top banana

  1. a top performer in show business; specif., the star comedian in a burlesque show
  2. the most important person in any group

Origin: prob. so named from the banana-shaped soft club carried by burlesque comedians

See top banana in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
Slang
  1. The main comic in a burlesque show.
  2. The head person, as of a group or project.

Origin:

Origin: So called from the presentation of a banana to the comedian who has the punch line in a three-man burlesque routine

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