>>17544069 But will it play in Peoria?

Peoria (Ill.) has been an old stand-by with comedians for years—but not only because of the "O" sound. Nor because of the four vowel sounds that give it a nice noisy resonance. But largely, I suspect, because of the fact that it is a whiskey town and a river town and not particularly famous for what is known as the genteel tradition.[1]

The phrase originated during the vaudeville era and was popularized in movies by Groucho Marx.[2] The belief was that if a new show was successful in Peoria, a main Midwestern stop for vaudeville acts, it would be successful anywhere. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_it_play_in_Peoria%3F