This is not a Steve Jobs article

I was playing an old comedy routine for my daughter on my iPod the other day — it was Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First?” — and I was pleased to see that the bit still amuses a kid’s fresh ears, even to this day.

For those unfamiliar with “Who’s On First?”, in the routine Bud Abbott tells his pal Lou Costello about the new baseball team he’s managing. Costello asks the players’ names; Abbott replies: “Well, Who’s playing first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know’s on third…”

Costello: That’s what I’m trying to find out.

Abbott: And that’s what I’m telling you. Who’s on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know’s on third…

Costello: Look. You’re the manager of this team, right?

Abbott: Right.

Costello: And you know the players’ names, right?

Abbott: Of course.

Costello: So who’s the guy playing first base?

Abbott: Yes.

Costello: I mean the fellow’s name.

Abbott: Who.

Costello: The guy on first.

Abbott: Who.

Costello: The first baseman.

Abbott: Who.

Costello: The guy playing...

Abbott: Who is on first!

Costello: I’m asking you who’s on first.

Abbott: That’s the man’s name.

Costello: That’s whose name?

Abbott: Yes.

And so on. The shtick (which Time magazine voted “Best Comedy Sketch of the 20th Century”) extends to outfielders named Why and Because, a pitcher named Tomorrow, and a catcher called Today. What struck me, hearing it again after all these years (I used to watch old Abbott and Costello movies on TV when I was a kid) is not so much its existential, Beckett-like subtext, but how sturdy the overall design is. It still runs well. With all the accolades tumbling in for the late Steve Jobs, “Who’s On First?” — even at age 70 — strikes me as another prime example of American ingenuity. And it shows how much American ingenuity relies on adaptation and reinvention.

Basically, it’s a classic piece of miscommunication. The names are misunderstood by the “comic” half of the duo (Costello) while the “straight man” (Abbott) remains oblivious to the confusion. Double meaning lies at the root of the comedy, so language — specifically English language — is the key to understanding the humor (that, and a bit of baseball knowledge). The bit requires rapid-fire delivery; the duo performed it live thousands of times in their heyday.

So imagine my surprise to find out thatAbbott and Costello’s best routine is not really original at all. “Who’s On First” has its roots in American vaudeville, and perhaps even further back, to burlesque and the English music hall tradition.

Vaudeville is a peculiarly North American form of entertainment that arose in Canada and the US in the ‘20s and ‘30s (it may derive from the French voix de ville, meaning “voice of the city”). It was a live variety show mixing song, dance and comedy sketches, often relying on quick patter, overemphasis, exaggeration, repetition and reaction. (Think of the comedy bits of Cirque Du Soleil for hints of vaudeville.) Burlesque, meanwhile, featured more risqué humor: striptease acts, dancers, and sketches relying on quick-witted puns and wordplay. Bud Abbott, born of a circus family and head writer of the duo, can’t claim to have created “Who’s On First” out of thin air. Rather, the two comedians placed a particularly American stamp on the routine (in other versions it’s the names of bakers, students, etc. that are confused): they shaped the fast patter around the national pastime, which was baseball.

Thus “Who’s On First” represents American ingenuity at its best: innovation born of ingredients made local by American references. Just as Steve Jobs took inspiration from many sources — typographic design, Sony’s Walkman, and even Apple’s own earlier inventions — to create streamlined inventions with sturdy, attractive packaging, Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s On First” stands up today because of its inventiveness and polished delivery.

The routine also reminds us of a few things. First, how resourceful Americans are capable of being, making something universal out of homegrown materials. It’s almost a case study in American know-how. The bit has been translated into 30 languages, and still draws laughs today, even in places that don’t play baseball, without relying on foul language or smart-ass attitude (though it does employ lots of irony). It reminds us — and should remind Americans — that inventiveness is a renewable resource. It didn’t die (as The Onion jested in a recent fake obituary) with the passing of Jobs. It continues to ferment, often in unlikely places, such as lowly vaudeville stages, or ghettos (where hip-hop was born), cotton fields (home of the blues), New Orleans dives (where jazz was born), low-rent shacks (home to Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry) or Lower East Side cinema houses (where the dream of Hollywood was first hatched).

The second thing to remember about American ingenuity is that it relies almost solely on imported talent. No one has a monopoly on what it means to “be American.” As Bill Murray said in the comedy Stripes, “We’re American, our ancestors were kicked out of the best countries in the world!” At its best, America takes in the raw materials and provides a platform for it all to flourish, coalesce into brilliance. This still holds today. America is a country of mutts, it’s true. But out of this azkal stew comes some of the greatest ideas in the world. And a mangled dialogue about baseball players’ names just might be one of them.

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Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sShMA85pv8M to watch “Who’s On First?”