Bud Abbott : Bud or Lou?

This may be hard to answer but which one out of the two do you find funnier? Not to say one is better then the other. What do you think?!?!

I think Bud is, I appretiate the "straight man" more than the "clown" I guess. That, and I just like him better in general.

For me, its a tie! They are my absolute favorite comedy team of all time. Each one was so perfect in their role.


"EVERY Day Above Ground Is A Good One" - SFU

My favorite has always been Bud for some reason. I guess I'm more of a "straight man" type.

"Life's like a novel with the end ripped out"

"It's all for one and one for all, ya'll"

You can't separate them as they were absolutely made for each other.

Lou Costello was an absolute master of the comic role.

But Bud Abbott is without a doubt, the greatest straight man in the history of comedy. He was always just more...present. It's a real pity they never really moved on to other roles.

Like them both. But I like Lou a little more.

Say what you will guys, I don't think Bud was worth a 60% split when Lou got all the laughs and only 40% of their money.

Like another poster said, you can't separate the two. Neither could be successful without the other.

Well, Lou is funnier. But he was never as funny with anyone else as he was with Bud. Bud Abbott was a great straight man.


... Justin

I think Lou was funnier because he was the comic so he had all the punchlines. However, I did find Bud a handsome looking man (no, I am not gay!).

Gotta disagree (respectfully) with you here. Although the punchlines and showier bits of comedy were thrown to Lou, Bud was (IMO) equally funny, in a lower-key way. I feel he was the engine that propelled their routines, and it was his timing that kept them on pace. Occasionally, he could even top Lou for laughs (see the "Mustard" routine in THE NOOSE HANGS HIGH).

And when Lou asks, "When they pay the first baseman, who gets the money?" in their most famous routine, Bud's immediate "Absolutely" response is as funny as anything in it.


Poe! You are...avenged!

I can't choose. I love them both equally.

I really gotta say Lou... He couldn't be replaced (although Joe Besser seemed to use a similar character.)

On the other hand, Bud wasn't as distinctive although his delivery was pretty polished. Another straight man could fill his shoes, but the comedy would be worse for the switch.

I did notice Bud starting to be more abusive to Lou, turning him into more of a heavy than a straight man, like in the film In Society.

BTW, I kind of question the term "straight man" referring to Bud, as he was more obtuse about some of the skits than Lou...

Straight Man = George Burns "Say goodnight, Gracie."
Comic - Gracie Allen "Goodnight, Gracie!"

However, when Lou would naturally be confused by some bit of word play, instead of explaining i 5b4 t to him, Bud would just assume that Lou understood it, even though it wasn't normal usage.

They're the perfect team. For me, there's no debate on who's better - they're two parts that can't be separated.

That's a very difficult thing to answer...

Bud by himself wasn't really funny and Lou by himself wasn't really funny...It was their partnership that made them so funny

Bud was a great straight man...His ability to keep from laughing is excellent
On the other hand Lou had this great look on his face whenever he was confused that I laugh at all the time

I can't really pick one

Don't call me sugar!!

Simple answer is, look what happened to both men after they split up: limited success at best!

No, Bud and Lou had just been too long together for either of them to work well with any other partner. Neither of them could be funny without the other. Lou's buffoonery would have fallen flat without Bud, and Bud's dry and tacit jokes wouldn't have worked without a clown of Lou's talent to react to what Bud (the straight man) fed him.

Equal for me. I couldn't pick between them. Their timing was so perfect. Lou was a comic genius, and Bud was the greatest straight man that ever lived. Lou was well known for addlibbing to the point that he got carried away with it. But Bud was always able to pull him back in, without hurting the scene, and those remain in the finished films. One notable point of Lou's addlibbing, and Bud's perfection as a straight man was in BUCK PRIVATES during the drill routine, in which Lou randomly asks, "What time is it?", and Bud, not missing a beat, yells back, "None of your business!" They were by far the greatest comedy team. There were other great teams like Laurel and Hardy, and the Marx Brothers, but Abbott and Costello were the greatest.

"Do you mind if I don't smoke?" ---Groucho Marx

Well, Laurel and Hardy weren't the same kind of act as Abbott & Costello; L & H were "visual" clowns, having started their act in the silent screen days, whereas A & C were "audio" entertainers (vaudeville, radio, movies & TV).

The Marx Brothers were a law unto themselves, and the closest thing they ever had to a straight man was Zeppo, who left the act by 1933. Manic anarchy was what they were all about!

So I'm loathe to pick any of the three acts as being better than the other two, because, really, each team or duo operated peerlessly in their own area in the very wide field that's known as comedy.

Agreed, however, that Bud Abbott was THE greatest straight man EVER. As I posted elsewhere, the young and up-and-coming comic, Lou Costello, really won the lottery when he was paired with Abbott!

Oh, I agree on the comedy teams 100%. I wasn't trying to take away from Stan and Ollie, or the Marx Bros. I enjoy all three teams very much. But I see what you're saying about them all being different levels of comedy. It is hard to compare them. Personally for me, as far as teams go, Abbott and Costello are my favorite. I guess that's a better way of putting it. But I'll never grow tired of the other two teams.

"Do you mind if I don't smoke?" ---Groucho Marx