Imagine a short, rotund, confused man standing next to someone tall, elegant and intellectual, and you get a duo that made many audiences laugh. Together, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello formed a team with great chemistry; using their natural abilities and extensive experience, they built successful careers that continued for three decades. Steve Allen agrees: "Only a very talented team like Abbott & Costello could have survived the transition from burlesque and vaudeville to radio, film, television and nightclubs, over a twenty-year period." two years” (quoted in Costello xii). Obviously, early on in Abbott and Costello's careers, both of these comics were indeed talented. Before Costello, Abbott had already worked with comedians Harry Steppe and Harry Evanson. "With Steppe and Evanson, Bud had the rare talent of making them funnier than they were. . . . [Plus,] everyone in burlesque agreed that Bud Abbott would go far, even if he didn't. he could only find the right comedian to team up with” (Thomas 37). The same problem occurred during the early years of Lou Costello's career. When Bud first saw Lou perform, he thought, "Joe Lyons [Costello's partner] just wasn't doing it right." But the Costello kid was fine. Very good, actually, even without a strong straight man. » (Thomas 50 years old). Finally, in 1935, two years after their first meeting, Abbott and Costello officially decided to work together; they would later perform together for the first time in 1936 (Furmanek 18). Abbott and Costello were known as a double act or comedy duo, in which one comedian is seen as the straight man and the other is called the comic or funny man. The straight man (Bud Abbott) was known to be intelligent and reasonable, while the comic (Lou Costello) was generally seen as a stupid and hapless character ("Double Act"). Brooks Atkinson, in his Times article, describes: Abbott is the authoritarian mastermind whose feverish and impatient conduct of the conversation produces the crisis. Costello is the short, fat one who gets slapped. He is a lunatic with a moon face, wide and gullible eyes, a high voice and swollen hands that struggle in futile gestures. The two men find themselves in a state of excitement that is wonderful to see. (quoted by Thomas 73) What produced the classic humor of this duo was the uncanny ability to play up each other's roles and differences, as Abbott used his elegant and intelligent role to demean the fat and stupid Costello..