It's time for A Bit (only a very small Bit, mind you) of Fry and Laurie:
John and Peter (and Marjorie)
Masters of that particular four-letter word, those two are.
And while I'm at it, how about a particular three-letter word?
From Here to Just Over There
That one explores a particular phenomenon the British have observed about Americans. As John Cleese put it in Fawlty Towers, "everything's bottoms, isn't it?"
5 comments:
I finally finished watching the first season DVD you lent me. Quite enjoyable... I especially like the "Control and Tony" sketches. The little random "on the street" interviews interspersed throughout the sketches sometimes had me a bit perplexed... "Well I wouldn't suck it."
http://youtube.com/watch?v=UGMD8cL6IjE
I-am-not-a-Russian-spy-cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die!
Yes, the "vox pops" as they are called (short for vox populis, voice of the people) are I think a rather silly mockery of those typical "man in the street" interviews. What makes these ones funny is that they always leave out the question. Kind of a "where did that come from?!" thing.
And "I wouldn't suck it" is the running gag vox pop in the first season I think. If I remember correctly "oh christ I've left the iron on!" was the one in the second season.
The absolute biggest mental freakout (like for example, Python's numbingly weird "Find the Fish") they did was in the third season, the song You, You, You by Mr. Fry. Absolute absurdistry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lb581YGhDY
Here is a nice bit of weirdness from a John Cleese sketch he did on one of the Python albums... of course it is better to hear Cleese actually reading this with his own inflection, pauses and whatnot:
Tonight's the night I shall be talking about of flu the subject of word association football. This is a technique out a living much used in the practice makes perfect of psychoanalysister and brother and one that has occupied piper the majority rule of my attention squad by the right number one two three four the last five years to the memory. It is quite remarkable baker charlie how much the miller's son this so-called while you were out word association immigrants' problems influences the manner from heaven in which we sleekit cowering timrous beasties all-American Speke, the famous explorer. And the really well that is surprising partner in crime is that a lot and his wife of the lions' feeding time we may be c d e effectively quite unaware of the fact or fiction section of the Watford Public Library that we are even doing it is a far, far better thing that I do now then, now then, what's going onward christian Barnard the famous hearty part of the lettuce now praise famous mental homes for loonies like me. So on the button, my contention causing all the headaches, is that unless we take into account of Monte Cristo in our thinking George the Fifth this phenomenon the other hand we shall not be able satisFact or Fiction section of the Watford Public Library againily to understand to attention when I'm talking to you and stop laughing, about human nature, man's psychological make-up some story the wife'll believe and hence the very meaning of life itselfish bastard, I'll kick him in the Balls Pond Road.
That is a great sketch...I've actually read the text more than I've actually heard it spoken, quite funny either way!
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