During an interview with Carl Reiner, Johnny raises the question of where the expression "second banana" came from. But neither he nor Carl can provide the answer. For the record, it comes from vaudeville days, when there were usually three comic acts on the bill. The top comic was referred to as the "top banana" (or "first banana"), the comic was second billing was referred to as "second banana", and the least important comic as "third banana". Some sources say that the term originated from a well-known vaudeville comedy skit Involving bananas.