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Abbott & Costello: Best of Live [VHS]

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If you like Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in movies or their filmed TV shows, you'll love this sampling from their live "Colgate Comedy Hour" shows. Bud and Lou's best routines are included, and you've never seen them like this! The live-on-stage atmosphere gives Bud and Lou extra spark, and they ad-lib freely (watch them cope with absent props, camera miscues, etc.). The funniest scene has Bud hiding jewelry in Lou's hamburger: the sound-effects man throws himself into his work as Lou munches away, and Bud good-naturedly goads his partner, who keeps breaking up! This scene is worth the price of the tape. The technical quality is excellent, and the 1950s kinescopes are sharp and clear. Great entertainment for the whole family.

One controversy about Abbott and Costello is the extent to which they got on each others' nerves. There are indeed plenty of anecdotes -- and various bios of them either play up or downplay this tension. No matter what: what you'll see in this video is something DIFFERENT than you will see in their old movies or even on their old television show. The movies, of course, were shot movie-style, with lots of "cuts." The television shows were shot on a lot, then the film was replayed in front of a live audience for the laughtrack (Phil Silvers and George Burns used this technique on their shows as well). But this is a priceless collection of routines performed before a live audience on shows where what you did went out over the airwaves immediately. Virtually every routine here is a winner. The famous "hi-low" routine (Bud is telling a curtain operator to lower or raise the curtain while Costello thinks he's talking about his singing); a routine involving spitting milk (Costello gets the most spit in his face); Costello supposedly chewing on hidden gems in his hamburger while a sound effects expert goes overboard...and more. What you see here that you can't see in the films or even the filmed tv shows is the CHEMISTRY between the two: there was a lot of friendship and FUN when they performed. See them crack up or come close to cracking up. Notice the timing, even when things start to go seemingly wrong. This tape is a howl from start to finish...and although there is talk about a new Abbott and Costello bio movie I would say that, even so, as we move into the 21st century if you're interested in great, classic "live" comedy and comedy teams you should get this NOW before it inevitably goes out of print.

Even those with a minimal interest in Abbott & Costello will find this great viewing. It is so much more than routines. This is live TV, where so much can, and does, go wrong. But watching the skill these two had, even if they can only laugh, is worth the price alone.

I'll keep it short. If you like Abbott and Costello, I highly recommend you buy this video.