13. Lloyd’s insured a famous comedy routine by Abbott and Costello
Who’s on First? was a vaudeville routine which found acceptance from live audiences before it was presented during a national radio broadcast in 1938. It became so popular that Abbott and Costello performed it several times on radio, for President Roosevelt at the White House, in film, and onstage. They adlibbed in almost every performance, and it was rarely performed exactly according to script. It became the comic duo’s signature routine, and in the 1950s it was seen on television. It has been referenced countless times by other comics and parodists, and is a part of American folklore.
Abbott and Costello insured the routine with Lloyd’s for $250,000, over a term of five years. The routine was not insured against theft (who could steal it?) nor copyright infringement. It was insured against the chance that for whatever reason the duo was unable to perform the routine because they were no longer working together. Their partnership survived the five-year term and they did not renew it, unfortunately for them because they eventually did split up. Their partnership did not survive IRS audits and property seizures over unpaid taxes, when each blamed the other for the oversight.