From 1999 to 2004-ish, I was one of the contributing writers for Garrison Keillor's renowned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion." I learned a lot of things there, mostly how to spell 'prairie." It was a solid gig and I'm proud of my work there. But, like any other job, there were...things... Obviously, December rolled around and I must have felt compelled to do my first Christmas sketch. As I often did with PHC, I circled back to Abbott and Costello. I mean, is it a good idea? Maybe. But that I went right with a "Who's on First" parody about the names of the three ghosts to mimic the names of the three ball players seems weak. But it goes fast and I'm sure it would gets some laughs. I worked it into one of GK's patented "Tonight on most public radio stations" set-ups, and I assumed it stood a chance, but it got passed over, much like the other holiday.
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Doctor Who has been in the news a lot lately, what with the firing of the 15th Doctor and the sneak peek at the 16th, if there is in fact a 16th Doctor. So, I pulled out this sketch from the hard drive that I had written back during the 50th anniversary rigmarole. Growing up as a solid Abbott and Costello fan and being a recent Doctor Who convert, this seemed like the most logical sketch to write. It's not like I hadn't worked withing the "Who's on First" premise before. Or constantly. I was submitting material to Hollywood: TMI at this time, so it was very hit and miss. They weren't much into nostalgia (like PHC). They weren't really Doctor Who fans. And it was a shorter sketch with only a few actors. The troupe had a good-size stage and a large cast, so the more characters you had in a sketch, the better off you were. As I said, this was from the time of the 50th anniversary of the series, so there was a lot of retrospectives and look-backs, so it was a good time to get involved with the show. I knew it existed, PBS ran episodes of it back in the 70s. I knew there was a guy with a long scarf. And some nasty roombas that were a lot of trouble. I did get into the show and still enjoy it. But that doesn't mean I can't parody it. So join us now as... Abbott & Costello Meet Doctor WhoThrilled to learn that my short play, "Lost Shakespeare: Abbott & Othello" received the Audience Choice Award Winner for their 10th Annual Pyro PlayFest 2026! This is very cool and I get a plaque!
So, we just started watching Abbott Elementary last month, streaming it until we got all caught up and are now watching it at its regularity scheduled time on ABC. As I've often pointed out here, I grew up on old movies and grew up loving the movies and shows of Abbott and Costello. So, naturally, anything with the name "Abbott" in the title is going to trigger me. The joke is the title. The trick was how to put it together. I don't have what you would call a big support group of creatives out in the 'burbs. But I remembered there were movie scenes of Abbott & Costello in class rooms. And I knew "7 times 13" would be included, even which version. TCM recently showed "Abbott & Costello in Hollywood," and that included a scene of Lou in a kid's classroom. So, it was off to Youtube to find the clips I would need. Naturally, I had written a narrator's script to lead from scene to scene. Then I pulled up the original "Abbott Elementary" trailer and it was just music, a few scenes with dialogue from the show and just some of the wilder physical bits. So that became my template. I created a logo on MS Paint, found the whole version of the show's theme song and enough of the A&C clips I knew I needed. I played around with the editing software, make all the new clips black and wide, panned and scanned the old slips, all to maintain the visuals and got to the point where I was happy with it. It's up on Youtube and I've been posting it on LinkedIn, FB and Twitter. And if you found your way here, check it out: |
Dan FiorellaFreelance writer, still hacking away. Archives
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