Abbott and Costello Old Time Radio

30 minute comedy/variety show episodes

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Everett Sloane

Abbott and Costello

Bud Abbot (the thin straight man) and Lou Costello (the fat, loud one) started on vaudeville, made many movies together (Abbott and Costello meet the Mummy, one of my personal favorites), and they had a successful radio show. The two met in 1929, Costello got a comedy gig in New York, Abbott worked at the theater, and started helping Costello by acting as his straight man.

Their routines worked particularly well for radio, quite often involving grammatical foibles and plays on words. They were featured as regulars on the Kate Smith Hour, then came the Hollywood movies, then in 1940 they got their chance at their own radio show, as a replacement for a summer of the Fred Allen show. In 1942 They got their own regular time slot show. They were hugely popular at this time in America. Their movies had rescued the Universal Pictures film studio. The radio show lasted from 1942 to 1949, and was heard by over 20 million people each Thursday night. They were successfully able to blend all of their entertainment skills, what they learned on vaudeville, what people saw in their movies, and combine them for a memorable, comfortable, and funny 30 minutes. And yes, our collection does include their famous "Who’s on First" routine.

Unfortunately, their private lives were not as successful as their careers. Lou Costello became known in Hollywood as ‘hard luck lou." He was suffered from rheumatic fever, (Abbott refused to do the radio show with anyone else), then on the first day that Costello was able to go back on the air, during dress rehearsal, he learned that his one year old son had drowned in their pool. He rushed home, then came back to do the show, and broke down in front of the audience, just after the announcer read the sign off. The team had their heights in the 30s and 40s. They were still a team in the 50s, making many movies and a television show. And then the IRS came calling. Although they had made millions, they hadn’t kept up with their taxes, and owed more than they could pay from their falling careers. Lou Costello passed away in 1959, and Bud Abbot died in 1974, both broke, even after all of their huge blockbuster movies and shows.

Use our player to listen to each episode for free!

All of our Old Time Radio Programs are in MP3 format. You can play them on your computer, you can transfer them to MP3 players (like the IPod), but, by and large, you cannot play them on stereos, walkmen, or car radios.

The sound quality of Old Time Radio Programs can vary greatly. Some episodes are excellent, others you have to turn up the volume a little and ignore the static. All of the episodes can be listened to and enjoyed. You can listen to our free samples to get a feel for how the programs sound.

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Episode List

Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) 2 Tens For A Five.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Abbott Takes A Walk.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Ajax Plumbing Co.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Alright.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Bet You're Not Here Routine.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Bud Hates Mustard.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Dracula's Existence Routine.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) I'm A Bad Boy.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Loafing Routine.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Lou Has A Baby.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Lou Is Shocked Routine.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Lou Likes Bud.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Lou's A Wolf.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Lou's Destiny.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Lou's Kids In Orphanage.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Mrs Pike's Dog.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Mudder And Fodder.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Mustard Routine.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Phone Booth Routine.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Rain Dear.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Silly Fear.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Stinker.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Strawberry Sunday.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Susquehana Routine.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Teller.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Tough Kid.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Turkey Sandwich.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Twenty Two Apples.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Watts Volts.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Who's On First.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Excerpt) Who's Smoking.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Unknown - 1).mp3
Abco 00.00.00 (Unknown - 2).mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Attheraces.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Attheranch.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Bank Robbery.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Christmas Program.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Costello The Stunt Man.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Costellohasacold.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Costellojoinsthemerchantmarines.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Costello's Horse Peanut Butter.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Father'sday.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Girls, Girls, Girls.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Gold Ore.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Guestbertgordon.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Guestjudycanova.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Kidsprogramwithredrider.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Laugh.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Lou Builds A House Fro.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Louisadelegatetotheun.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Niagra Falls.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 No Details - 2.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Room & Board.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Shootin' Dice.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Spanish Acting Schoo.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Susquehannahatcompany.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 The Shell Game Skit.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Upanddown.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Variety Show.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 With Linda Darnell.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 With The Great Gildersleeve.mp3
Abco 00.00.00 Withlindadarnell.mp3
Abco 40.03.20 Lionhunting.mp3
Abco 41.09.21 Bergen & Mcarthy Wc Fields.mp3
Abco 42.05.11 Lousubsforjoedimaggio.mp3
Abco 42.10.15 Bank Robbery.mp3
Abco 42.10.15 Bankrobbery.mp3
Abco 42.11.19 Knightsinshiningarmor.mp3
Abco 43.01.14 Hunting Guide.mp3
Abco 43.03.16 At The Circus With Alan Hale.mp3
Abco 43.11.18 Guests Bugs Bunny & Lucille Ball.mp3
Abco 43.11.18 Lucille Ball's Nylons.mp3
Abco 43.11.25 Formalthanksgivingdinnerparty.mp3
Abco 43.12.02 Trip To Palm Springs.mp3
Abco 43.12.09 English Butler With Arthur Treacher.mp3
Abco 43.12.16 The Wild West With Lynn Bari.mp3
Abco 43.12.30 The Lawyer With Bert Gordon.mp3
Abco 44.00.26 Matrimonial Agency.mp3
Abco 44.01.06 Lou's Engaged To Judy Canova.mp3
Abco 44.01.13 Guest Peter Lorre.mp3
Abco 44.01.20 Withthegreatgildersleeve.mp3
Abco 44.02.10 Charles Laughton.mp3
Abco 44.02.17 With Dorothy Lamour.mp3
Abco 44.02.24 Hedda Hopper.mp3
Abco 44.03.02 Blondie & Dagwood.mp3
Abco 44.03.09 Snowwhitewithblondieanddagwood.mp3
Abco 44.06.06 Who's On First.mp3
Abco 44.06.06 Who'sonfirst.mp3
Abco 44.06.18 Costellobuysgiftsforcast.mp3
Abco 44.11.09 Costello Buy's A Horse.mp3
Abco 44.12.07 Visit To Tin Pan Alley.mp3
Abco 44.12.14 Christmas Shopping.mp3
Abco 45.01.25 Merchant Marines.mp3
Abco 45.02.01 Stolen Oranges.mp3
Abco 45.02.15 Guestrudyvallee.mp3
Abco 45.03.08 Newpressagent.mp3
Abco 45.04.26 Andrews Sisters.mp3
Abco 45.04.26 Guest - Andrewssisters.mp3
Abco 45.05.03 Spanish Acting School.mp3
Abco 45.06.07 Costello Gets A Tatoo.mp3
Abco 45.06.28 Return To Patterson.mp3
Abco 45.06.28.mp3
Abco 45.11.15 Lou Hides From His Girlfriend.mp3
Abco 45.11.29 Opening A Gas Station.mp3
Abco 45.12.06 Lou The Fireman.mp3
Abco 45.12.20 Christmasparty.mp3
Abco 45.12.27 Costello's Beauty Shop.mp3
Abco 46.04.25 The Sheriff Of North Hollywood.mp3
Abco 47.03.13 Lougoestoracetracktolosemoney.mp3
Abco 47.04.10 Nuts And Bolts.mp3
Abco 47.04.17 Thebaseballplayer.mp3
Abco 47.04.24 Loubuildsahouse.mp3
Abco 47.06.18 Who's On First.mp3
Abco 47.06.19 Lou Joins The New York Yankees.mp3
Abco 47.12.24 Christmasprogram.mp3
Abco 48.03.10 Costello Pays Income Tax.mp3
Abco 48.05.05 Guest Bella Lugosi.mp3
Abco 48.08.12 The Uno.mp3
Abco 48.10.28.mp3
Abco 48.12.12 Hunting.mp3
Abco 48.44.03.mp3
Abco 49.01.27 Sam Shovel Skit.mp3
Abco 49.01.27.mp3
Abco 49.03.03.mp3
Abco 49.04.28.mp3
Abco 49.05.19.mp3




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