LC: She’ll have to wait for me!

BA: Why should she wait for you?

LC: I was nice enough to wait for her!

Now, if you’re still with me, here are A&C performing their most famous routine, 'Who's on First?’ – a routine which in 1999 was declared by Time magazine to be not only the '20th Century's Best Comedy Routine' but also the 'Routine of the Millennium', and which has been translated into nearly 30 languages, some of them even done and recorded by A&C themselves:

RELATED POSTS

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO ON MINDFULNESS

ME AND MY SHADOW ... ALL ALONE AND FEELIN' BLUE

MINDFULNESS, BURLESQUE COMEDY AND MONOMANIA

YOU ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE

NANSEN KILLS A CAT ... MINDFULLY!

Grateful Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments are made to the Estates of the Late Bud Abbott and the Late Lou Costello in respect of copyrighted, trademarked and other controlled material of the Estates. All rights reserved. The licensable images of Abbott and Costello, the routine ‘Who's on First’ and other routines and materials of and by Abbott and Costello are controlled material of the above mentioned Estates. The video clip (courtesy YouTube) and the excerpted routines as presented in this blog are for entertainment, nonprofit and non-commercial purposes only. There is no intention to infringe copyright or any other controlled material. This blog, and the blog site itself, are solely for informational and educational purposes that are entirely nonprofit and non-commercial in nature, intent and actuality.