A&C comedy factory

I have heard a lot of comedians in my life. Usually I am disappointed. Take Robin Williams, for example. I like some of his stuff in movies. I have seen some of his Saturday Night Live stuff...and did not find it funny. Found a DVD of him Live on Broadway. Watched it. Didn't laugh.

I think a lot of it is because of how he works. It isn't just that he "works blue"...i.e., has lots of sex and profanity in his material. The problem is more that the joke IS the profanity.

So here are guys who, while they COULD work blue...listen to the stuff they often tried to get away with that came right up to "the line"...but as often as not, they did not work blue because they did not need to.

Ironically, in this one Abbott...the tall, thin straight man...does not have so much as a single line. Costello...the short, heavyset guy...has lines but the laughs come from their reactions to a supporting actor. And it is still very, very funny.