The
most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 50s, Abbott and
Costello’s most famous routine, “Who’s on
First?” used rapid word play and a sense of constant
confusion to create comedy gold Eventually the skits success and wide
spread popularity even granted the two the privilege of being featured

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in the National Baseball Hall of Fame where this classic is played on a
TV located on the third floor of the building that also intermittently
plays baseball bloopers.



This comedy masterpiece will go down in history as one of the best
comedic works of all time, and so it was a great risk when Mike Davis
and Mike Schroeder undertook the challenge of reworking this classic as
a WoW machinima. Much like most movies based on books fail to live up
to their predecessors, I had little hope that this remake would do the
original justice.
Mike and Mike were either going to experience great
success or utter failure with no grey area in between.



Surprisingly enough Davis and Schroeder pull the feat off, reworking
the classic enough to incorporate the game we all love, while still
holding on to that classic Abbott and Costello feel. As the video opens
we are introduced to Abbott and Costello’s stand ins; a white
haired Night Elf named Darsh and a surly looking Dwarf called Bomb who
are apparently attempting to put a raid group together. The Night Elf
announces that he has managed to pull together a group, however these
group members have some very unusual names. Of  course the
Dwarf inquires about the names of his soon to be group members and
comedy ensues.

Mike and Mike have excellent chemistry, which is very apparent as the
Darsh begins to explain the names of group members starting with Who,
who happens to be the tank. The whole skit is very well rehearsed and
flows nicely without any lengthy pauses or breaks that would be sure to
kill the mood. As Darsh continues down the list, both Darsh and Bomb
become increasingly annoyed and confused as they realize the other is
just not getting it.



The video itself appears to have been made entirely in game using only
basic player emotes for expression with some hand drawn animation
thrown in the mix. While the video is certainly not the most impressive
I have ever seen, the simplicity of the video seems to enhance the
comedy rather than detract from it. Abbott and Costello themselves used
very few props, instead relying on voice tone and speed combined
with  body language and farcical expressions to enhance their
routines, so by keeping it simple Davis and Schroeder stay true to the
original.



The hand drawn animation is a nice addition, adding a visual that not
only enunciates the point Bomb is trying to make, but also provides
some laughs due to it’s crudely drawn nature. I have
personally never seen a more entertaining raid on Onyxia.
That’s not to say that the video itself is without
it’s faults. The video tends to be rather grainy and out of
focus and because it relies solely on in game emotes, that severely
limit’s the range and amount of emotion that a the characters
can portray through body language.


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This is most evident as Bomb grows increasingly angry, one would expect
quite a bit of movement which tends to happen when one is annoyed and
confused, however Bomb remains rather disappointingly motionless. This
fault could have been corrected by using a more advanced video making
method,
however considering that the video was entirely created using
in game shots and emotes it is rather well done and gets the point
across. Thankfully Davis and Schroeder both have an excellent ability
to convey emotion into their voices, so even while their characters are
standing still you easily get caught up into the frustration that is
the “Who’s the Tank?” skit.



Overall I was impressed by this recreation of a classic. Davis and
Schroeder stayed true to the original, while still managing to give
their video their own personal flare. While I feel the video was flawed
in the character movement department the skit itself more than makes up
for whatever was lacking. Honestly I’m pretty convinced you
could put this skit to tuba music and it would still incite laughter.
By combing two great things into one  this video gives a
refreshing new feel to a classic, sure to bring laughter to a new
generation. Now if they could just manage to make it snow while it was
80 degrees outside my life would be complete. 



Now if you’ll excuse me Who is waiting to pull, What is
waiting to sheep, I Don’t Care is preparing to bubble hearth
out and I need to talk Tomorrow into making a Soul Well. So for now
join us on our forums and let us know what you think of
“Who’s the Tank?”.