Abbott and Costello Can Still Teach Us a Lot

One of my keynote presentations includes a truncated version of the famous Abbott and Costello “Who’s on First?” routine. Too many conflicts arise because the two parties don’t have the same understanding. And even worse they think they do. At the risk of going too deep into what E.B. White once said, “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process.”

The routine starts with Abbott asking about the ballplayers on the St. Louis team. Costello tells him “Who’s on first.” Abbott doesn’t recognize that “who” is the actual name (it would be clearer if the spelling was “Hu” instead of “Who”) but the routine would be spoiled since it rests on misunderstanding. And hilarity ensues. It’s worth going to YouTube to take a look.

However, my point is more about ego and publicity (and nostalgia)  rather than conflict and misunderstanding. Apparently, Lloyds of London, the famous insurance company, underwrote a policy for the comedy team for $100,000. I thought it covered one of them dying or being unable to perform, or something logical. However, the insurance policy “stipulated payment if any of their audience should die of laughter.” 

It doesn’t matter if the policy was because they wanted publicity and advertising about how funny they were or if they really believed that someone might die of laughter. The thing that makes me smile is that the routine premiered in 1938 and it was family friendly and harmless. In these polarized times, it is nice to harken back to a time when the worst misunderstandings created laughter rather than animus.