An epic post for an epic sketch...
Abbott & Othello
I wrote about my Pet Rock sketch earlier. I used that sketch as my signature bit (despite the circumstances), I was very proud of it, it was a tight, silly, funny bit, solid evidence that I was a writer. But it was dead. I would eventually need to create another signature bit.
I honestly don’t remember when I got the idea for “Abbott & Othello” but it happened. I certainly had done a ton of pop-culture mash-ups before (and since). And, weirdly, Abbott & Costello were in the zeitgeist in the 1980s; SNL, SCTV and others did A&O inspired bits. I remember one a joke; Elvis Costello and the group ABBA were going on tour as ABBA & Costello. Maybe all of this triggered the idea.
I honestly don’t remember when I got the idea for “Abbott & Othello” but it happened. I certainly had done a ton of pop-culture mash-ups before (and since). And, weirdly, Abbott & Costello were in the zeitgeist in the 1980s; SNL, SCTV and others did A&O inspired bits. I remember one a joke; Elvis Costello and the group ABBA were going on tour as ABBA & Costello. Maybe all of this triggered the idea.
While I’m a definitely a huge Abbott & Costello fan, I’m in no way a Shakespeare kind of guy, but the title popped into my mind and I worked to create a premise to suit it. What else could it be beside a variation of “Who’s on First”? I’d ripped that off before (and since) in school plays and other sketches (which I even submitted to Carol Burnett). I would think that coming up with a circumstance and then coaxing it into some sort of faux-Shakespearian prose would be difficult, but I don’t remember it being so. Othello was the hook. The Abbott/abbot, being a medieval priest was a natural. Then it was a matter of following the flow of the bit. I added one original joke to it, based on the Shakespearian language (“Who doth?” “Aye, milord.” “Thou doth?” “Nay, not I!”), but the rest was Bud & Lou.
I showed that skit everywhere I could. It got me into a workshop. It was included in any packet of material I sent out. It got me involved with a comedy troupe. The reaction to it was always strong and positive. Soon, it became a bit of a cottage industry to me, all because of the sketch’s tag; this wasn’t the only early work we found, we had found and would present other plays, “The Three Stooges of Verona,” “The Nutty Merchant of Venice,” and “Abbott & Othello Meet Frankenstein.” This gag, that all of young Shakespeare’s early drafts just happen to cross-pollinate with classic comedians and comedies, was now a jumping off point.
I showed that skit everywhere I could. It got me into a workshop. It was included in any packet of material I sent out. It got me involved with a comedy troupe. The reaction to it was always strong and positive. Soon, it became a bit of a cottage industry to me, all because of the sketch’s tag; this wasn’t the only early work we found, we had found and would present other plays, “The Three Stooges of Verona,” “The Nutty Merchant of Venice,” and “Abbott & Othello Meet Frankenstein.” This gag, that all of young Shakespeare’s early drafts just happen to cross-pollinate with classic comedians and comedies, was now a jumping off point.
My friend Jordan got it. Got it bad. We actually started coming up with additional titles, to the point I got a list of all Shakespeare’s plays, so we could go through every one and come up with parody titles. That evolved into a prose bit which I peddled around until I got printed in the S.I. Advance.
The skit itself finally got on its legs with the comedy troupe “Style Without Substance.” In fact, it became one of their go-to bits; performed in many incarnations of the show.
The skit itself finally got on its legs with the comedy troupe “Style Without Substance.” In fact, it became one of their go-to bits; performed in many incarnations of the show.
When they took the show to NYC:
Or on the Joe Franklin show:
Or on our public access show…
Oh, the places it went. It became one of the group’s signature bits. One of their sure fire bits.
A few years later, I had the opportunity to submit material to the radio show “Prairie Home Companion.” Naturally, one of the bits included was “Abbott & Othello.” Guess what? They produced it!
A few years later, I had the opportunity to submit material to the radio show “Prairie Home Companion.” Naturally, one of the bits included was “Abbott & Othello.” Guess what? They produced it!
It went over very well and I managed to be a stringer for that team for a couple of years. But it was heavily edited and cut. I never felt they had properly utilized the bit (or that they truly owned it, because I kept flogging it).
During a brief relationship with some comedy folk, my oft-time co-writer, John Rawlins, and I turned this slight sketch into an epic video bit. It started the same, then would cut away to the invading Normans; all named Norman! Get it? The Normans were highly efficient even though they were all named Norman, but Abbott and Othello couldn’t get any of their troop’s names straight. There was side-trip to Abbott & Othello Meet Frankenstein, and an ending that mimicked the ending of the old Abbott & Costello TV show, where Lou declares he’s “a bard boy.” It’s awesome.
I once wrote a TV pilot for a sitcom about a group of people in a writer’s workshop and I needed a sketch to top off the show, to show that the lead was a sharp writer, so I stuck “Abbott & Othello” in there.
Later, I wanted to utilize the characters I created for something else. It would be a horror film on a college campus during a Shakespeare festival. I managed to work the sketch into there as well.
Backing up a bit to my Style Without Substance days, the beauty of belonging to an ace comedy troupe that likes and respects your writing is that you can get stuff on its legs pretty quickly. See, the thing was, some of those parody Shakespeare titles I had worked up and premises I gave them still rattled around my noggin. They started to sound like viable skit ideas. And after the success of Style Without Substance’s production of “Abbott & Othello,” I took one of the titles and turned that into a sketch: “The Three Stooges of Verona.” Again (says I) it really worked, mashing up two seemingly opposite styles. The group did an amazing job with it.
During a brief relationship with some comedy folk, my oft-time co-writer, John Rawlins, and I turned this slight sketch into an epic video bit. It started the same, then would cut away to the invading Normans; all named Norman! Get it? The Normans were highly efficient even though they were all named Norman, but Abbott and Othello couldn’t get any of their troop’s names straight. There was side-trip to Abbott & Othello Meet Frankenstein, and an ending that mimicked the ending of the old Abbott & Costello TV show, where Lou declares he’s “a bard boy.” It’s awesome.
I once wrote a TV pilot for a sitcom about a group of people in a writer’s workshop and I needed a sketch to top off the show, to show that the lead was a sharp writer, so I stuck “Abbott & Othello” in there.
Later, I wanted to utilize the characters I created for something else. It would be a horror film on a college campus during a Shakespeare festival. I managed to work the sketch into there as well.
Backing up a bit to my Style Without Substance days, the beauty of belonging to an ace comedy troupe that likes and respects your writing is that you can get stuff on its legs pretty quickly. See, the thing was, some of those parody Shakespeare titles I had worked up and premises I gave them still rattled around my noggin. They started to sound like viable skit ideas. And after the success of Style Without Substance’s production of “Abbott & Othello,” I took one of the titles and turned that into a sketch: “The Three Stooges of Verona.” Again (says I) it really worked, mashing up two seemingly opposite styles. The group did an amazing job with it.
Sorry about that, the end of the video got cut off. My bad, I taped over my copy.
Side note: When the group director, Tom, asked me who should play Moe, I didn’t realize he was fishing for himself. I said Donna Coney Island should play the part. He did that. She was great.
So, remember, never throw anything out. Years later I submitted the Stooges to a small theater group, Intellectual Property, for a festival they were running:
Side note: When the group director, Tom, asked me who should play Moe, I didn’t realize he was fishing for himself. I said Donna Coney Island should play the part. He did that. She was great.
So, remember, never throw anything out. Years later I submitted the Stooges to a small theater group, Intellectual Property, for a festival they were running:
Sorry about that video, I tried using some silly little hand-held recorder. I didn't have an iPhone yet...
Back to A&O; years after my “Style” gig, a comedy group on Staten Island was forming and they were looking for material. Guess what I sent them?
Back to A&O; years after my “Style” gig, a comedy group on Staten Island was forming and they were looking for material. Guess what I sent them?
And when one of the “Style” actors headed west to LA and wanted to put together a comedy troupe there, guess which sketch of mine he asked to produce?
Sure, I disagreed with Glenn's instance in changing the ending to "Third Base!" from "A pox upon it!", but the guy knows how to sell a sketch, right?"
By this time I was labeling the sketch "audience-proof" because it just always worked. On the nostalgia level, on the comedy level, on the acting level.
In time I would write two more entries into my “Lost Shakespeare” collection, “The Nutty Merchant of Venice” which is an ok mix of Martin & Lewis and Shylock. The other was my opus, the musical comedy “The Road to Hamlet.” It may be the weakest title of the group, but it really clicked as a sketch. Alas, the two of these never made it to the floorboards. In the back of my mind, the sketch “Another Fine Tempest” floats around, still, after all these years. I’ve never actually put quill to parchment on that one, however.
“Abbott & Othello” turned out to be a remarkable piece of material, the skit that keeps on giving. And someday it’ll get the treatment it fully deserves.
By this time I was labeling the sketch "audience-proof" because it just always worked. On the nostalgia level, on the comedy level, on the acting level.
In time I would write two more entries into my “Lost Shakespeare” collection, “The Nutty Merchant of Venice” which is an ok mix of Martin & Lewis and Shylock. The other was my opus, the musical comedy “The Road to Hamlet.” It may be the weakest title of the group, but it really clicked as a sketch. Alas, the two of these never made it to the floorboards. In the back of my mind, the sketch “Another Fine Tempest” floats around, still, after all these years. I’ve never actually put quill to parchment on that one, however.
“Abbott & Othello” turned out to be a remarkable piece of material, the skit that keeps on giving. And someday it’ll get the treatment it fully deserves.
