Who's on First?
"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, but their names and nicknames can be interpreted as non-responsive answers to Costello's questions. "Who's on First?" is descended from turn-of-the-century burlesque sketches that used plays on words and names. In British music hall comedian Will Hay performed a routine in the early 1930s (and possibly earlier) as a schoolmaster interviewing a schoolboy named Howe, who came from Ware, but now lives in Wye. Abbott's wife recalled him performing the routine with another comedian before teaming with Costello. Bud Abbott stated that it was taken from an older routine called "Who's The Boss?", a performance of which can be heard in an episode of the radio comedy program it Pays to Be Ignrant from the 1940s.
Abbott and Costello performed "Who's on First?" numerous times in their careers, rarely performing it exactly the same way twice. In 1956, a gold record of "Who's on First?" was placed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. A video now plays continuously on screens at the Hall. In the 1970s, Selchow and Righter published a "Who's on First?" board game. In 1999, Time magizine named the routine Best Comedy Sketch of the 20th Century. An early radio recording was placed in the Libary of Congress;s National Recording Registry in 2003. In 2005, the line "Who's on First?" was included on the American Film Institue's list of 100 memorable movie quotations.
| Position |
Player |
| First Base |
Who |
| Second Base |
What |
| Third base |
I Don't Know |
| Left field |
Why |
| Center Field |
Because |
| Pitcher |
Tomorrow |
| Catcher |
Today |
| Shortstop |
I Don't Give a Darn! or I Don't Care! |
The name of the shortstop is not given until the very end of the routine, and the right fielder is never identified. In the Selchow and Righter board game, the right fielder's name is "Nobody
Abbott by saying what appears to be gibberish to him, accidentally getting it right:
Costello: Now I throw the ball to first base, whoever it is drops the ball, so the guy runs to second. Who picks up the ball and throws it to What. What throws it to I Don't Know. I Don't Know throws it back to Tomorrow—a triple play.
Abbott: Yeah, it could be.
Costello: Another guy gets up and it's a long fly ball to Because. Why? I don't know. He's on third, and I don't give a darn!
Abbott: What was that?
Costello: I said, I DON'T GIVE A DARN!
Abbott: Oh, that's our shortstop!
This is a great copy of the routine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ve20PVNZ18
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