This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
One of the most famous comedy sketches of the 20th century is built on a simple misunderstanding.
We'll just pretend that we're organizing a baseball team here at the retired actors home.
And I am the manager.
It's the routine from Abbott and Costello.
Who's on first?
Well, let's see now.
We have on our team, we have who's on first, what's on second.
I don't know.
Who's on third.
That's what I want to find out.
The guy's name.
That's what I want to find out, the guy's name.
I'm telling you who's on first.
What's on second.
I don't know who's on third.
The duo first performed the sketch in the night 1930s and continue to refine it over the next two decades.
They rarely did it the same way twice.
You know, the guy's name's on a baseball team.