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Abbott & Costello's classic "who's on first?" routine wonderfully retold in a children's book

Mark Frauenfelder at 6:12 am Tue, Feb 19, 2013

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TIME Magazine called Abbott and Costello's "Who's on first?" routine "the best comedy sketch of the twentieth century," and I find that hard to argue with. I loved listening to it as a kid, and when I hear it today it still brings a smile.

A couple of weeks ago I received a review copy of Who's on First? in the form of a children's book illustrated by John Martz. I left it on the kitchen table planning to read it later in the afternoon. My nine-year-old daughter Jane saw it when she got home from school and started reading it. She ran into my room and said, "This is great. Have you read it?" I explained that it was based on a comedy sketch performed by a couple of old-timey comedians, which didn't interest her. She loved the book, though, and read it to me that night before bed. Martz' version of the story, which stars a rabbit and a bear, has all the goofy humor of the original sketch. I'd love to see it done as an animated cartoon, using the voices of Lou and Bud.

Who's on First?

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Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

TAGS:  Book family

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