Four candles

[pat]

In court the other day the legal adviser had to put the charge of stealing four candles to a defendant. We all managed to keep a straight face but it brought to mind this sketch. I'm sure the UK forumites will have seen it before but those who haven't might like to watch it. It's a very funny sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu9MptWyCB8

[Hobbit]

Totally brilliant Pat - a real classic.  I've lost count of how many times I've seen it & it's still hilarious
I had a similar thing on holiday.  My friend & I were sharing a table at dinner with a married couple & the waiter came to take the order for starters.  When the waiter asked what they'd like the husband said "two soups".  We just burst out laughing.  Written by Victoria Wood it's very funny.  Julie Walters is brilliant.  Heaven knows how Celia Imrie & Duncan Preston kept a straight face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ezkDHnxO7o

[Maudland]

Thank you for these, they brightened up a cold and snowy evening. Both marvellous. Pat, how you didn't crack up is beyond me. Didn't anyone even question it? 

[pat]

We managed to keep it together until the defendant left the courtroom and then we did crack up. Even more so at the totally bemused look on the face of the young usher who hadn't a clue what we were laughing at.

The legal adviser later admitted thinking to herself as she saw what she had to read out, "You b*****d. Why couldn't you have nicked three or five candles."

[mkenuk]

A true classic.


MK

[pat]

And of course there's also this classic Morecambe and Wise sketch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL5YbkxPeq4

I remember many years ago being in the college band. We occasionally did gigs and had been asked to do one at christmas for the college. One of our favourite pieces to play was David Rose's The Stripper, and although our conductor also enjoyed it he didn't think it was suitable for a christmas concert so left it off the programme.

Mulled wine and mince pies were provided for the audience at the end of the gig and as they got out of their seats, one of our members, a trombonist, stood up and said that we would play one more piece to accompany them as they went to get their refreshments - The Christmas Stripper. We started to play it and the conductor had no choice but to pick up his baton and conduct us.

It was probably the most well-received piece of the night, but one of the college 'bigwigs' took it upon herself to write a remarkably censorious letter to the trombonist, almost accusing him of anarchy. 'Such behaviour is completely unbecoming...', 'what right do you think you have to override...', 'this piece of music was completely inappropriate...' etc. Needless to say, this was received with much hilarity by the trombonist who actually framed it and displayed it on his office wall. Officialdom gone mad.

(For anyone who might have thought that a complete non sequitur, that's the name of the piece of music in the sketch. There's probably someone, somewhere, who doesn't know it!)

[Hobbit]

Superb Pat &  what a great story   We watched this sketch along with lots of other classic Morecambe & Wise sketches at Christmas.  I'm putting a link for the Andre Previn sketch which is also very funny.  Sadly the quality is not terribly good.  I couldn't get the BBC clip as it says that due to copyright it's not available in this country
www.dailymotion.com/video/x31b29r

[mkenuk]

There's a good link to the 'Andre Preview' sketch on the YouTube page that Pat has posted for the 'Stripper' sketch - just to the right of the screen.

MK

[pat]

Another classic.

I wonder what our American friends make of these video clips. From my, admittedly quite limited, encounters with Americans over the years (although often spending a couple of weeks in their company on birding tours) I've concluded that their sense of humour is different from ours. Not better, not worse, just different.

[Hobbit]

I don't think Eric & Ernie ever had much, if any, success in America.  I'm guessing that our American friends wont find them as hilariously funny as we do.  As you say Pat their humour is different to ours.

[mkenuk]

Going back a few years, I can remember some Americans telling me that they 'loved British TV comedy'. Turned out that what they liked was the mildly risqué comedy of programmes such as 'Are You Being Served?' and Benny Hill. Such programmes weren't known in the US - the advertisers, who were paying for the programming, wouldn't have been happy with what might have been seen as 'non-family' humo(u)r.  For a time the 'Carry on' films had a bit of a cult following there as well, for the same reason - their raciness was something that was not always allowed to US film-makers.

Essentially, comedy is very local. We like 'Fawlty Towers', for example, simply because it is so British. We are laughing at the faults we see in British institutions. Essentially, we are laughing at ourselves.  British sitcoms such as 'Steptoe and Son' and  'Till Death do Us Part', for example, which have succeeded in the States, have done so after they were adapted and renamed - 'Sanford and Son' and 'All in the Family' respectively.

Comedy seldom crosses borders, if it relies heavily on situations and background. I have tried, without success, to find anything vaguely amusing in episodes of 'Friends' or 'Seinfeld' that I have watched, even though people have assured me that they are 'brilliant'.

I have shown the Eric and Ernie 'Stripper' sketch to students in Thailand. They found it hilarious; another one which they like is the 'Talking Moose's Head' from 'Fawlty Towers' (the 'Germans' episode, I think). And Thais love Mr Bean - everybody knows Mr Bean- students, taxi drivers, even a monk one time asked me if I had ever met Mr Bean! Universal comedy.  Obviously anything which depends on wordplay (Four Candles) or on knowing the identity of a celebrity ('Andre Preview', Glenda Jackson) is much more difficult to appreciate.
 

MK

[Les303]

Those clips really do bring back a lot of pleasant memories for me.

As I do enjoy the clever subtleness of  good British humour , I could list a dozen series including ( The Two Ronnies ) that have been shown in Australia which I have thoroughly enjoyed.
Though for me , I just enjoy any good humour no matter where in the world it comes from.

HUMOUR - In an ideal world might stand for the following ;

Help your neighbour
Ugly is beautiful
Make love , not war
Open your heart
Utter truth
Reject prejudice

I fully understand why you would not have been a fan of friends ( younger generation ) but surprised that you did not like Seinfeld as Seinfeld & Mash would have to be my two favourite yanky comedies.

[Hobbit]

I like that Les.  Perfect in an ideal world.
I have never seen Seinfeld but I also loved MASH.  I also enjoy Frasier.  I have tried to watch a few American comedies but as MK says comedy doesn't always travel very well.  I also find the wildly over enthusiastic audiences very grating

[mkenuk]

Yes, I'd forgotten about 'M.A.S.H.'. Possibly the best US TV comedy series of all time. It was supposedly set in Korea but everybody knew that it was really about Vietnam. Consequently it appealed to anyone who wanted to see an end to that terrible war. 

Perhaps I'll give 'Seinfeld' another try. Maybe it's an acquired taste.
I remember watching the first two episodes of 'The Office' and wondering what the heck it was all about. It eventually grew on me. I'm still not sure that I would describe it as a comedy, though. Satire yes, but comedy? A middle-aged man making a fool of himself trying to impress others. Sad. Quite brilliant, but ultimately sad.

MK

[TRex]

My opinion < 2¢/2p

I liked M.A.S.H., especially in its later years (it improved with time). I liked The Two Ronnies, I think any English speaker ought to find The Four Candles skit very funny.

Seinfeld, The Office, Fawlty Towers - do nothing for me.