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Over the next two hours, I'll be
digging into the comedy archives,

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looking at the lives of some of
our most legendary performers...

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Bloody Greta Garbo.

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..and the men and women
who inspired me.

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I'll discover how they took
their innate gift of the gab

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and unique comedy eye...

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HE YELLS

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..and broke through to become
much-beloved entertainers

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and household names that have
stood the test of time.

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Polly!

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I'll be talking to some of them,
too, as I'll be joined by

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the comedy greats that are Jo Brand,
Ross Noble and Jasper Carrott.

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Welcome to
Paul Merton's Comic Heroes.

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I've always loved comedy.

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I remember being taken to the circus
as a small boy

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and enjoying the clowns immensely.

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The sound of other people's
laughter was joyful.

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I became obsessed with comedy,

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from the legendary comic genius
that was Charlie Chaplin

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and the slapstick perfection
of Laurel and Hardy.

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I loved it all,
although in this programme

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I will be focusing
on British performers.

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As I've learned from experience
and as a fan and student of comedy,

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whether it's on stage or radio,
TV or film,

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laughter can have
the power to unite us.

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HE CHUCKLES

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What makes us laugh may differ from
person to person.

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But in some way, whatever our
background, class or beliefs,

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we all have a sense of humour.

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Now, comedy is a broad church.

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We can't possibly cover everything
and that's why I'll be honing in

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mostly on just a few performers

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who have made an impact on me
personally.

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The first time I saw
Charlie Chaplin would have been

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one of his early Keystone films
that I was watching on television,

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probably when I was about
six or seven,

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and my grandad pointed at this man
and he said,

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"That's Charlie Chaplin. He was the
funniest man in the world."

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JAUNTY PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

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I mean, in those days,
it was enough just to run around,

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kick people up the arse
and fire a gun in the air.

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That was a comedy classic.

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JAUNTY MUSIC PLAYS

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Later on, of course, he developed
into an extraordinary comedian,

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and the films he made
are lasting monuments

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of fantastic 20th-century art.

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But those very early ones,
certainly, you can look at them

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and think, "What's... What's...
What is... What's he doing?"

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Perhaps one of the most famous
moments in any Chaplin film

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is very early on, a film that
he made called The Tramp

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in 1915, where he's walking down
this road.

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And as he walks away from the camera

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and he's feeling downtrodden and
he's lost the love of his life,

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and he's looking a bit miserable,

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then he looks up
and he hears the birdsong.

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MELANCHOLY PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

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He picks up his heels and he shrugs
his shoulders and he becomes

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more optimistic and walks off to,
hopefully, a brighter future.

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When he pulled this off,
this particular moment,

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the reason why it's still a famous
moment, I think, is,

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even people who aren't
Charlie Chaplin fans

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or know much about silent cinema

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are probably familiar with that
image of him walking away.

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It was just that he managed to,
sort of, convey emotion,

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a change of emotion with his back to
the camera,

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purely from just physical mime,
just through what he was...

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Body language, essentially -
what he was doing.

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And that was considered
rather remarkable at the time.

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JAUNTY PIANO MUSIC PLAYS

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Chaplin was incredibly athletic
and moved in a very funny way,

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and that's what a lot of early
silent cinema is about,

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particularly in comedies,
is people moving quickly.

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Chases were very popular,
simply because it was...

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You were doing stuff that
you couldn't do on stage.

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In silent film, you could be
running across the countryside,

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you'd be climbing up buildings,

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you could be ducking
in and out of doors.

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There's a whole lot of business
you could do

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which wasn't so easy
to achieve on the stage.

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Chaplin held out against
the talkie revolution.

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His film City Lights came out
in 1931,

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two to three years after talkies had
completely vanquished silent film.

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Not only was this the first time
he had composed a film score

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but it was also his most critically
acclaimed work to date.

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SOLEMN MUSIC PLAYS

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DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS

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HE SPEAKS GERMAN

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VOICE OVER: Democracy is fragrant.

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Liberty is odious.

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The Great Dictator in 1940 still
has lots of visual moments in there,

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where he did have speech
and there was dialogue sequences

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but he also maintained that ability
to create incredible poetic images.

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And it's true that
when we watch a film,

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we remember the visuals
more than we remember dialogue.

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MUSIC PLAYS

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When Charlie Chaplin was touring
America and got spotted by

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Mack Sennett and put into Keystone
films at the beginning of 1914,

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the troupe that he was travelling
with, the Fred Karno Troupe,

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also featured an English comedian
called Stan Jefferson,

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who later changed his name
to Stan Laurel.

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So, it is extraordinary that these
two giants of 20th-century comedy

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should be working together.

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After the break, Stan Laurel
teams up with Oliver Hardy.

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And comedy legend Jasper Carrott
joins me

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to enthuse about our shared love
for that classic double act.

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Welcome back to
Paul Merton's Comic Heroes.

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Time now to talk about one of
the greatest film double acts

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of all time - Laurel and Hardy.

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Here's another nice mess
you've gotten me into.

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Well, I couldn't help it. It turned
out it was your job, right?

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Kids liked Laurel and Hardy,
I think,

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cos we like adults being silly.

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Children find adults doing silly
things very funny, cos adults

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are meant to be the serious ones
that don't do silly stuff.

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So, when you watch a couple of
adults and as an eight-year-old

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you feel mentally superior to them,
that's very charming.

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Who is it?

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It's a lady about the trip. Ooh!

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Just a minute. My friend
Mr Hardy will speak to you.

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Hello?

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Er, excuse me, please.

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My ear is full of milk.

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The magic was allowed to come
through because Oliver Hardy's

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great ability as an actor, being
able to look at the camera and

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hold a scene, meant that Stan could
react to what Oliver was doing.

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So, Stan could be just be, sort of,
just looking bit puzzled,

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and Oliver was holding the scene and
Stan didn't have to do so much.

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He didn't have to carry
the whole thing himself.

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In one of their silent films,

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a film called The Battle Of
The Century, the idea came up

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that there should be
a custard-pie fight in the street.

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The public got pretty sick of
custard-pie fights quite quickly

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and so the idea that
Laurel and Hardy should do

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a custard-pie fight was initially
treated with some scepticism.

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And I think it might have been
Stan Laurel who said,

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"Yeah, but let's do the biggest
custard-pie fight there's ever been.

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"Let's have thousands of
custard pies."

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It's kind of illogical,
a custard-pie fight, because,

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you know, why are custard pies
readily available for battle?

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But Laurel and Hardy got past that
by having a company bring it in.

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You see the van in the shot
and stuff.

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But generally speaking, custard-pie
fights lacked logicality.

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When we think of Laurel and Hardy,
we do think of their voices

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because, unlike some of the other
silent comedians,

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their voices matched
their personalities.

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They sounded the way we
thought they should.

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Say, Ollie... What?
You don't think we're taking

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any chance going back there tonight
and robbing that safe, do you?

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Chance or no chance, we've got
to get that deed back.

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And if we think about
Laurel and Hardy in the talkies,

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then it's not often dialogue
sequences that we think of -

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it's either action sequences or,
in the case of Way Out West,

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where they're doing
the charming dance...

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YODELLING

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Or there's the song
The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine,

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which, again, is... It's lyrics,
yes, but it's not dialogue.

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# Oh, June

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# Like the mountains I'm blue

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# Like the pine

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# I am lonesome for you

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HIGH-PITCHED: # In the
Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia

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# On the trail of
the lonesome pi-ine. #

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The two of them worked so well
together. They made over 100 films.

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They had such a genuine friendship
and when Oliver Hardy passed away

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in 1957, Stan was devastated

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and refuse to perform on stage or
act in another film without him.

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CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

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My first guest is Jasper Carrott,

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who shares my passion for Laurel
and Hardy and, as you can see

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by this hometown gig in Birmingham,

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after 50 years on stage, he's still
adored by legions of fans.

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I believe that Laurel and Hardy
were an influence on you.

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Yes. I mean, I don't know whether
they've influenced my humour

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but it was wonderful laughing at
Laurel and Hardy

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and you're thinking,
"Crikey - I wish I could do that."

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Yes. There's a wonderful piece,
Laurel and Hardy, where Laurel,

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all he does - he laughs for about
six or seven minutes.

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And you are in agony
because you're laughing with him,

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and you don't know why.

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So, I know a great deal about
alternative comedy,

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as it was called, what the circuit
was like and how it grew up,

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cos I was there at the time.

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But the folk-club circuit, I don't
know a great deal about it.

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That's how you first started, wasn't
it, on the folk-club circuit?

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Could you tell me a typical evening
in a folk club might be like?

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Folk clubs really were responsible
for the start of

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the new-wave comedy - there was
myself and Billy Connolly,

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Max Boyce, Mike Harding.

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We couldn't really work
working-man's clubs

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because the audiences didn't want
raconteuring.

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So it was folk clubs that became
the nursery for the people that

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came through, like myself and Billy,

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and that's where we learned
to communicate with the audience.

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And it was a big difference,

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because you were talking TO the
audience and not AT them.

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A lot of folk clubs obviously
started out as very traditional,

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you know, and it was blokes
fingering their ear,

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singing 200 verses of how somebody
lost their virginity

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to a farm lad who got killed by a
badger or something.

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HE CHUCKLES

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And then we actually developed
that style of comedy.

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Now, when you first started,
was it more music than comedy,

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or was it a mixture of the two right
from the beginning?

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Fortunately for me, I was a pretty
lousy guitarist and I didn't

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have much of a voice, so it had to
be the comedy that worked.

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And, of course, it was,
in a way, unique.

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There weren't too many others doing
it. And it's not as if we worked

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off each other, cos I hardly
ever saw anybody work,

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because I was so busy
working myself.

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In fact, Billy Connolly, I used to
bring him down from Scotland

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to do Midland tours.

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And I used to have a folk club
myself on a Monday night

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but I could never book him because
he was always working Walsall

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on a Monday night, so I never saw
Billy till about 1976.

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But he was going through exactly
the same process as me - you know,

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singing, playing - but, obviously,
people wanted to hear the stories.

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The car-insurance claims thing that
you do, which is very, very funny -

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how do you get hold of that material
in the first place?

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Are you not breaking some kind of
confidentiality clause or something?

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00:14:04,860 --> 00:14:06,700
How did you get hold of
this material?

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I found it in Reader's Digest
in 1969.

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Seriously. Brilliant!
And then I was running a folk club

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and I just went out on the night
and I just read them out,

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and people really were
really taken with it.

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So, I expanded it and then I found
some more,

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and I found some more in Australia.

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And then I...

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I left it alone for 20 years but I
brought it back because I've been...

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I'm thinking, "People are still
doing the same thing."

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Yes.

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I got about seven or eight brand-new
ones, which are really funny.

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I won't do them for you.
No, don't, no.

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Let's not give them away.

234
00:14:43,940 --> 00:14:46,180
Yeah, it's given the whole thing
a new life.

235
00:14:46,180 --> 00:14:48,460
But, essentially, it's...

236
00:14:48,460 --> 00:14:49,860
They're 50 years old.

237
00:14:52,100 --> 00:14:55,740
"I bumped into a lamppost which was
obscured by human beings.

238
00:15:02,060 --> 00:15:05,700
"Coming home, I drove into
the wrong house and collided
with a tree I haven't got."

239
00:15:13,340 --> 00:15:15,380
HE CHUCKLES

240
00:15:15,380 --> 00:15:20,180
"The accident was caused by me
waving to the man I hit last week."

241
00:15:20,180 --> 00:15:21,660
Did you think this was something

242
00:15:21,660 --> 00:15:23,940
that would eventually
translate to television?

243
00:15:23,940 --> 00:15:28,980
I did a show in Stratford-upon-Avon,
at the Shakespeare theatre,

244
00:15:28,980 --> 00:15:31,580
and I did...
It wasn't a one-man show.

245
00:15:31,580 --> 00:15:34,460
The support was Victoria Wood. Aha.

246
00:15:34,460 --> 00:15:35,740
Unbelievably, yeah.

247
00:15:35,740 --> 00:15:37,820
And she was about 23 at the time,

248
00:15:37,820 --> 00:15:42,260
and the tickets were only about
seven and six or something stupid.

249
00:15:42,260 --> 00:15:44,940
And Michael Grade came up
from London.

250
00:15:44,940 --> 00:15:46,940
He was head of
London Weekend Television,

251
00:15:46,940 --> 00:15:50,540
and he saw me and he
offered me a pilot.

252
00:15:50,540 --> 00:15:52,540
Fortunately, the pilot
went very well.

253
00:15:52,540 --> 00:15:54,580
I did another five,
so it went out

254
00:15:54,580 --> 00:15:58,060
as An Audience With Jasper Carrott,
six half hours.

255
00:15:58,060 --> 00:16:00,460
I didn't, sort of, work it all out
from the beginning.

256
00:16:00,460 --> 00:16:03,100
It just fell into place
as it went along.

257
00:16:03,100 --> 00:16:06,820
Did you feel at that point that you
were on top of your game?

258
00:16:06,820 --> 00:16:11,140
I was very, very confident because I
was so familiar with the material.

259
00:16:11,140 --> 00:16:14,700
But later on, in 1982, I did a
sort of satire show

260
00:16:14,700 --> 00:16:18,180
called Carrott's Lib,
which was live to air.

261
00:16:18,180 --> 00:16:19,780
Now, that was really scary,

262
00:16:19,780 --> 00:16:24,340
because I didn't really know what
would work and what wouldn't.

263
00:16:24,340 --> 00:16:28,100
I couldn't try... I could try it out
maybe once, possibly twice,

264
00:16:28,100 --> 00:16:30,580
before I actually did it on the
Saturday night,

265
00:16:30,580 --> 00:16:34,540
but that was really scary,
but a terrific learning experience.

266
00:16:34,540 --> 00:16:37,700
Because then you do know your
strengths and your weaknesses.

267
00:16:37,700 --> 00:16:39,220
I always wanted to know this -

268
00:16:39,220 --> 00:16:41,500
why was the programme called
Carrott's Lib?

269
00:16:41,500 --> 00:16:43,780
What were you being liberated from?

270
00:16:43,780 --> 00:16:44,980
HE CHUCKLES

271
00:16:44,980 --> 00:16:46,940
I don't know.

272
00:16:46,940 --> 00:16:48,260
I mean, you...

273
00:16:48,260 --> 00:16:51,660
You've got to come up with a title
and I suppose liberation,

274
00:16:51,660 --> 00:16:57,380
the word "liberation", at that stage
in 1982, was not overworked.

275
00:16:57,380 --> 00:17:01,660
There was women's lib, obviously,
and that had made big inroads

276
00:17:01,660 --> 00:17:04,620
into entertainment
all over the world.

277
00:17:04,620 --> 00:17:06,540
So, Carrott's Lib was my way of
saying,

278
00:17:06,540 --> 00:17:09,420
"Well, hang on - here's something
a bit different."

279
00:17:09,420 --> 00:17:12,220
Yes, and it was, and it was
very successful.

280
00:17:12,220 --> 00:17:17,460
You still tour, don't you? Yes, I
work now purely for the pleasure.

281
00:17:17,460 --> 00:17:20,940
I haven't been really creative,
Paul, for quite a while.

282
00:17:20,940 --> 00:17:24,100
You get to a point where you
think you've done it all

283
00:17:24,100 --> 00:17:27,380
but stand-up was my first love
and I've gone back to it.

284
00:17:27,380 --> 00:17:31,260
I left it alone for about
10, 12 years, and then I started

285
00:17:31,260 --> 00:17:35,740
about five years ago and
rediscovered the thrill
of being on stage

286
00:17:35,740 --> 00:17:39,100
but not the big ones - not the
5,000 seaters or the 10,000 seaters.

287
00:17:39,100 --> 00:17:42,260
These were the 1,000 seaters,
the 700 seaters,

288
00:17:42,260 --> 00:17:44,900
and it was like going back
to my roots.

289
00:17:44,900 --> 00:17:48,300
And I got back the real enthusiasm
for it.

290
00:17:48,300 --> 00:17:50,220
I've enjoyed the last five years

291
00:17:50,220 --> 00:17:53,460
more than any time in my career,
I would say.

292
00:17:53,460 --> 00:17:55,980
Is that because you feel that
you've proved yourself,

293
00:17:55,980 --> 00:17:57,780
you don't have that pressure now...?

294
00:17:57,780 --> 00:17:59,740
Yep. You can just go on and enjoy it

295
00:17:59,740 --> 00:18:02,100
and almost be doing laps of
honour, as it were?

296
00:18:02,100 --> 00:18:04,100
HE CHUCKLES

297
00:18:04,100 --> 00:18:06,140
It's one way of putting it.

298
00:18:06,140 --> 00:18:10,380
It's the twilight of my career
and I'm having a ball.

299
00:18:10,380 --> 00:18:11,580
It's been fascinating.

300
00:18:11,580 --> 00:18:13,380
I'm, sort of, back on the road

301
00:18:13,380 --> 00:18:16,140
and some things have changed,
some haven't.

302
00:18:16,140 --> 00:18:19,020
I've had to change the backstage
hospitality quite a bit.

303
00:18:19,020 --> 00:18:23,260
For years, you know, it's been
booze, uppers, downers.

304
00:18:23,260 --> 00:18:25,460
That's all had to change now.

305
00:18:25,460 --> 00:18:29,220
Now, now, I have to insist
on Deep Heat,

306
00:18:29,220 --> 00:18:31,420
Horlicks...

307
00:18:31,420 --> 00:18:33,540
and a bath with a door in it.

308
00:18:40,180 --> 00:18:43,620
# Look up and laugh, be happy,
bright and gay

309
00:18:43,620 --> 00:18:46,900
# Imagine the sun is shining
every day

310
00:18:46,900 --> 00:18:48,580
# Even though we have to strive

311
00:18:48,580 --> 00:18:50,380
# Gee, it's good to be alive

312
00:18:50,380 --> 00:18:53,860
# Go home together and laugh
your troubles away. #

313
00:18:53,860 --> 00:18:57,820
When sound films became established
in the early '30s, people who

314
00:18:57,820 --> 00:19:00,260
wouldn't have been, perhaps,
successful in silent films

315
00:19:00,260 --> 00:19:02,060
suddenly had huge careers.

316
00:19:02,060 --> 00:19:04,860
There was Gracie Fields,
for example, in this country,

317
00:19:04,860 --> 00:19:09,460
who was born in Rochdale,
who was extremely popular.

318
00:19:09,460 --> 00:19:12,060
Let's all just sing this last
chorus together.

319
00:19:12,060 --> 00:19:13,740
I'm gonna cry in a minute. Come on.

320
00:19:13,740 --> 00:19:19,060
# Walter

321
00:19:19,060 --> 00:19:23,780
# Tears are tasting saltier and I've
lost my handkerchief, too. #

322
00:19:23,780 --> 00:19:26,780
Her strength was that
she was one of the people.

323
00:19:26,780 --> 00:19:29,980
She was an ordinary working-class
individual,

324
00:19:29,980 --> 00:19:32,060
born above a fish-and-chip shop.

325
00:19:32,060 --> 00:19:34,740
Oh, you're Grace, then,
the one on the stage?

326
00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:36,940
That's me. Will you give us a hand
with me basket?

327
00:19:36,940 --> 00:19:39,220
She wasn't a star that
you looked up to.

328
00:19:39,220 --> 00:19:41,460
She was one of us. "Our Gracie".

329
00:19:41,460 --> 00:19:43,300
That was part of her huge appeal -

330
00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:45,740
that she could easily be your
next-door neighbour.

331
00:19:45,740 --> 00:19:47,020
How do I look?

332
00:19:47,020 --> 00:19:49,180
SHE CLUCKS

333
00:19:51,900 --> 00:19:55,020
Well, I'm afraid
it doesn't quite suit you.

334
00:19:55,020 --> 00:19:56,780
I'm afraid that won't
quite suit anybody.

335
00:19:56,780 --> 00:20:00,540
The roles that she tended to play in
films were working-class roles.

336
00:20:00,540 --> 00:20:03,580
One where she leads a strike, she
leads the workers out of a factory

337
00:20:03,580 --> 00:20:05,540
and she's singing as they do it.

338
00:20:05,540 --> 00:20:09,500
# Sing as we go
and let the world go by... #

339
00:20:09,500 --> 00:20:13,580
People really liked that
working-class authenticity.

340
00:20:13,580 --> 00:20:16,860
"Salt of the earth" used to be
the expression that you used to use

341
00:20:16,860 --> 00:20:21,220
for people like her, where you
felt that she was on your side.

342
00:20:21,220 --> 00:20:23,620
You mean the shipyards are
going to open up again?

343
00:20:23,620 --> 00:20:25,580
No, I'm afraid not.

344
00:20:25,580 --> 00:20:29,420
This evening, the committee and I
have decided against it.

345
00:20:29,420 --> 00:20:32,740
But, Lord Randall, that isn't right.
Those men haven't enough to eat

346
00:20:32,740 --> 00:20:35,180
or warm clothes for their family,
or a decent place to live.

347
00:20:35,180 --> 00:20:37,420
I know them all - they're all
friends of mine.

348
00:20:37,420 --> 00:20:41,180
She was one of the first
entertainers to sign up to a company

349
00:20:41,180 --> 00:20:44,740
called Ensa, to entertain troops
abroad during the Second World War.

350
00:20:44,740 --> 00:20:48,980
So, she went to northern France
very early with Ensa.

351
00:20:48,980 --> 00:20:51,660
When General Gracie took command
with the PEF in France,

352
00:20:51,660 --> 00:20:53,460
millions heard the broadcast.

353
00:20:53,460 --> 00:20:55,900
This was during
the Second World War.

354
00:20:55,900 --> 00:20:59,300
Entertainers who were popular with
the public were seen as very much

355
00:20:59,300 --> 00:21:03,380
morale boosters, that you could go
and, sort of, lift people's spirits.

356
00:21:03,380 --> 00:21:06,180
# A song and a smile,
making life worthwhile

357
00:21:06,180 --> 00:21:07,460
# So, sing

358
00:21:07,460 --> 00:21:09,860
# Hh-ha-ho-ho-ha-ho

359
00:21:09,860 --> 00:21:15,260
# As we go on by. #

360
00:21:15,260 --> 00:21:17,940
You know, it would be not
something that you would do

361
00:21:17,940 --> 00:21:19,540
to necessarily boost your ow career

362
00:21:19,540 --> 00:21:21,900
but something where you would be
giving something back

363
00:21:21,900 --> 00:21:24,220
to the audiences who had supported
you in peacetime.

364
00:21:24,220 --> 00:21:29,740
AUDIENCE: # When the skies are blue,
you're beguiling ... #

365
00:21:29,740 --> 00:21:32,380
And when they're grey,
you're still smiling.

366
00:21:32,380 --> 00:21:38,420
# And when they're grey,
you're still smiling. #

367
00:21:38,420 --> 00:21:41,660
There is a belief that Hitler
declared Gracie Fields to be

368
00:21:41,660 --> 00:21:43,580
an enemy of the Third Reich.

369
00:21:43,580 --> 00:21:46,260
Um, this diminutive
working-class woman,

370
00:21:46,260 --> 00:21:48,820
you wouldn't think would be much of
a threat to the Third Reich

371
00:21:48,820 --> 00:21:50,660
but maybe there was something
about...

372
00:21:50,660 --> 00:21:57,500
He could see that her power of
popularity amongst ordinary people,

373
00:21:57,500 --> 00:22:00,700
if I can use that phrase,
was very, very strong, and so

374
00:22:00,700 --> 00:22:06,380
maybe he saw her as a strong morale
booster for the Brits,

375
00:22:06,380 --> 00:22:09,420
at a time when he was trying to
bomb us into submission.

376
00:22:09,420 --> 00:22:11,380
# Sally... #

377
00:22:11,380 --> 00:22:13,300
Not many voices on the other side.

378
00:22:13,300 --> 00:22:15,580
# Sally

379
00:22:15,580 --> 00:22:20,500
# Pride of our alley

380
00:22:20,500 --> 00:22:23,580
# You're more than

381
00:22:23,580 --> 00:22:26,500
# The whole world

382
00:22:26,500 --> 00:22:31,540
# To me. #

383
00:22:31,540 --> 00:22:35,900
Hitler was not somebody that was,
I would have thought,

384
00:22:35,900 --> 00:22:37,860
too much of a Gracie Fields fan.

385
00:22:37,860 --> 00:22:41,060
I can't imagine him sitting down
listening to Sally from the alley

386
00:22:41,060 --> 00:22:43,260
and all this kind of stuff,
but maybe he did.

387
00:22:43,260 --> 00:22:45,500
Maybe he had a private gramophone
collection

388
00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:47,140
that we know nothing about.

389
00:22:48,700 --> 00:22:50,300
Still to come...

390
00:22:50,300 --> 00:22:53,260
I catch up with my old friend
Ross Noble, who shares

391
00:22:53,260 --> 00:22:56,340
my appreciation of a comedy legend.

392
00:22:56,340 --> 00:22:57,940
I love Max Miller.

393
00:22:57,940 --> 00:23:00,580
Haven't I got a nice figure, ladies?
Haven't I? No, I have, haven't I?

394
00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:10,240
# With me little stick
of Blackpool rock

395
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,600
# Along the promenade I stroll

396
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:17,080
# It may be sticky
but I'll never complain

397
00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:20,440
# It's nice to have a nibble
at it now and again... #

398
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:26,160
George Formby's double entendres
are so slight that you don't...

399
00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:28,040
As a child, certainly,
watching them...

400
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,120
"Me little stick of Blackpool rock."

401
00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:33,240
I mean, it's just referring to
a stick of Blackpool rock.

402
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,600
It would never occur to me that it
could be referring to anything else.

403
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,040
# One afternoon, the band
conductor up on the stand

404
00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,600
# Somehow lost his baton -
it flew out of his hand

405
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,960
# So, I jumped in his place
and then conducted the band

406
00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,720
# With me little stick of
Blackpool rock... #

407
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:53,120
He was playing Blackpool,
I think it was, and there was

408
00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:56,800
a big poster up and his face on it
and he overheard

409
00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:00,600
a mother saying to her young
child, boy, she said to...

410
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:02,600
She pointed at the picture
of George Formby.

411
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:04,520
She said, "Now, look at that face,"
she said.

412
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,640
"You'll end up looking like that
if you don't stop playing with
yourself."

413
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,280
And I don't know whether that's
a true story or not but I think

414
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,320
he told it himself once or it's
an autobiography or somewhere.

415
00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:15,880
I've read it.

416
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,840
But I don't think he had any
airs and graces about himself.

417
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:21,520
# With me little stick
of Blackpool rock. #

418
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,040
All his films seemed to have the
same title. They were always called

419
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:30,080
Let George Do It or George Does It,

420
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,800
We've Let George Do It,
George Wouldn't Let Us Do It.

421
00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,680
They always seemed to have titles
like that, so they're quite similar.

422
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:38,640
If music be the food of love,
play on, MacDuff, play on.

423
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,840
We haven't time to do all the act -
we'll miss the train.

424
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,200
Go on. We've got an audience.
I'll go round with a titfer,

425
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,320
then we'll eat tonight.
That'll be a novelty!

426
00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,200
He's kind of a male equivalent to
Gracie Fields in a way, I think,

427
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,240
and he was born in Wigan.

428
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:55,360
And Wigan and Rochdale,
where she was from,

429
00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:57,920
are only about 26 miles apart.

430
00:24:57,920 --> 00:24:59,600
It's the same part of the world,

431
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:02,080
one of those places
around Manchester.

432
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:03,800
You know what they say
about back home?

433
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:05,840
I've got the eyes of a hawk,
the strength of a fox,

434
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,160
the speed of a hare
and the brains of an ox.

435
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,760
Hey...I've got that wrong
somewhere.

436
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,840
George Formby would flirt with
the risque but it was always done

437
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,040
with a great charm and a...

438
00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:19,040
If you watch his stuff,
he's very good at,

439
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:21,680
sort of, like, prompting the
audience to laugh,

440
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,600
cos he giggles himself a bit
in the songs,

441
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,040
as if he's only just heard the line
for the first time.

442
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:29,040
And he does it so naturally and he
does it so well

443
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,840
that you don't think of it as being
manipulative.

444
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,320
You just think of it as being part
of his craft. "Hey, here we go."

445
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:37,560
HE CHUCKLES

446
00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:41,720
# Mr Wu no longer has a laundry... #

447
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:43,880
There was one song where he looks
like he's gonna

448
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:45,640
sing the word "bloomers"

449
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,240
and then changes it to
something else at the last minute.

450
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,080
# Customers he's washed for

451
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,360
# Now are in bad humours

452
00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:54,360
# They feel quite neglected

453
00:25:54,360 --> 00:25:56,040
# And I've heard the rumours

454
00:25:56,040 --> 00:26:00,440
# Lots of girls on winter nights
go out without their garters

455
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,040
# Cos Mr Wu's
a window cleaner now. #

456
00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,400
I don't know what this obsession
with trying to ignore the fact

457
00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,920
that women wore underwear is about
but it was certainly

458
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:14,320
something that the authorities
didn't want people to know about.

459
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:22,800
Although there was generally,
censorship was quite Draconian,

460
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:26,200
during wartime some of
those standards could be relaxed.

461
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,440
So, in Let George Do It,
there is a scene where he parachutes

462
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,480
into Berlin and meets Adolf Hitler

463
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,040
and punches him and knocks
him to the ground.

464
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:37,560
I'll wipe the British Empire from
the face of the Earth.

465
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,880
Lad! I want you.

466
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,840
Hey! You're my last
janitorial demand in Europe.

467
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:46,280
You Schweinehund. For this, I'll
knock your head off of the block.

468
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,640
Haha!
Not if I knock your block off first.

469
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:02,160
Then what gets me is all the storm
troopers start dancing, you know.

470
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:03,680
HE CHUCKLES

471
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,960
It's a strange piece of choreography
but, yes, while Neville Chamberlain

472
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,520
was prime minister and we were
trying to, sort of,

473
00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:11,320
keep Mr Hitler happy,

474
00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,840
that would never have got past
the official film censor.

475
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:20,000
Under the inspector's eye
is Max Miller,

476
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,240
comedian and policeman's headache,
there to get the party going.

477
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,800
Max Miller was a comedian who became
very popular from the 1930s onwards.

478
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,200
Max Miller wasn't his real name -
his real name was Thomas Sargent.

479
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,200
But, for some reason,
he didn't think

480
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:34,200
that was appropriate for
a stage act.

481
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,400
Thanks very much.
I expected more but I'm satisfied.

482
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:38,760
Blimey, you don't know what to wear
this weather, do you?

483
00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,400
It's raining again, duckie. You all
right in here? That's right.

484
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,000
You'll be all right. Stay there.

485
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:44,560
He used to dress in these
sort of...

486
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:46,360
A bit like what I'm wearing,
this shirt,

487
00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:49,920
but he would have a suit made
out of this kind of flowery pattern

488
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,360
and a big white hat.

489
00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:55,600
If he was in his 30s or 40s now,
I think he'd be a huge star now.

490
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:58,760
He just had that ability to
control an audience.

491
00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,000
I know exactly what you're
saying to yourselves.

492
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,600
"Why's he dressed like that?"
I'll tell you why.

493
00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,080
I'm a commercial traveller
and I'm ready for bed.

494
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,600
Now, listen, the last time I played
this theatre,

495
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:10,800
I cracked a joke and somebody
told the manager.

496
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:13,640
They're not entitled to do that.
It's jealousy. And how do I know?

497
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:16,280
Because, as a rule, he sits in
the box and tonight he's not there.

498
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,600
He'd look in the wings if he was
gonna do

499
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,560
a slightly risque joke which, by
today's standards, they weren't.

500
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,360
But he'd look in the wings like that
and he'd beckon forward like this

501
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:25,880
and he'd sort of, like... He'd look

502
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,640
to see if the manager was looking.
"He's not there, he's not there."

503
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,560
Now, I'm gonna crack the same joke
but don't you laugh, because if you
laugh, he'll know it's rude.

504
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:34,920
Now, I'll find out where he is.
I think he's round the back.

505
00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:39,440
Now, don't move. And don't go out.
Don't you go out till I come back.

506
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:42,000
He would have this ability,
in a huge theatre,

507
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,160
to give you the impression he was
talking just to you.

508
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,640
He's on the side, sitting in a Bath
chair with a silk hat and a whip.

509
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,200
Now, don't laugh. Haven't I got a
nice figure, lady? Haven't I?

510
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,400
No, I have. Haven't I, duckie?
No, honest. No.

511
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,720
When I'm talking,
it's rude to interfere.

512
00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,000
It's like married life.
Now, ain't I nice, lady?

513
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,520
You hear mainly female laughter.
Women found him very funny,

514
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:07,360
mainly because he's undercutting
the supposedly male superiority.

515
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:08,800
We fell down, we fell on the sand,

516
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,960
and I wanted to teach her
a game that I knew

517
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:12,720
but she wouldn't wear me, see?

518
00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,400
So, I said, I said, "Have you
had a wash this morning?"

519
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:17,600
"No." "Why?"
"We can't get any water."

520
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:19,280
"Well, how do you
keep yourself clean?"

521
00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:21,200
She said,
"We smother ourselves with oil."

522
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:26,200
And she was speaking the truth
because every time I went to
kiss her, I felt myself slipping.

523
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:28,480
I like the girls who do.

524
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:30,680
I like the girls who don't.

525
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:33,680
I hate the girl who says she will
and then she says she won't.

526
00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:38,760
But the girl I like the best of all,
and I think you'll say I'm right,

527
00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:40,200
is the girl who says she never does

528
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,160
but she looks as though she... Here!

529
00:29:43,160 --> 00:29:46,320
I worked as a civil servant for
a few years when I first left school

530
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:49,280
and there was another guy working
there who had seen Max Miller

531
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:53,760
at the Holborn Empire and told
me about this particular technique

532
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,720
that Max would have where his theme
tune, Mary From The Dairy...

533
00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:59,480
HE HUMS

534
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,480
That would start playing and as soon
as the audience heard that,

535
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:04,480
they'd burst into applause and stuff

536
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,760
because they knew he was
about to come on.

537
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,760
But he'd be waiting in the wings
and listening to the audience.

538
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,760
And as the applause started to
die down,

539
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,480
then he would come on, so the
applause would go up even higher.

540
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:17,880
So, it's a very clever thing to do,

541
00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:23,000
where you just wait, delay the
entrance, delay, delay, delay, now.

542
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,280
CHEERING

543
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:32,160
And with the songs, as well,

544
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,640
I think it's always a
great compliment, music and comedy,

545
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,040
when you put the two together.

546
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:40,520
# I fell in love with
Mary from the dairy

547
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:44,240
# But Mary wouldn't fall in love
with me

548
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:46,480
# Down by an old mill stream

549
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,760
# We both sat down to dream

550
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,960
# Little did she know that
I was thinking of a scheme... #

551
00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:55,640
You can still tell Max Miller jokes
today and get a laugh.

552
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:59,560
When I'm doing TV programmes and
there's a warm-up for the audience

553
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,640
and, you know, you're invited
to say something for the microphone

554
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,200
and stuff, I often do this
Max Miller joke,

555
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:07,360
which a really simple joke,
and it's...

556
00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:08,720
I went home the other night.

557
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,400
I said to the wife, "Here," I said,
"I hear the milkman

558
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,120
"has made love to every woman
in this street bar one."

559
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,640
And she says, "I bet it's that
stuck-up cow at number 54."

560
00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:23,760
The beauty of that joke is that
it's the woman

561
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,480
that's got the power in the joke.
It's like she... Her attitude is,

562
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:30,200
"Well, you know what she's like
over there - she wouldn't even
make love to the milkman."

563
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:32,480
It's sort of... Whereas we think
that she's gonna say,

564
00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:34,440
"I don't know what
you're talking about."

565
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,760
For my money, he is the first real

566
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:42,600
modern-sounding stand-up and
this is from 80 years ago now,

567
00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:44,200
so that's some achievement.

568
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:48,680
Ross Noble is not only a regular
on Have I Got News For You

569
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,440
but we also share some of
the same comic heroes.

570
00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:53,400
And after 20 years in the business,

571
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,600
he's routinely playing
enormous venues like this one.

572
00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:59,760
Ross, thank you, first of all,
for doing this.

573
00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,800
Tell me, what first inspired
you to get into comedy?

574
00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:05,440
I must have been, like,
really, really young.

575
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:06,960
I was probably about...

576
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:08,680
Probably about four or five

577
00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:11,640
and my gran used to have loads
of comedy records.

578
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:14,400
So, she had Billy Connolly,
Jasper Carrott.

579
00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,000
She had loads of Max Boyce records
as well.

580
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:19,240
And I used to go around there
and I'd listen to those

581
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,040
and I'd hear the laughter and I
didn't really understand it

582
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:23,400
but the sort of...

583
00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,560
You know, like, the Welsh tones and
the Scottish towns and stuff...

584
00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,040
Yes. I just found it, sort of,
intoxicating.

585
00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,640
Do you think it's important...?
So, how were you as a schoolkid?

586
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,560
How did the other
schoolkids think of you?

587
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:36,160
Well, this'll sum it up entirely.

588
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:39,160
I used to ride to school
on a unicycle.

589
00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,960
Too poor to have a proper bike -
just the one wheel?

590
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,240
My dad said, "Next Christmas,
if you work hard..."

591
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:45,840
HE CHUCKLES

592
00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:53,280
Cos I was also obsessed with, like,
erm, circuses, juggling, stuntmen.

593
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,840
You know, all that sort of stuff -
that's what I was into.

594
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,840
You were dyslexic - and still are
dyslexic, presumably -

595
00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:02,720
so did that make you feel
a little bit like an outsider?

596
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:05,760
And if it did, is the feeling of
being an outsider

597
00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:08,000
useful to a comedian?

598
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,400
Wow!

599
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,360
Um...

600
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:14,440
What it did do was it made me
realise

601
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,920
that I wasn't gonna get a job...

602
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,480
That's why I got into the circus and
stuntmen and all that,

603
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:22,680
cos it was basically a thing of,
I went,

604
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:26,000
"I need a job where I don't
have to write stuff down.

605
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,760
"I'll just throw myself off
a building on fire."

606
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:31,360
I have met quite a few stuntmen
in the past

607
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:34,800
and you are absolutely ideal casting
to be a stuntman,

608
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:39,360
if comedy hadn't have worked out.
Cos you love adrenaline. Yeah.

609
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,280
Well, what I used to do was,
I used to set fire to boxes

610
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:44,840
and jump off the roof
onto the boxes.

611
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,720
And I honestly thought there'd be
some big Hollywood producer

612
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:50,960
walking past and go, "Oh, my God.

613
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,240
"That kid knows how to
fall into boxes.

614
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:55,440
"I'm gonna put him in the movies."

615
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:58,160
GRUFF VOICE: "I am Batman.
I am the Dark Knight.

616
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,840
"I'm here to defend Gotham City."

617
00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,640
There's a riot going on.
No-one can hear what he's saying.

618
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:05,840
There's shit exploding.

619
00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:08,480
"I am here. I am Batman."

620
00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:12,160
"You what, mate? Sorry. Can't hear
a fucking word you're saying."

621
00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:13,640
"I am Batman."

622
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:15,480
"Meh-meh-meh?"

623
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:16,840
"Batman."

624
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:17,960
"Meh-meh?"

625
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:19,240
"Meh-meh."

626
00:34:19,240 --> 00:34:20,280
"Meh-meh?"

627
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:21,440
"Meh-meh."

628
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:23,320
# Ma-ma-na-na-na... #

629
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,520
Meh-meh.
# Na-na-na-na

630
00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,680
# Mah-na-ma-na
Na-na-na-na-na

631
00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:30,000
# Na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-na-nah. #

632
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,120
So, when you were starting out, was
it more or less the same approach

633
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:35,760
as you have now, where you
don't really have a script?

634
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:40,000
You've got some ideas in your head,
which you start to talk about?

635
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:44,240
No, when I first started,
I was sort of a props act. Aha.

636
00:34:44,240 --> 00:34:47,120
Do you remember how there was,
like, Garfield?

637
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:48,960
All the shops used to sell Garfields

638
00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:51,720
and they were in different
costumes and stuff.

639
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:55,640
And I used to do stuff about how
you never saw Garfield and

640
00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:59,560
Yasser Arafat in the same room
together, and I'd pull out Garfield

641
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:01,280
and he was dressed as Yasser Arafat.

642
00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:04,320
And I used to... And it was so...

643
00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:07,680
It was so disjointed for adults,
going,

644
00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,760
"Why has this kid got
a cat dressed as Yasser Arafat?"

645
00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:15,400
And then what happened was, I used
to take the props on and then,

646
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,360
a bit like all the guys from the
folk clubs that I really admire,

647
00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:20,960
they would do songs and jokes

648
00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:23,960
and then the bits in between
the songs got longer.

649
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:25,760
That's what happened with my props.

650
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,360
It got to the point where I'd take
the props and I never get to them.

651
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,320
So, was there ever a gig when you
took on a suitcase, didn't open it,

652
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:35,240
didn't take anything out of it,

653
00:35:35,240 --> 00:35:37,440
and then walked off with it again
at the end? Yeah.

654
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,440
Which would have been a very
amusing thing to do. Yeah!

655
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:42,840
So, you talked about the acts
in the folk clubs -

656
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:44,520
Billy Connolly,
you're a huge fan of.

657
00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:47,000
What was it about him that
you particularly liked?

658
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,920
Billy Connolly - you know,
he's the governor, he's the king.

659
00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,600
But if you look back, there was
people that came from that scene...

660
00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,320
Obviously, Jasper Carrott,
Mike Harding.

661
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,280
Richard Digance as well.

662
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,840
You know, obviously,
Connolly's thing...

663
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,200
You know, the crucifixion sketch
that he used to do.

664
00:36:05,200 --> 00:36:08,400
And, obviously, Carrott was doing
the Magic Roundabout

665
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:10,960
and the stuff about the mole.

666
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:15,480
I remember Richard Digance had this
brilliant thing about, er,

667
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:21,280
clay-badger shooting,
about covering badgers in clay,

668
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:24,360
throwing them in the air and
shooting them with a water pistol.

669
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,680
It just felt incredibly imaginative

670
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:31,640
and then they would play a song or
they'd do a parody of thing.

671
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:35,520
But Max Miller was perhaps a
prototype for these folk-club people

672
00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:41,360
in using the guitar to mix the
marriage of song and comedy,

673
00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:44,240
which is a very potent mix,
if you get that right.

674
00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:46,840
I mean, Max Miller...

675
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:48,640
Like, I love Max Miller.

676
00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:53,160
What I love about him was that
if you listen back to his records,

677
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:55,360
cos you hear him do a full...

678
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,600
Like, a full concert, there's
times where you can hear him

679
00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:02,480
really, like, milking
the crowd, you know?

680
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:07,640
Yes. He invented all of the things
that then variety comics copied.

681
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,160
At your gigs, you, er...

682
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:12,480
Would it be too strong to say you
encourage hecklers

683
00:37:12,480 --> 00:37:15,320
or you don't mind hecklers? What
would be the best way to put it?

684
00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:17,640
Heckling's the wrong
term for it, I think. Aha.

685
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:22,200
To me, a heckler is somebody that's
trying to be disruptive, you know.

686
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:24,040
I like it to be conversational.

687
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,200
SHOUTS FROM AUDIENCE

688
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:28,240
How do I...

689
00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:30,760
eat my garlic?

690
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,400
Well, it's always nice to have
one of the Roux brothers in,

691
00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:35,040
the Roux brothers.

692
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,600
"How do you eat your garlic?"

693
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:39,560
How do I what?

694
00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:41,360
Cook a garlic.

695
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,520
How do I what a Dalek?

696
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:47,200
Cook. C-O-O-K.

697
00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:50,040
C-O-O-A.

698
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:53,040
C-O-O-A. Cooa.

699
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:54,720
Cook. Cook!

700
00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:57,160
How do you cook a Dalek?

701
00:37:57,160 --> 00:37:58,800
Sorry, I'm dyslexic.

702
00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:00,760
She might as well have gone,

703
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:03,960
"Z-Z-O-R, four, five, seven,
nine, forward slash."

704
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:06,320
Haven't got a fucking clue.

705
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:07,760
No idea.

706
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,240
I want people to come in
and feel like

707
00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:17,680
tonight, we're gonna be part of
a thing that only exists...

708
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:23,440
Like, it exists in that room and
then it's just, it's gone, you know.

709
00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:27,160
If you're building an idea, you come
up with something at the start

710
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:29,080
of the night and then as it builds,

711
00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:31,040
it takes you to a place which,

712
00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,640
by the end of the night, you can be
talking about things

713
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:37,560
that everyone in the room
understands

714
00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:41,560
but it came out of something that
happened in the room

715
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:44,640
at the start of the night,
so anyone that comes in...

716
00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:46,200
It's basically a way of

717
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:48,400
stopping people sneaking in
for the second half.

718
00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:50,080
PAUL CHUCKLES

719
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:53,200
Is there something now that you
know about comedy and about

720
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,320
performing live that you wish
you'd known when you started?

721
00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:58,680
Everything. Absolutely...

722
00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:01,920
Like, literally, when I first
started I tried on all these

723
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:06,400
different, sort of, "Oh, am I
the guy that does this thing?"

724
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:08,840
You know, "Should I be
that sort of comic?"

725
00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:10,720
And there was a moment
where I just went,

726
00:39:10,720 --> 00:39:12,960
"Oh, well, I just won't be that
distinctive.

727
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,880
"I won't have a particularly
distinctive thing."

728
00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:20,400
And I just thought,
"Oh, I'll give up on all that -
I'll just be myself."

729
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,440
When you stop trying to find
the thing,

730
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,640
you realise that who you are
is actually...

731
00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:27,160
Is actually enough.

732
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:29,680
Ladies and gentlemen,
that's all from me.

733
00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:31,920
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

734
00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,960
Coming up, my mate Joe, who I
first met over 30 years ago

735
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:39,680
on the alternative-comedy circuit.

736
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:44,560
I just wanted to see
if I could make people laugh.

737
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:46,280
And these two remind us

738
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:47,760
just why they are

739
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:49,320
the best-loved double act

740
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:51,080
this country has ever seen.

741
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:52,240
Tea, Ern?

742
00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:02,000
Welcome back. Time now to move on to
one of the best-loved double acts

743
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:03,360
this country has ever seen.

744
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:06,080
Bringing a bit of sunshine
to all our lives,

745
00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:08,440
of course it's Morecambe and Wise.

746
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,080
# Bring me sunshine

747
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:13,960
# In your smile

748
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,520
# Bring me laughter

749
00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:18,880
# All the while ... #

750
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:22,160
I remember there was an LP
that the BBC brought out,

751
00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:24,440
a long-playing record back in the
early '70s,

752
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:27,640
which had a photograph of Eric and
Ernie on the front cover.

753
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:29,840
And I remember looking at this
cover -

754
00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:31,480
and I was, like, 12, 13
or something -

755
00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:33,760
and just thinking,
"Wouldn't that be wonderful -

756
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,480
"to be creating laughter together
with your best friend?"

757
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:39,880
And that's the feeling that
very much comes across.

758
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:43,160
In one particular episode, they're
round at their domestic setting

759
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,680
and Ernie's throwing some paper up
in the air, and then one of them...

760
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:50,520
Like, a little paper hat, a tiny
paper hat, lands on Eric's head.

761
00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:52,840
If I promise to do that play
properly, that one there...

762
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:54,120
If I promise to do it properly,

763
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:55,840
no messing about,
how does that grab you?

764
00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:58,360
This play? Yeah.

765
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:00,200
Ha! Ha!

766
00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:04,640
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

767
00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:15,600
I bet you couldn't do that again.

768
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:19,160
He just waits. He just waits, cos he
knows that Eric will say something,

769
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:22,680
he trusts that Eric will say
something, and he'll let Eric

770
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:24,920
get that laugh, he'll let
Eric take his time on it.

771
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:27,160
He's not gonna rush him,
he's just watching.

772
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,200
And, eventually, Eric says,
"I bet you couldn't do that again."

773
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:33,480
You know, and it's not the most
hilarious line in the world

774
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:35,160
but it's the perfect line for there.

775
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,360
A little hat falling on the head
is something

776
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:39,680
that's completely
unplanned and unrehearsed.

777
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:43,280
As a contrast to that, there is a
routine that they do

778
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:44,640
where they have to swap...

779
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:46,800
You know, each is wearing
the other's trousers.

780
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,400
Look at your I suppose.

781
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:50,760
Now. What?

782
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:54,760
You should now have
another spare leg.

783
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:56,320
Another spare leg? For me.

784
00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,600
I've got one there.
Have you got one? Yes.

785
00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:00,920
Drop it on the floor. Good lad.

786
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:02,720
Are you ready? Yes.

787
00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:06,720
There you are.

788
00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:08,640
Yes. Now then. What?

789
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:10,800
Take it all easy, nice and casual.

790
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:12,160
Relaxed.

791
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:14,680
Now, you turn round,
very slowly, like that.

792
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:18,200
Doesn't matter which way we turn.

793
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:21,160
Doesn't matter which way we turn.
We've got the wrong seats on. Right.

794
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:24,600
So, we can start the show now...
Yes, start the show. ..and walk
off very slowly. Why?

795
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:26,800
It brings the tears to my eyes.
Are you ready?

796
00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,400
This must have been something they
did in the summer-season show

797
00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:33,080
or a pantomime or something,
because it's so well done.

798
00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:36,240
That's not a routine that you could
write and rehearse in a week

799
00:42:36,240 --> 00:42:38,920
and get it as slick
and as smooth as that.

800
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:40,720
And they know exactly where the
laughs are,

801
00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:42,680
they know what they're doing,

802
00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:45,920
they know how visually funny it is,
and it feels...

803
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,800
It feels like a well-worn routine,
in a good way.

804
00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:51,400
You know, it's...

805
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:55,840
Literally, the material is strong,
and not just the trousers.

806
00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:57,960
HE YELLS
Thank you.

807
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:02,160
There would be bits of business
that they would repeat,

808
00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:05,000
that I sometimes think might have
been there for, maybe,

809
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:07,440
superstitious reasons,
almost like a lucky charm.

810
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:10,160
Tea, Ern?

811
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:14,400
Tea, Ern!

812
00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:19,120
That's a belter, that. I haven't
done that one for years, you know.

813
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:21,320
That's one from the archives, that.

814
00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:23,560
There is such a natural timing
between the two of them.

815
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:25,800
As long as human beings find human
behaviour funny,

816
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,680
we will always find
Morecambe and Wise funny.

817
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:31,760
I've known my next guest for about
34 years and she's one of

818
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:33,960
the country's best-loved comedians,

819
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:37,000
as you can see from the welcome
at this show

820
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:40,080
at the Lyceum in London
a few years ago.

821
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:42,280
When we were both growing up,
I suppose,

822
00:43:42,280 --> 00:43:45,160
perhaps the biggest act on TV
was Morecambe and Wise.

823
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:46,480
Were you a fan of theirs?

824
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:48,360
I was a fan of theirs.

825
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,520
I mean, obviously -
and most people would say this -

826
00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,200
I absolutely loved Eric Morecambe.

827
00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:55,160
And the stuff I liked...

828
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:57,840
I mean, all Eric Morecambe's stuff
was really stupid,

829
00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,520
but the more stupid the better.

830
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:04,000
And he certainly kind of pushed
the stupid boat out

831
00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:10,680
and I really admire comics that have
the confidence to try something

832
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:13,640
so utterly ridiculous
that it's a risk.

833
00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:17,480
I always used to love the thing of
Eric and Ernie in bed, as well.

834
00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:18,840
I thought that was...

835
00:44:18,840 --> 00:44:23,680
That was so before its time,
you know, and so weirdly innocent

836
00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:26,520
and quite touching in a way.

837
00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:29,800
Now, Jo, when you were starting out,
there was a lot of performers -

838
00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:33,120
me amongst them - who weren't
particularly that skilled and adept

839
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:34,840
at handling an audience.

840
00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:38,440
Particularly female comics
at that time,

841
00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:41,840
who were often judged
before they even started.

842
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:44,800
You know, it was like, there would
be a nervousness in the room.

843
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:48,840
Well, yeah. I mean, there was
a natural assumption...

844
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:52,720
You know, let's say particularly,
I think, on the part of men.

845
00:44:52,720 --> 00:44:55,800
But I stood behind women at
the Comedy Store and I heard one say

846
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:58,520
once to her friend -
they were in front of me...

847
00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:01,240
"Oh, there's a female comic
coming on now.

848
00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:03,240
"Shall we go to the toilet?"

849
00:45:03,240 --> 00:45:05,160
"How flattering."

850
00:45:05,160 --> 00:45:08,880
I just don't think people
expected much of us, really.

851
00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:12,160
What was your inspiration to start
doing stand-up comedy?

852
00:45:12,160 --> 00:45:15,360
Beryl Reid I was a massive fan of,

853
00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:18,480
because I think she took
quite a lot of risks,

854
00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:21,320
really, in her career choices.

855
00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:23,800
Like The Killing Of Sister George,
for example,

856
00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:26,400
which was about a much older
gay woman

857
00:45:26,400 --> 00:45:29,400
having a relationship
with a very young woman.

858
00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:31,400
And I also loved her cos I thought

859
00:45:31,400 --> 00:45:34,880
she was really very naturally
funny and good at comedy.

860
00:45:34,880 --> 00:45:37,800
These are not my new earrings,
you know.

861
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:39,880
They're not big enough!

862
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:45,320
No, these are bowls. Now, this one's
called a wood and it's got bias.

863
00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:48,040
My dad says my mum's got bias.
You know,

864
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:50,720
"BUY US this and BUY US that."

865
00:45:50,720 --> 00:45:53,360
The jokes keep coming with me.

866
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:55,840
Now, this little white one here -

867
00:45:55,840 --> 00:45:57,760
this is called a Jack.

868
00:45:57,760 --> 00:46:01,440
And when the wood rolls up to it,
it says, "How are you, Jack?"

869
00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:04,280
And this one says, "I'm all WHITE."

870
00:46:04,280 --> 00:46:06,560
Were there any comedians from the
older school

871
00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:08,200
that you admired or you liked?

872
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:13,840
My knowledge, sort of, started with
the alternative circuit, really.

873
00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:16,840
Apart from, you know,
Marti Caine and people like that on

874
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:18,680
light-entertainment shows.

875
00:46:18,680 --> 00:46:20,240
Well, you mentioned Marti Caine,

876
00:46:20,240 --> 00:46:22,920
who came through that circuit of
working men's clubs,

877
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:26,480
and I think this might have
something to do with

878
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:31,520
the lack of female stand-ups from
that particular era and circuit,

879
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,200
because those places
were very rough to play.

880
00:46:34,200 --> 00:46:36,960
And she - who was, you know,
a very good-looking woman -

881
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:40,280
would have to make jokes
about her physical appearance

882
00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:44,520
to try and subvert any references
she might get from the audience.

883
00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:47,280
Yeah. Particularly women tend to be
more self-deprecating

884
00:46:47,280 --> 00:46:50,560
and they think, "If I do it, I can
get it out of the way

885
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,840
"and I can do it funnier than
someone in the audience can do it,

886
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:56,720
"then they'll hopefully
leave me alone."

887
00:46:56,720 --> 00:46:58,800
And it's sad in a way that...

888
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,800
as you say, Marti Caine was, like,
really good looking.

889
00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:05,400
Why did she feel she had
to do it, you know?

890
00:47:05,400 --> 00:47:09,800
Because, certainly,
I'm not in that category, but...

891
00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:11,600
You know, I like men. In fact,

892
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:13,440
well, I'm glad they're not
habit-forming

893
00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:15,120
cos I can't do without 'em.

894
00:47:15,120 --> 00:47:18,640
You think their heart's pounding
with passion and all the time,

895
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:21,200
it's their gold medallion
banging against the pacemaker.

896
00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:25,840
I once had a raging affair with
a fella with a pacemaker.

897
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:27,680
Oh, it was an amazing experience.

898
00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:29,080
Every time he got excited,

899
00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:32,280
the next-door neighbours' telly
changed channel
and the video ejected.

900
00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:35,720
So, do you think, in a way,
it's quite a good technique

901
00:47:35,720 --> 00:47:38,800
to say something about yourself
before somebody else does it,

902
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:40,960
because then you're disarming them?

903
00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:42,360
Oh, absolutely.

904
00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:44,240
I really think it's a fantastic
technique,

905
00:47:44,240 --> 00:47:46,080
and it's certainly worked for me.

906
00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:49,800
The only times it didn't work where
when people were so drunk

907
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:54,640
that they didn't take any notice of
my very witty jokes about my weight

908
00:47:54,640 --> 00:47:56,960
and stuff and they just
kind of carried on.

909
00:47:56,960 --> 00:48:01,040
But those people always ruin gigs,
wherever they are.

910
00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:03,760
They're the people who want to be up
on stage doing what you're doing

911
00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:08,040
but they haven't got the nerve
or the inclination or the talent

912
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:10,080
or the aptitude or the jokes.

913
00:48:10,080 --> 00:48:13,720
Absolutely. So they have so many
reasons to hate you.

914
00:48:15,120 --> 00:48:18,400
We've got a little group of lads
down here, which is a bit scary.

915
00:48:18,400 --> 00:48:19,920
You obviously got free tickets,

916
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:24,160
cos lads do not come
to see me willingly.

917
00:48:24,160 --> 00:48:27,480
So, welcome. I hope you have a
good night, all right?

918
00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:30,760
And don't worry - I can't run
either, so...

919
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:34,280
if I start winking at you and
looking slightly

920
00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:38,200
middle-aged and hormonal,
just leg it, all right?

921
00:48:40,120 --> 00:48:44,080
When you started off doing stand-up,

922
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,800
how was that different to
what you do these days?

923
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:49,160
I was kind of a nervous performer.

924
00:48:49,160 --> 00:48:51,240
Not particularly about hecklers -

925
00:48:51,240 --> 00:48:54,400
that was the bit I didn't
feel uncomfortable with at all.

926
00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:57,440
But I was nervous about
how to deliver a line.

927
00:48:57,440 --> 00:49:03,000
So I just delivered my jokes
in a very monosyllabic way.

928
00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:06,760
I tried very hard to change that and
the way that I changed that

929
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:09,240
was by compering gigs,
because that meant

930
00:49:09,240 --> 00:49:11,440
that you had to talk to
the audience.

931
00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:13,800
And that worked pretty well,
apart from one night I was in

932
00:49:13,800 --> 00:49:17,200
the Red Rose and this guy said to
me, "Do you do anything else here?"

933
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:18,640
And I said, "Well, like what?"

934
00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:21,680
And he said, "Well, do you have to
clean up afterwards?"

935
00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:24,240
"No. I'm a comedian!"

936
00:49:24,240 --> 00:49:27,080
He obviously just thought I was
shoved up there

937
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:29,280
cos someone hadn't turned up,
you know.

938
00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:33,080
So, yeah, that does help,
the compering thing, I think.

939
00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:35,640
It's generally accepted amongst
a lot of people that you were

940
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:38,520
a great role model, because you were
somebody that was doing it,

941
00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:39,680
that was making it work.

942
00:49:39,680 --> 00:49:42,960
And, of course, when you see other
people doing it and succeeding,

943
00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:46,280
you say, "Well, if that person
can do it, then maybe I can do it."

944
00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:48,440
Well, thank you for saying that.

945
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:50,280
I try not to think of that too much

946
00:49:50,280 --> 00:49:53,600
because I... I don't know
why I try not to think of it

947
00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:56,920
too much but it's kind of a bit
terrifying, in a way.

948
00:49:56,920 --> 00:49:59,840
And, um, well, I think...

949
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:03,000
What I did,
which hopefully helped people,

950
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,320
is I kind of use that thing of...

951
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:07,800
If you look like
you couldn't care less,

952
00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:11,320
eventually people believe
that you couldn't care less.

953
00:50:11,320 --> 00:50:15,280
So I'd occasionally be under siege
at student gigs or something

954
00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:18,560
and I'd have people saying the most
appalling, sort of, misogynist...

955
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:21,000
Like, threatening stuff to me.

956
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:24,160
And I'd just look at them,
"Yeah, OK," like that.

957
00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:27,560
And, actually, in the end, that
really helped me to, sort of,

958
00:50:27,560 --> 00:50:30,520
believe that I could deal with it,
really,

959
00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:33,720
because I've had so many people in
the past say to me -

960
00:50:33,720 --> 00:50:36,440
other comics,
and not just women, either -

961
00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:38,920
say that they find that
really, kind of,

962
00:50:38,920 --> 00:50:44,120
vicious stuff from audiences
really difficult to deal with.

963
00:50:44,120 --> 00:50:47,080
And, you know, it's caused them
to think of giving up.

964
00:50:47,080 --> 00:50:51,320
And I think we would lose so many
great people

965
00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:54,240
if people weren't able
to deal with that.

966
00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:57,600
So, that's certainly one thing that
I think really works very well.

967
00:50:57,600 --> 00:51:00,280
Why did you want to become
a comedian?

968
00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:01,880
Despite the fact...

969
00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:04,640
You know, I had a difficult
childhood in many ways,

970
00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:06,840
cos my dad was
a very difficult character

971
00:51:06,840 --> 00:51:10,760
who suffered from depression
and had a terrible temper.

972
00:51:10,760 --> 00:51:15,280
But, weirdly, there was quite a lot
of laughing in our household.

973
00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:18,760
You know, both my brothers
were very funny

974
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:21,920
and I just always used to think to
myself... You know,

975
00:51:21,920 --> 00:51:25,520
it's a bit of a miserable bloody
place, the world, isn't it?

976
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:27,840
And if you can actually make
someone laugh,

977
00:51:27,840 --> 00:51:30,440
what a great thing that is
to be able to do.

978
00:51:30,440 --> 00:51:32,520
Almost greater than anything else.

979
00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:36,000
Better than being a singer,
better than being a good actor.

980
00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:39,840
And so it was those sort of
abstract reasons, really.

981
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:46,520
I just wanted to see if I could make
people laugh and, thankfully, I did.

982
00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:48,200
I was outside a wine bar
the other night.

983
00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:49,920
This woman came
running up to me and went,

984
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,920
"Jo Brand, you're a ledge.
Get in there and get wankered."

985
00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:59,640
I was like, "Mum,
it's the beginning of the night."

986
00:52:01,400 --> 00:52:02,880
She's a nightmare.

987
00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:06,960
After the break,

988
00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:10,800
the '60s takeover of telly by
Oxford and Cambridge graduates -

989
00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:13,900
and we loved it.

990
00:52:17,740 --> 00:52:20,180
Welcome back to Paul Merton's
Comic Heroes.

991
00:52:21,740 --> 00:52:24,180
I'm taking a look back at some
of my all-time favourites.

992
00:52:25,460 --> 00:52:28,500
Still to come, Pete and Dud...

993
00:52:28,500 --> 00:52:31,380
My Aunt Dolly would have
done it for nothing.

994
00:52:31,380 --> 00:52:32,740
..Billy Connolly...

995
00:52:32,740 --> 00:52:34,580
The world's fucked.

996
00:52:34,580 --> 00:52:35,860
..Bruce Forsyth...

997
00:52:35,860 --> 00:52:38,060
This is satire.

998
00:52:38,060 --> 00:52:39,900
..Victoria Wood...

999
00:52:39,900 --> 00:52:42,620
I've never swum such a long way
and some of it's in the dark.

1000
00:52:42,620 --> 00:52:44,460
..and Lenny Henry.

1001
00:52:44,460 --> 00:52:46,580
How fast do you have to drive
to get one of THEM?!

1002
00:52:55,860 --> 00:52:58,460
Norman Wisdom was
so incredibly popular.

1003
00:52:58,460 --> 00:53:02,180
Started first as a stage comedian
and that character that he had,

1004
00:53:02,180 --> 00:53:04,340
which I think he called the Gump,

1005
00:53:04,340 --> 00:53:06,700
which had that hat and the jacket

1006
00:53:06,700 --> 00:53:09,780
that was slightly tight for him
and stuff.

1007
00:53:09,780 --> 00:53:12,540
That's a very unusual thing
that you don't see much these days,

1008
00:53:12,540 --> 00:53:15,900
where a comedian,
a male or a female performer,

1009
00:53:15,900 --> 00:53:19,340
has a standard uniform
or a comedy costume.

1010
00:53:19,340 --> 00:53:20,980
SIZZLING

1011
00:53:20,980 --> 00:53:22,020
Oh. Oh!

1012
00:53:22,020 --> 00:53:24,500
Oh! Well, get off it, then.

1013
00:53:24,500 --> 00:53:26,460
HE YELLS

1014
00:53:26,460 --> 00:53:28,740
"Brand identity" would not have been
the phrase

1015
00:53:28,740 --> 00:53:31,300
that people would have used
at the time but you knew...

1016
00:53:31,300 --> 00:53:33,540
As soon as you saw Norman Wisdom,
you knew who it was.

1017
00:53:35,580 --> 00:53:37,860
No smiling, please.
I'm not smiling -

1018
00:53:37,860 --> 00:53:40,060
I've got a bloomin' light
stuck right in my face.

1019
00:53:40,060 --> 00:53:42,420
One of the early Norman Wisdom films
I remember seeing,

1020
00:53:42,420 --> 00:53:45,220
Man Of The Moment, there's a scene
that he does with a photographer -

1021
00:53:45,220 --> 00:53:48,020
I think he's played by an actor
called Michael Ward -

1022
00:53:48,020 --> 00:53:49,660
and the set-up is simple. It's like,

1023
00:53:49,660 --> 00:53:52,020
"You're going to have to take a
passport photograph.

1024
00:53:52,020 --> 00:53:53,220
"Now, you mustn't laugh."

1025
00:53:53,220 --> 00:53:56,180
HE CHUCKLES

1026
00:53:56,180 --> 00:53:58,540
Control yourself, please.

1027
00:53:58,540 --> 00:54:00,060
I can't help it.

1028
00:54:00,060 --> 00:54:04,500
The more you stop me, the more
I seem to can't help it.

1029
00:54:04,500 --> 00:54:06,100
Pull yourself together.

1030
00:54:06,100 --> 00:54:09,100
HE STIFLES LAUGHTER

1031
00:54:09,100 --> 00:54:11,900
Hold it, hold it. Oh, it's going.

1032
00:54:11,900 --> 00:54:15,700
HE CHUCKLES

1033
00:54:15,700 --> 00:54:17,940
It's very funny. It's, sort of...

1034
00:54:17,940 --> 00:54:21,260
It's just... Watching
somebody else laugh

1035
00:54:21,260 --> 00:54:24,660
is incredibly
infectious, if it's done well.

1036
00:54:24,660 --> 00:54:26,660
STIFLING LAUGHTER: Go on!

1037
00:54:26,660 --> 00:54:29,340
Go on. Now, go on.
Now, force yourself. Go on!

1038
00:54:29,340 --> 00:54:31,620
HE MUTTERS THROUGH LAUGHTER

1039
00:54:34,860 --> 00:54:37,620
HE HOWLS WITH LAUGHTER

1040
00:54:42,660 --> 00:54:44,020
Control yourself!

1041
00:54:45,620 --> 00:54:48,380
HE GRUNTS

1042
00:54:48,380 --> 00:54:51,140
Go on, take me. Take me!

1043
00:54:51,140 --> 00:54:54,100
Too late.
HE CHUCKLES

1044
00:54:54,100 --> 00:54:59,380
Norman Wisdom, of course, was a very
physical comedian, very visual.

1045
00:54:59,380 --> 00:55:01,820
Adept at pratfalls.

1046
00:55:01,820 --> 00:55:04,820
And there's a show that him and
Bruce Forsyth did

1047
00:55:04,820 --> 00:55:06,420
at the London Palladium...

1048
00:55:10,260 --> 00:55:11,580
I love you, too.

1049
00:55:14,140 --> 00:55:15,460
I really do.

1050
00:55:17,260 --> 00:55:19,420
BRUCE CHUCKLES

1051
00:55:19,420 --> 00:55:21,020
Oh, you're so lovely.

1052
00:55:21,020 --> 00:55:23,900
There's one point where he runs
towards the grand piano,

1053
00:55:23,900 --> 00:55:26,300
slides across the top of the piano
on his stomach,

1054
00:55:26,300 --> 00:55:28,260
and then when he falls down
the other side,

1055
00:55:28,260 --> 00:55:30,820
he's managed to turn in the air
so he lands on his back.

1056
00:55:36,660 --> 00:55:39,700
I mean, this stuff is
difficult enough, you know,

1057
00:55:39,700 --> 00:55:44,140
when you're trying to do it on film
or something, or in rehearsal.

1058
00:55:44,140 --> 00:55:46,140
But to do it on a live TV show...

1059
00:55:46,140 --> 00:55:48,500
I'm gonna finish this if it's
the last thing I do.

1060
00:55:48,500 --> 00:55:49,700
Right, lads, come on.

1061
00:55:49,700 --> 00:55:51,220
# When Irish eyes... #

1062
00:55:51,220 --> 00:55:53,140
Yes, I'm gonna...

1063
00:55:53,140 --> 00:55:54,980
# When Irish eyes are smiling

1064
00:55:54,980 --> 00:55:57,340
# Sure, the world... #

1065
00:55:57,340 --> 00:56:00,700
He disappears down a trap door,
which is not a particularly

1066
00:56:00,700 --> 00:56:03,260
big trap door and it's going down
quickly,

1067
00:56:03,260 --> 00:56:06,860
so if you're not right in the middle
of it, there is a risk of injury,

1068
00:56:06,860 --> 00:56:09,060
cos you could hit your arm
or your leg

1069
00:56:09,060 --> 00:56:11,380
or your face could be
going down quickly.

1070
00:56:11,380 --> 00:56:14,260
I had to watch it two or three times
to figure out how he's doing it,

1071
00:56:14,260 --> 00:56:16,500
because he doesn't watch
where he's going.

1072
00:56:16,500 --> 00:56:19,060
Because if you did that, if you
started to look to see

1073
00:56:19,060 --> 00:56:21,420
where you're going,
you're telegraphing the joke.

1074
00:56:21,420 --> 00:56:24,220
You're indicating to the audience
you're looking for something,

1075
00:56:24,220 --> 00:56:26,940
so there's something on the floor,
so when you do disappear,

1076
00:56:26,940 --> 00:56:29,860
the audience are halfway expecting
something like that to happen.

1077
00:56:32,340 --> 00:56:34,860
When Irish eyes are smi...

1078
00:56:34,860 --> 00:56:37,980
Norman Wisdom once said that
people always find

1079
00:56:37,980 --> 00:56:41,860
people falling over funny
and, I mean, this is true.

1080
00:56:41,860 --> 00:56:43,860
I mean, we can think of...

1081
00:56:43,860 --> 00:56:47,860
One of the funniest moments of the
last 20, 30 years is Del Boy

1082
00:56:47,860 --> 00:56:49,500
in Only Fools And Horses

1083
00:56:49,500 --> 00:56:52,980
leaning on the bar and falling
through the frame.

1084
00:56:52,980 --> 00:56:56,140
I think we're on a winner here,
Trig, all right?

1085
00:56:56,140 --> 00:56:57,700
Play it nice and cool, son.

1086
00:56:57,700 --> 00:56:59,540
Nice and cool -
you know what I mean.

1087
00:57:08,860 --> 00:57:10,700
And, again,
like the Norman Wisdom thing,

1088
00:57:10,700 --> 00:57:12,660
David Jason does it
absolutely perfectly.

1089
00:57:12,660 --> 00:57:14,540
He doesn't telegraph
what he's doing.

1090
00:57:14,540 --> 00:57:17,340
He doesn't look down
where he's going.

1091
00:57:17,340 --> 00:57:18,940
He just leans against the bar

1092
00:57:18,940 --> 00:57:20,700
and just falls as if, you know,

1093
00:57:20,700 --> 00:57:23,420
in a line. Beautifully done.

1094
00:57:23,420 --> 00:57:25,500
And I'm a great admirer of that.

1095
00:57:25,500 --> 00:57:28,980
I love watching that kind of
physical skill.

1096
00:57:33,940 --> 00:57:35,860
When you look at Peter Cook
and Dudley Moore,

1097
00:57:35,860 --> 00:57:37,660
they were both Oxbridge -

1098
00:57:37,660 --> 00:57:39,060
Peter was from Cambridge

1099
00:57:39,060 --> 00:57:41,500
and Dudley Moore got a music
scholarship into Oxford,

1100
00:57:41,500 --> 00:57:43,660
although Dudley was
a working-class individual

1101
00:57:43,660 --> 00:57:45,060
from Dagenham, I think it was.

1102
00:57:45,060 --> 00:57:47,940
You see in their comedy
references to...

1103
00:57:47,940 --> 00:57:49,500
High-cultural references

1104
00:57:49,500 --> 00:57:52,380
that you wouldn't have seen in
comedy much before that.

1105
00:57:52,380 --> 00:57:55,540
I've been looking for you for
the last half hour.

1106
00:57:55,540 --> 00:57:58,580
We said we'd meet in front of
the Flemish Masters.

1107
00:57:58,580 --> 00:58:00,940
No, we didn't, Dud.
We never said anything of the sort.

1108
00:58:00,940 --> 00:58:03,660
When I last saw you, you were in
the Pissarro, weren't you?

1109
00:58:03,660 --> 00:58:06,180
That's right. Well, I said I'd
meet outside the abstracts,

1110
00:58:06,180 --> 00:58:07,700
we'd go through the old Greco,

1111
00:58:07,700 --> 00:58:12,580
up the Van Eyck and I'd see you in
front of the bloody Rubens. No.

1112
00:58:12,580 --> 00:58:13,900
They're in an art gallery,

1113
00:58:13,900 --> 00:58:16,980
so they're referencing various
oil paintings that are around them.

1114
00:58:16,980 --> 00:58:18,620
They're referencing famous pictures

1115
00:58:18,620 --> 00:58:21,500
that people who are connoisseurs
of painting would know.

1116
00:58:21,500 --> 00:58:23,300
500,000 quid we paid for that.

1117
00:58:23,300 --> 00:58:25,820
It's worth more than
Tottenham Hotspur, ain't it, eh?

1118
00:58:25,820 --> 00:58:27,260
Well, it's worth about the same

1119
00:58:27,260 --> 00:58:29,620
now they've signed Gilzean
at centre forward,

1120
00:58:29,620 --> 00:58:32,020
but it's not worth 500,000
quid, that load, is it?

1121
00:58:32,020 --> 00:58:34,140
My Aunt Dolly would have
done it for nothing.

1122
00:58:36,060 --> 00:58:38,540
She does anything for nothing,
don't she, your Aunt Dolly?

1123
00:58:38,540 --> 00:58:40,860
Yeah. Filthy old cow.

1124
00:58:48,420 --> 00:58:49,820
You enjoying that sandwich?

1125
00:58:52,020 --> 00:58:55,540
Dudley was particularly
a bit of a giggler,

1126
00:58:55,540 --> 00:58:58,980
and so he could, in show-business
terms, he could corpse.

1127
00:58:58,980 --> 00:59:01,820
He could laugh when you're
not meant to be laughing.

1128
00:59:01,820 --> 00:59:07,860
And Peter would pick up on that and
would sort of, not viciously

1129
00:59:07,860 --> 00:59:10,860
but rather directly,
twist the knife a little bit.

1130
00:59:10,860 --> 00:59:13,180
Mine's appalling -
I can tell you that much.

1131
00:59:14,460 --> 00:59:16,740
It's worse than the paintings,
my sandwich.

1132
00:59:21,540 --> 00:59:24,740
There's a kind of status thing
going on between them, isn't there?

1133
00:59:24,740 --> 00:59:28,540
They're both idiots
but Dudley is a bit more idiotic.

1134
00:59:28,540 --> 00:59:32,260
Dud's a bit more idiotic than Pete
but Pete is also as idiotic as Dud,

1135
00:59:32,260 --> 00:59:34,420
if you know what I mean,
in a strange way.

1136
00:59:34,420 --> 00:59:37,180
The status fluctuates rather, a bit,

1137
00:59:37,180 --> 00:59:40,460
but they can reference books
about philosophers,

1138
00:59:40,460 --> 00:59:44,660
they can reference classical
musicians or something like that.

1139
00:59:44,660 --> 00:59:46,460
But a lot of their comedy's

1140
00:59:46,460 --> 00:59:50,340
just about the strange, surreal
nature of these two people.

1141
00:59:50,340 --> 00:59:53,580
I was just about to drop off
when suddenly...

1142
00:59:53,580 --> 00:59:56,780
tap, tap, tap
at the bloody windowpane.

1143
00:59:58,860 --> 01:00:01,820
I looked out. You know who it was?
Who?

1144
01:00:01,820 --> 01:00:03,460
Bloody Greta Garbo.

1145
01:00:08,060 --> 01:00:09,620
Bloody Greta Garbo.

1146
01:00:11,060 --> 01:00:12,340
Stark naked...

1147
01:00:14,780 --> 01:00:17,220
..save for a shorty nightie.

1148
01:00:17,220 --> 01:00:20,260
She was hanging onto
the window sill.

1149
01:00:20,260 --> 01:00:23,940
You have the kind of surrealism,
the love of culture,

1150
01:00:23,940 --> 01:00:27,300
but put into the voices
of working-class individuals.

1151
01:00:27,300 --> 01:00:30,860
But, of course, Peter also,
as well, specialised in

1152
01:00:30,860 --> 01:00:33,180
more middle-class characters.

1153
01:00:33,180 --> 01:00:35,380
Roger...

1154
01:00:35,380 --> 01:00:39,220
your mother and I were having
a bit of a chat the other day

1155
01:00:39,220 --> 01:00:42,660
and she thought
it might be a good idea

1156
01:00:42,660 --> 01:00:46,500
if I was to have
a bit of a chat...with you.

1157
01:00:48,260 --> 01:00:49,900
In order...

1158
01:00:49,900 --> 01:00:51,580
LAUGHTER

1159
01:00:52,900 --> 01:00:54,940
In order...

1160
01:00:54,940 --> 01:00:57,220
for you to be brought about,

1161
01:00:57,220 --> 01:01:01,500
it was necessary
for your mother and I...

1162
01:01:01,500 --> 01:01:02,700
to do something.

1163
01:01:04,300 --> 01:01:06,860
Perhaps there's an inspiration
there from The Goon Show.

1164
01:01:06,860 --> 01:01:09,260
He was one of the young men who
listened to the Goons

1165
01:01:09,260 --> 01:01:10,500
when it first came out,

1166
01:01:10,500 --> 01:01:12,820
and maybe there's a touch of
Grytpype-Thynne

1167
01:01:12,820 --> 01:01:14,020
in what he's doing,

1168
01:01:14,020 --> 01:01:18,460
where the voice of authority
is also, you know, bonkers.

1169
01:01:23,460 --> 01:01:25,260
Talking of bonkers, who'd
have thought

1170
01:01:25,260 --> 01:01:27,860
that one of the classic moments
in British television

1171
01:01:27,860 --> 01:01:29,780
would be this bit of genius?

1172
01:01:33,900 --> 01:01:35,180
One of the very...

1173
01:01:35,180 --> 01:01:38,060
I think it's in the first show,
they have a sort of...

1174
01:01:38,060 --> 01:01:41,620
John Cleese is doing
a very animated...

1175
01:01:41,620 --> 01:01:43,820
It's almost like a radio piece
or something.

1176
01:01:43,820 --> 01:01:47,380
A very animated commentary on
various, sort of, like,

1177
01:01:47,380 --> 01:01:51,220
modern artists, various painters,
in a cycling race.

1178
01:01:51,220 --> 01:01:53,180
I can now see Picasso is cycling
down very hard

1179
01:01:53,180 --> 01:01:55,620
towards the roundabout.
He's about 75, 50 yards away

1180
01:01:55,620 --> 01:01:58,620
and I can now see his painting.
It's an abstract.

1181
01:01:58,620 --> 01:02:01,740
I can see some blue, some purple,
some little black oval shapes.

1182
01:02:01,740 --> 01:02:02,860
I think I can see...

1183
01:02:02,860 --> 01:02:05,500
That's not Picasso -
that's Kandinsky!

1184
01:02:05,500 --> 01:02:08,740
Good Lord, you're right -
it's Kandinsky, Wassily Kandinsky.

1185
01:02:08,740 --> 01:02:10,380
And who's this here with him?

1186
01:02:10,380 --> 01:02:13,860
It's Braque, Georges Braque, the
Cubist, painting a bird in flight

1187
01:02:13,860 --> 01:02:16,980
over a cornfield and going very fast
down the hill towards Kingston.

1188
01:02:16,980 --> 01:02:19,940
And, again, there's a good example
there of these cultural references

1189
01:02:19,940 --> 01:02:22,660
that I mentioned in the
Pete and Dud thing, where...

1190
01:02:22,660 --> 01:02:24,860
You knew all these...
I mean, I never...

1191
01:02:24,860 --> 01:02:27,660
Picasso I knew of was a lot of the
other painters I'd never heard of

1192
01:02:27,660 --> 01:02:30,140
but they're all genuine painters,
and you get the idea.

1193
01:02:30,140 --> 01:02:35,300
You don't need to have a knowledge
of the history of Western art.

1194
01:02:35,300 --> 01:02:36,900
Delaunay, De Kooning.

1195
01:02:36,900 --> 01:02:39,660
Kokoschka's dropping
back a little bit.

1196
01:02:39,660 --> 01:02:41,580
So's Paul Klee dropping back a bit.

1197
01:02:41,580 --> 01:02:44,860
And right at the back of this group,
our very own Kurt Schwitters.

1198
01:02:44,860 --> 01:02:46,580
Schwitters is German!

1199
01:02:46,580 --> 01:02:50,060
As yet, absolutely no sign
of Pablo Picasso.

1200
01:02:50,060 --> 01:02:53,420
And so, from Tolworth Roundabout,
back to the studio.

1201
01:02:59,340 --> 01:03:00,780
It was extraordinary.

1202
01:03:00,780 --> 01:03:04,740
They tore up the rule book of what
sketch shows should be.

1203
01:03:04,740 --> 01:03:09,020
So you would have a character,
the army colonel, general, moving in

1204
01:03:09,020 --> 01:03:10,860
from one sketch to another.
He'd say,

1205
01:03:10,860 --> 01:03:12,580
"This is silly -
you've got to stop this."

1206
01:03:12,580 --> 01:03:14,020
He'd been in a previous sketch.

1207
01:03:14,020 --> 01:03:16,780
There's another sketch happening,
and he just walks into the sketch.

1208
01:03:16,780 --> 01:03:19,660
I'm not prepared to pursue my line
of inquiry any further,

1209
01:03:19,660 --> 01:03:21,460
as I think this is getting
too silly.

1210
01:03:21,460 --> 01:03:23,100
Quite agree, quite agree.

1211
01:03:23,100 --> 01:03:24,540
Silly, silly, silly.

1212
01:03:24,540 --> 01:03:26,900
Right, get on with it.

1213
01:03:26,900 --> 01:03:30,100
There's a moment where John Cleese
is just standing

1214
01:03:30,100 --> 01:03:33,420
dressed as a policeman and Michael
Palin comes up and says

1215
01:03:33,420 --> 01:03:35,660
something along the lines of
how he's been robbed

1216
01:03:35,660 --> 01:03:40,420
and as it plays out,
it just feels like

1217
01:03:40,420 --> 01:03:43,580
you're watching something
that hasn't even been written down.

1218
01:03:43,580 --> 01:03:47,260
That this is a 30-second idea
that somebody's had that they do

1219
01:03:47,260 --> 01:03:49,460
and as John Cleese walks off
at the end,

1220
01:03:49,460 --> 01:03:51,980
he's got this broad smile
on his face,

1221
01:03:51,980 --> 01:03:56,580
which tells me that this was
completely unplanned,

1222
01:03:56,580 --> 01:04:01,660
unrehearsed and just happened,
brilliantly, as a 30-second idea.

1223
01:04:01,660 --> 01:04:04,020
Inspector, Inspector... Yes, sir.

1224
01:04:04,020 --> 01:04:06,580
I was sitting on a park bench just
now and I put my coat down

1225
01:04:06,580 --> 01:04:08,740
and when I picked it up again,
I found my wallet had gone

1226
01:04:08,740 --> 01:04:10,980
and £15 had been stolen.

1227
01:04:10,980 --> 01:04:12,660
Did you see anyone?

1228
01:04:12,660 --> 01:04:13,900
No, no-one at all.

1229
01:04:15,300 --> 01:04:16,740
HE SIGHS

1230
01:04:16,740 --> 01:04:18,900
Well, there's very little we
can do about that, sir.

1231
01:04:18,900 --> 01:04:20,260
HE TUTS

1232
01:04:28,820 --> 01:04:30,940
Do you want to
come back to my place?

1233
01:04:35,900 --> 01:04:37,500
Yeah, all right.

1234
01:04:37,500 --> 01:04:41,020
And then you see the parrot sketch
come up, or whatever it would be.

1235
01:04:41,020 --> 01:04:44,980
A sketch I've only seen once or
twice but I know it word for word,

1236
01:04:44,980 --> 01:04:48,700
because every boy in school the next
day was doing the parrot sketch.

1237
01:04:48,700 --> 01:04:51,620
People would memorise stuff
as it went out.

1238
01:04:51,620 --> 01:04:53,940
Hello, Polly.

1239
01:04:53,940 --> 01:04:57,420
Polly!

1240
01:04:57,420 --> 01:05:00,420
Polly Parrot, wake up!

1241
01:05:00,420 --> 01:05:01,740
Polly!

1242
01:05:04,780 --> 01:05:07,380
Now, that's what I call
a dead parrot.

1243
01:05:07,380 --> 01:05:08,940
No, no, it's stunned.

1244
01:05:08,940 --> 01:05:11,700
And, so, it was
an extraordinary event

1245
01:05:11,700 --> 01:05:13,860
in the history of
British television.

1246
01:05:13,860 --> 01:05:16,100
A very strange, wonderful show,

1247
01:05:16,100 --> 01:05:19,780
capable of so many surprising
different things.

1248
01:05:19,780 --> 01:05:21,940
# What shall I wear,
this bright May morning?

1249
01:05:21,940 --> 01:05:23,420
# Roving the hills so free

1250
01:05:23,420 --> 01:05:25,580
# Velvet moss, my gown so fine

1251
01:05:25,580 --> 01:05:27,420
# Cobweb apron tied behind

1252
01:05:27,420 --> 01:05:29,300
# Stockings made of fairy wool

1253
01:05:29,300 --> 01:05:31,140
# And a feather fan to keep me cool

1254
01:05:31,140 --> 01:05:33,340
# I will wear a goblin jerkin

1255
01:05:33,340 --> 01:05:35,300
# Neatly buttoned,
one, two, three. #

1256
01:05:35,300 --> 01:05:38,260
Joyce Grenfell,
fantastic monologist,

1257
01:05:38,260 --> 01:05:42,140
did comic monologues and beautiful
dramatic songs as well,

1258
01:05:42,140 --> 01:05:45,660
that she wrote. And she was somebody
that was discovered

1259
01:05:45,660 --> 01:05:47,620
in the most extraordinary way.

1260
01:05:47,620 --> 01:05:49,820
She was at a party doing one of her
party pieces,

1261
01:05:49,820 --> 01:05:51,500
a character that she was doing,

1262
01:05:51,500 --> 01:05:55,380
and got spotted by a producer
and shortly,

1263
01:05:55,380 --> 01:05:59,180
within a very short time, she was in
a West End show, she was in a revue.

1264
01:06:00,580 --> 01:06:04,940
Her comedic talents on stage led to
offers to appear in film comedies.

1265
01:06:04,940 --> 01:06:07,540
One of her most memorable
characters was the irrepressible

1266
01:06:07,540 --> 01:06:10,820
Sergeant Ruby Gates
in the St Trinian films.

1267
01:06:13,460 --> 01:06:15,580
Girls!

1268
01:06:16,660 --> 01:06:18,500
Girls, where are you?

1269
01:06:18,500 --> 01:06:20,820
Girls!

1270
01:06:20,820 --> 01:06:23,300
Hello, darling.

1271
01:06:23,300 --> 01:06:25,500
Hello. Who's this?

1272
01:06:25,500 --> 01:06:27,460
It's Creepy, our new games mistress.

1273
01:06:27,460 --> 01:06:29,660
Miss Britton, I just had to see you.

1274
01:06:29,660 --> 01:06:31,860
You've no idea what's going on
in the summerhouse.

1275
01:06:31,860 --> 01:06:34,260
There are two strange men in there.
It's practically an orgy.

1276
01:06:35,580 --> 01:06:38,460
But I think she's best remembered
for this brilliant monologue,

1277
01:06:38,460 --> 01:06:41,940
where she plays the role of
a nursery-school teacher.

1278
01:06:41,940 --> 01:06:44,540
What shall we tell our story
about today?

1279
01:06:44,540 --> 01:06:48,140
Rachel, take your shoes off
your head and put it on your foot.

1280
01:06:49,780 --> 01:06:55,140
Now, shall we tell our story about a
little mouse or about a big red bus?

1281
01:06:55,140 --> 01:06:56,660
What did you say, Peggy?

1282
01:06:56,660 --> 01:06:59,500
About a dear little bunny rabbit?
That's a very good idea.

1283
01:06:59,500 --> 01:07:02,940
We will. We'll tell our story about
a dear little bunny rabbit.

1284
01:07:02,940 --> 01:07:06,180
No, Sidney, he was not
a burglar bunny and he...

1285
01:07:06,180 --> 01:07:09,540
No, nor was his daddy. No.

1286
01:07:09,540 --> 01:07:12,740
Well, he was just
an ordinary...businessman.

1287
01:07:12,740 --> 01:07:15,860
Joyce Grenfell is somebody whose
choice of language,

1288
01:07:15,860 --> 01:07:19,540
use of language,
is absolutely wonderful.

1289
01:07:19,540 --> 01:07:23,620
And the best of her stuff
just really does stand up so well

1290
01:07:23,620 --> 01:07:26,420
and I'm sure she must have been
an influence

1291
01:07:26,420 --> 01:07:29,300
on performers coming after her.

1292
01:07:29,300 --> 01:07:33,340
Coming up, one of the most
influential comedians

1293
01:07:33,340 --> 01:07:35,260
since the Second World War,

1294
01:07:35,260 --> 01:07:39,540
and the Lancashire lass with some of
the funniest songs ever written.

1295
01:07:44,910 --> 01:07:46,310
Hello again.

1296
01:07:46,310 --> 01:07:49,950
Now, my next comic hero is someone
who is often referred to as one of

1297
01:07:49,950 --> 01:07:53,310
the most influential comedians since
the Second World War.

1298
01:07:53,310 --> 01:07:55,030
He went from
the shipyards of Glasgow

1299
01:07:55,030 --> 01:07:57,310
to becoming a knight of the realm.

1300
01:07:57,310 --> 01:08:02,510
It's Glasgow's favourite son,
The Big Yin, Sir Billy Connolly.

1301
01:08:02,510 --> 01:08:05,630
My parents used to take me to
Lewis's department store

1302
01:08:05,630 --> 01:08:06,870
on Argyle Street in Glasgow.

1303
01:08:06,870 --> 01:08:08,950
They were skinflints, you know.

1304
01:08:08,950 --> 01:08:11,910
They'd take me to the pet department
and tell me it was a zoo.

1305
01:08:14,430 --> 01:08:16,870
"It's a big ginger cat."
I said, "It's a baby tiger."

1306
01:08:18,750 --> 01:08:20,310
"Where's the elephants?"

1307
01:08:20,310 --> 01:08:22,630
"They're away for their lunch.
Now, hurry up, come on."

1308
01:08:22,630 --> 01:08:24,310
One of Michael Parkinson's children,

1309
01:08:24,310 --> 01:08:26,910
I think, had a Billy Connolly
comic album and said to his dad,

1310
01:08:26,910 --> 01:08:29,230
"You ought to hear this bloke -
he's really funny."

1311
01:08:29,230 --> 01:08:30,910
Michael Parkinson heard it, said,

1312
01:08:30,910 --> 01:08:33,830
"Oh, we must get this guy for the
show," so he had him
on the Parkinson show.

1313
01:08:33,830 --> 01:08:35,750
"Oh, hello, how's it going?
"Fine, fine."

1314
01:08:35,750 --> 01:08:37,950
He said, "How's the wife?"
He said, "Oh, she's dead."

1315
01:08:37,950 --> 01:08:40,790
"What?"
He says, "Dead. In the ground.

1316
01:08:40,790 --> 01:08:43,710
"Dead. I murdered her. Pfft.
Forget it."

1317
01:08:43,710 --> 01:08:46,790
He said, "Kidding me on."
He said, "no, no, this morning."

1318
01:08:46,790 --> 01:08:48,350
He said, "Show me."

1319
01:08:48,350 --> 01:08:51,430
Sure enough,
there's a big mound of earth.

1320
01:08:51,430 --> 01:08:53,190
But there's a bum
sticking out of it.

1321
01:08:54,550 --> 01:08:56,950
He says, "Is that her?"
He says, "Aye."

1322
01:08:56,950 --> 01:08:59,830
He says, "What did you leave
her bum sticking out for?"

1323
01:08:59,830 --> 01:09:01,790
He says, "I need somewhere
to park my bike."

1324
01:09:04,910 --> 01:09:06,830
Like Jasper Carrott,
Billy started out

1325
01:09:06,830 --> 01:09:09,110
on the folk club scene in the '70s,

1326
01:09:09,110 --> 01:09:12,030
and his early TV appearances
usually featured

1327
01:09:12,030 --> 01:09:14,590
a stringed instrument
and a silly song.

1328
01:09:16,110 --> 01:09:17,550
Here's a wee Glasgow one.

1329
01:09:18,630 --> 01:09:20,790
# Oh, the pigeon

1330
01:09:20,790 --> 01:09:22,950
# He's a nice bird

1331
01:09:22,950 --> 01:09:24,710
# And he sits

1332
01:09:24,710 --> 01:09:26,870
# On the grass

1333
01:09:26,870 --> 01:09:28,790
# And when he

1334
01:09:28,790 --> 01:09:30,790
# Gets excited

1335
01:09:30,790 --> 01:09:32,390
# He sticks his head

1336
01:09:32,390 --> 01:09:34,510
# Under his wing. #

1337
01:09:35,990 --> 01:09:38,230
I'm not always a fan of comedians
that swear,

1338
01:09:38,230 --> 01:09:40,630
or swearing in comedy, let's say.

1339
01:09:40,630 --> 01:09:44,510
Sometimes it's used just to bolster
a, sort of, poor joke

1340
01:09:44,510 --> 01:09:45,870
into a stronger one,

1341
01:09:45,870 --> 01:09:48,790
because audiences will laugh
at certain words that they hear.

1342
01:09:48,790 --> 01:09:51,990
And also, when I was growing up with
my family we would watch things

1343
01:09:51,990 --> 01:09:54,870
like Sunday Night At The London
Palladium, and we'd sometimes say,

1344
01:09:54,870 --> 01:09:57,550
"Oh, I don't like that comedian -
he's laughing at his own jokes."

1345
01:09:57,550 --> 01:09:59,910
That was a thing that we didn't like
as a family.

1346
01:09:59,910 --> 01:10:02,430
But, of course, Billy Connolly
does both, so it shows you,

1347
01:10:02,430 --> 01:10:04,470
there's no golden rule in comedy.

1348
01:10:04,470 --> 01:10:07,710
I was brought up on a housing
estate just outside Glasgow.

1349
01:10:07,710 --> 01:10:10,230
Well, in Glasgow but just
outside civilisation.

1350
01:10:12,390 --> 01:10:14,110
And I was...

1351
01:10:14,110 --> 01:10:16,150
And they used to have these vans.

1352
01:10:16,150 --> 01:10:18,710
You shopped at vans, you know?

1353
01:10:18,710 --> 01:10:21,230
All the shops...
They were all boarded up.

1354
01:10:21,230 --> 01:10:24,030
It was like fucking
Fort Apache, you know?

1355
01:10:24,030 --> 01:10:25,350
"What do you want?

1356
01:10:25,350 --> 01:10:27,270
"What? Cigarettes?

1357
01:10:27,270 --> 01:10:29,710
"Here. Get the fuck out of here."

1358
01:10:29,710 --> 01:10:31,710
The place was under siege!

1359
01:10:33,790 --> 01:10:36,350
It's just his language. It's what
he says, it's what he does.

1360
01:10:36,350 --> 01:10:38,590
I don't find it remotely offensive.

1361
01:10:38,590 --> 01:10:41,430
Sometimes it's used for shock effect
but, I mean, you know,

1362
01:10:41,430 --> 01:10:44,350
that's all part of the armoury,
that's all part of the vocabulary.

1363
01:10:44,350 --> 01:10:46,670
The world's fucked.
The world's fucked.

1364
01:10:47,830 --> 01:10:51,630
The whole thing's
a huge fucking plot.

1365
01:10:51,630 --> 01:10:54,110
You know, also, he does
laugh at the stuff that he's saying,

1366
01:10:54,110 --> 01:10:57,590
but that's cos you get the firm
impression he's just thought of it,
he's just said it.

1367
01:10:57,590 --> 01:11:00,070
It's the ugliest fucking
dog in the world.

1368
01:11:00,070 --> 01:11:02,350
Them pit bulls, they're bought by

1369
01:11:02,350 --> 01:11:05,350
those spectacular tattooed
fuckwits, you know?

1370
01:11:05,350 --> 01:11:06,870
Like...

1371
01:11:11,590 --> 01:11:13,790
It's a shark on a leash, isn't it?

1372
01:11:15,230 --> 01:11:18,070
It's got this pointy head
with eyes in the corners.

1373
01:11:20,310 --> 01:11:22,110
Big row of teeth and an arsehole.

1374
01:11:24,750 --> 01:11:28,270
He is... I mean, I don't know of any
comic, really, in Great Britain

1375
01:11:28,270 --> 01:11:31,030
that wouldn't place Billy Connolly
right at the top of the tree.

1376
01:11:31,030 --> 01:11:35,270
He is hugely influential, probably
one of the most influential

1377
01:11:35,270 --> 01:11:38,030
comedians since the Second World
War, certainly in this country.

1378
01:11:38,030 --> 01:11:40,710
It's true. It's fucking true.

1379
01:11:40,710 --> 01:11:43,430
Or, I should say, in this island.

1380
01:11:43,430 --> 01:11:46,510
Ladies and gentlemen, will you
please welcome Bruce Forsyth!

1381
01:11:46,510 --> 01:11:48,510
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

1382
01:11:48,510 --> 01:11:50,750
Thank you.

1383
01:11:50,750 --> 01:11:52,350
Bruce Forsyth...

1384
01:11:52,350 --> 01:11:54,950
I was very fortunate to meet him
on several occasions.

1385
01:11:54,950 --> 01:11:57,390
The first time I met him, I...

1386
01:11:57,390 --> 01:12:01,630
You know, I was on television
so he knew who I was.

1387
01:12:01,630 --> 01:12:03,590
Obviously, I knew who
Bruce Forsyth was.

1388
01:12:03,590 --> 01:12:06,790
And it was at a Johnny Dankworth-
Cleo Laine concert.

1389
01:12:06,790 --> 01:12:10,270
There was a drinks afterwards,
sort of reception thing.

1390
01:12:10,270 --> 01:12:13,350
And he came up to me... I'd never
spoken to or met him before,

1391
01:12:13,350 --> 01:12:16,310
and he came up to me and said,
"What you doing here?" Which...

1392
01:12:16,310 --> 01:12:19,030
HE CHUCKLES
Which made me laugh immediately,

1393
01:12:19,030 --> 01:12:21,230
and I said,
"Well, what are you doing here?"

1394
01:12:21,230 --> 01:12:23,830
What a lovely crowd. They're not
a bad audience, are they?

1395
01:12:23,830 --> 01:12:26,910
Yeah. Wait till your fans get here.
I know.

1396
01:12:26,910 --> 01:12:29,070
We've locked them out -
there's no room for them.

1397
01:12:29,070 --> 01:12:30,630
He was an extraordinary figure.

1398
01:12:30,630 --> 01:12:34,590
I interviewed him once on Room 101
and we had a particular bit

1399
01:12:34,590 --> 01:12:37,630
where we wanted to show him
tap dancing

1400
01:12:37,630 --> 01:12:40,990
but with his legs on my body -
a kind of camera trick.

1401
01:12:40,990 --> 01:12:42,390
Music when you're ready.

1402
01:12:42,390 --> 01:12:44,510
MUSIC PLAYS

1403
01:13:04,430 --> 01:13:08,790
And he wanted to rehearse it quite
seriously for about an hour or so,

1404
01:13:08,790 --> 01:13:10,510
which I really took note of,

1405
01:13:10,510 --> 01:13:12,990
because he was really quite
a dedicated man

1406
01:13:12,990 --> 01:13:15,670
when it came to rehearsal,
to try and get everything right.

1407
01:13:15,670 --> 01:13:17,470
And normally on something like that,

1408
01:13:17,470 --> 01:13:19,230
we would have tried it out a
couple of times

1409
01:13:19,230 --> 01:13:21,030
but we wouldn't have spent
an hour on it.

1410
01:13:21,030 --> 01:13:23,270
But the fact that we did made it
all the better,

1411
01:13:23,270 --> 01:13:25,470
because I was comfortable with what
we were doing,

1412
01:13:25,470 --> 01:13:28,910
he was comfortable with what we were
doing. So it really paid off.

1413
01:13:28,910 --> 01:13:31,310
He was a great inspiration.

1414
01:13:33,510 --> 01:13:37,990
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

1415
01:13:39,310 --> 01:13:41,710
I remember the time he did Have
I Got News For You

1416
01:13:41,710 --> 01:13:45,110
the first time and he
was actually, surprisingly...

1417
01:13:45,110 --> 01:13:47,590
Surprisingly to me - I hadn't met
him many times at that point.

1418
01:13:47,590 --> 01:13:48,870
He was quite nervous.

1419
01:13:50,430 --> 01:13:53,550
There we are. Thank you. Oh.

1420
01:13:53,550 --> 01:13:56,350
But as soon as he was introduced and
he walked on, and I think they had

1421
01:13:56,350 --> 01:13:59,390
this pair of glittery curtains which
he walked through, and suddenly...

1422
01:13:59,390 --> 01:14:01,990
And it was Bruce and he was doing
the whole, "How are you?"

1423
01:14:01,990 --> 01:14:03,790
This sort of stuff.
The audience loved him.

1424
01:14:03,790 --> 01:14:05,670
It's definitely time for...

1425
01:14:10,830 --> 01:14:13,350
Now, these are the cards
that the Americans...

1426
01:14:13,350 --> 01:14:14,590
Please!

1427
01:14:16,630 --> 01:14:18,470
This is satire.

1428
01:14:19,950 --> 01:14:23,430
His nerves beforehand showed me how
serious he was taking it -

1429
01:14:23,430 --> 01:14:26,270
that he wasn't just going to walk on
expecting to be brilliant.

1430
01:14:26,270 --> 01:14:29,070
It was. But the fact that he was
nervous beforehand,

1431
01:14:29,070 --> 01:14:31,350
I liked seeing that.

1432
01:14:31,350 --> 01:14:35,150
Tony Blair insists that weapons
of mass destruction

1433
01:14:35,150 --> 01:14:37,470
will eventually be found in Iraq.

1434
01:14:37,470 --> 01:14:40,190
Well, it would be nice to see them,
to see them...

1435
01:14:40,190 --> 01:14:42,390
AUDIENCE: Nice!

1436
01:14:42,390 --> 01:14:45,990
I think one of the things that's
very interesting about him,

1437
01:14:45,990 --> 01:14:48,870
as well, is how he made this big
leap from doing

1438
01:14:48,870 --> 01:14:54,510
end-of-the-pier shows to suddenly
compering a live television show,

1439
01:14:54,510 --> 01:14:57,870
when he had no experience of
doing live television.

1440
01:14:57,870 --> 01:14:59,350
Good evening!

1441
01:14:59,350 --> 01:15:02,950
# Ladies and gentlemen

1442
01:15:02,950 --> 01:15:06,830
# Welcome to Sunday Night At The
London Palladium... #

1443
01:15:06,830 --> 01:15:10,030
One of the biggest shows in the
country,

1444
01:15:10,030 --> 01:15:13,870
and you're doing new material
every week, as the compere.

1445
01:15:13,870 --> 01:15:17,510
You can't do your act as you've
practised it over the years.

1446
01:15:17,510 --> 01:15:20,870
So you've got to have a great
degree of self-confidence.

1447
01:15:20,870 --> 01:15:23,590
Bruce did have self-confidence -
there was no doubt about it.

1448
01:15:23,590 --> 01:15:26,150
I mean, he was a skilled dancer,
singer.

1449
01:15:26,150 --> 01:15:28,110
You know, there was lots of
things he could do.

1450
01:15:41,550 --> 01:15:44,310
Versatility - that was
the key thing for him.

1451
01:15:44,310 --> 01:15:46,150
But people don't do that now.

1452
01:15:46,150 --> 01:15:48,270
I don't suppose they
feel the need to.

1453
01:15:50,750 --> 01:15:54,110
MUSIC PLAYS
APPLAUSE

1454
01:16:00,630 --> 01:16:02,310
The first time I saw Larry Grayson

1455
01:16:02,310 --> 01:16:04,830
was on Sunday Night At The London
Palladium, I think,

1456
01:16:04,830 --> 01:16:06,590
and this would be in the early '70s.

1457
01:16:06,590 --> 01:16:10,030
I heard someone at my door.
I said, "Who can it be?

1458
01:16:10,030 --> 01:16:12,950
"Who is at my door? Is it
the milkman - Sterilised Stan...

1459
01:16:17,910 --> 01:16:21,070
"..trying to forces his yogurt
through my letterbox? Or is it...?

1460
01:16:26,990 --> 01:16:31,470
"Or is it the window cleaner,
Peekaboo Pete,

1461
01:16:31,470 --> 01:16:34,150
"with a dirty chamois?
Anyway I said..."

1462
01:16:34,150 --> 01:16:37,510
I suppose he must have been in his
40s by the time he came to national

1463
01:16:37,510 --> 01:16:43,030
fame, so he'd had a long time to
hone his act, to develop his act.

1464
01:16:43,030 --> 01:16:47,110
And his sense of timing, his comic
timing, his verbal delivery,

1465
01:16:47,110 --> 01:16:49,790
I don't... I don't know anybody
that's better, to be honest.

1466
01:16:49,790 --> 01:16:51,590
He's just so good.

1467
01:16:51,590 --> 01:16:54,470
If you look at some of the words
written down, they may not seem

1468
01:16:54,470 --> 01:16:57,630
particularly amusing, but it
was just the way he did it.

1469
01:16:57,630 --> 01:17:00,590
"Shut that door."
And this knock came upon my door.

1470
01:17:00,590 --> 01:17:02,830
I said, "Come in,"
and the baker came in.

1471
01:17:02,830 --> 01:17:05,510
And I said, "Just one big one,"
I said, "and two fondants."

1472
01:17:05,510 --> 01:17:07,110
And, er...

1473
01:17:07,110 --> 01:17:09,790
LAUGHTER

1474
01:17:09,790 --> 01:17:13,350
I said, "And a fairy cake
if you got one." And, um...

1475
01:17:13,350 --> 01:17:17,030
And, do you know, I could hardly
move, cos the pain down here...

1476
01:17:17,030 --> 01:17:19,190
I could hardly...
And he looked at me and he said,

1477
01:17:19,190 --> 01:17:22,350
"You have funny turns, don't you?"

1478
01:17:22,350 --> 01:17:24,630
I said, "Who told you?"
He said, "The dustman."

1479
01:17:26,950 --> 01:17:32,310
There was an acerbic kind of acid
quality to what he was saying.

1480
01:17:32,310 --> 01:17:35,070
You know, I lay in bed. I just lay.

1481
01:17:35,070 --> 01:17:37,030
And I thought, "I'll be
all right in a minute."

1482
01:17:38,350 --> 01:17:40,310
LAUGHTER

1483
01:17:40,310 --> 01:17:41,870
You suffer with it, don't you?

1484
01:17:44,710 --> 01:17:47,110
I could tell,
the way you're sitting.

1485
01:17:47,110 --> 01:17:50,070
Just that delivery, the put-downs.
Just the...

1486
01:17:50,070 --> 01:17:53,390
And the, sort of, turning of the
head and all this sort of stuff.

1487
01:17:53,390 --> 01:17:56,710
It was just... And you could hear,
audiences loved him.

1488
01:17:56,710 --> 01:17:59,070
And who should be coming down
the road but the postman,

1489
01:17:59,070 --> 01:18:00,870
Pop It In Pete.

1490
01:18:00,870 --> 01:18:02,990
LAUGHTER

1491
01:18:05,830 --> 01:18:07,750
"Hello, Pete," I said.

1492
01:18:07,750 --> 01:18:09,990
"You've got a big bundle there."

1493
01:18:09,990 --> 01:18:11,310
I said...

1494
01:18:11,310 --> 01:18:12,710
LAUGHTER

1495
01:18:12,710 --> 01:18:15,390
I said, "Is it all for me?"
He said, "No."

1496
01:18:15,390 --> 01:18:18,150
Later, when he did The Generation
Game, you couldn't be like that

1497
01:18:18,150 --> 01:18:20,390
with members of the public
in front of you.

1498
01:18:20,390 --> 01:18:23,510
So, he was friendlier and cuddlier,
as it were.

1499
01:18:23,510 --> 01:18:24,950
Jim...? Causer.

1500
01:18:24,950 --> 01:18:27,150
Causer - that's
an unusual name, Jim.

1501
01:18:27,150 --> 01:18:29,710
And... It's a French word, actually.
It means "to chat".

1502
01:18:29,710 --> 01:18:31,670
Oh, does it? Yes. Oh.

1503
01:18:34,150 --> 01:18:35,950
She got in quick, didn't she?

1504
01:18:35,950 --> 01:18:38,550
He emerged fully formed
in the early '70s.

1505
01:18:38,550 --> 01:18:40,950
We didn't see his apprenticeship.

1506
01:18:40,950 --> 01:18:43,070
He just arrived when he was ready.

1507
01:18:48,030 --> 01:18:50,870
I think I first saw Victoria Wood
in a series she did

1508
01:18:50,870 --> 01:18:53,990
with Julie Walters called Wood And
Walters, which was the first

1509
01:18:53,990 --> 01:18:57,710
of the modern-day female double
act in the early '80s.

1510
01:18:57,710 --> 01:18:59,510
Who did you say it was again?

1511
01:18:59,510 --> 01:19:01,270
BOTH: Walters.

1512
01:19:01,270 --> 01:19:03,630
And what's the name
of the programme?

1513
01:19:03,630 --> 01:19:05,750
Wood And Walters, studio six.

1514
01:19:06,870 --> 01:19:08,790
Nope. Sorry.

1515
01:19:08,790 --> 01:19:10,630
The combination of Victoria Wood -

1516
01:19:10,630 --> 01:19:13,430
Victoria's writing and
performance skills,

1517
01:19:13,430 --> 01:19:17,350
allied with Julie Walters' supreme
ability as a comic actress -

1518
01:19:17,350 --> 01:19:19,230
was wonderful.

1519
01:19:19,230 --> 01:19:23,430
And when she then moved on to do
Victoria Wood As Seen on TV,

1520
01:19:23,430 --> 01:19:24,470
the sketch show,

1521
01:19:24,470 --> 01:19:27,790
the two series she did of
As Seen on TV was just superb.

1522
01:19:32,910 --> 01:19:34,830
No, sorry, sorry. The black ones.

1523
01:19:34,830 --> 01:19:36,230
They're a flat lace-up.

1524
01:19:36,230 --> 01:19:38,150
Beg pardon? Well, those aren't flat.

1525
01:19:42,710 --> 01:19:45,030
Flatter now.

1526
01:19:45,030 --> 01:19:48,310
Lots of people remember the one
with the cross-Channel swimmer,

1527
01:19:48,310 --> 01:19:50,950
where she plays the young girl
that's gone swimming

1528
01:19:50,950 --> 01:19:52,470
across the Channel and disappears

1529
01:19:52,470 --> 01:19:54,670
and her parents don't seem to really
care about it.

1530
01:19:54,670 --> 01:19:59,750
That mixture of, er, comedy,
tragedy, drama,

1531
01:19:59,750 --> 01:20:01,910
charm was brilliantly done.

1532
01:20:01,910 --> 01:20:03,550
Are you worried about tomorrow?

1533
01:20:03,550 --> 01:20:07,310
Well, I am in a way, because I've
never swum such a long way

1534
01:20:07,310 --> 01:20:11,150
and some of it's in the dark.
And I don't really like the dark.

1535
01:20:11,150 --> 01:20:13,750
There's no support vessel,
no officials, nobody.

1536
01:20:13,750 --> 01:20:15,110
Chrissie's entirely alone.

1537
01:20:15,110 --> 01:20:16,910
Are you still gonna go, Chrissie?

1538
01:20:16,910 --> 01:20:19,310
Yeah, I think so. I might as well.

1539
01:20:24,070 --> 01:20:25,750
That was eight days ago.

1540
01:20:25,750 --> 01:20:27,630
Chrissie hasn't yet reached land.

1541
01:20:27,630 --> 01:20:30,430
Oh, I'm sure she'll turn up
eventually.

1542
01:20:30,430 --> 01:20:32,430
Slow but sure - that's our Chrissie.

1543
01:20:32,430 --> 01:20:36,310
When you're writing stuff on your
own as a comedy writer,

1544
01:20:36,310 --> 01:20:39,270
very few people do that because
that's really hard.

1545
01:20:39,270 --> 01:20:43,070
When you're writing stuff on your
own, how do you know it's funny?

1546
01:20:43,070 --> 01:20:45,470
You know, if you're writing in a
partnership, two of you,

1547
01:20:45,470 --> 01:20:47,350
the other person laughs or they
don't laugh.

1548
01:20:47,350 --> 01:20:50,190
"Why didn't you laugh at that?"
"Well, I didn't think it was funny."

1549
01:20:50,190 --> 01:20:53,270
"What about this, what about that?"
You kick it backwards and forwards.

1550
01:20:53,270 --> 01:20:57,510
One person doing it is extremely
hard and extremely rare.

1551
01:20:57,510 --> 01:21:01,790
The whole Acorn Antiques thing -
I mean, it was totally inspired.

1552
01:21:01,790 --> 01:21:04,070
Somebody had better
answer that phone.

1553
01:21:04,070 --> 01:21:05,670
PHONE RINGS
Oh, blow!

1554
01:21:05,670 --> 01:21:07,470
I suppose I'd better answer it.

1555
01:21:07,470 --> 01:21:09,670
You answer it and I'll get
you a nice cup of...

1556
01:21:09,670 --> 01:21:12,950
Hot cup of coffee.
You don't have to.

1557
01:21:12,950 --> 01:21:15,550
After all, you are the sole
proprietor of Acorn Antiques now.

1558
01:21:15,550 --> 01:21:16,790
Hello?

1559
01:21:16,790 --> 01:21:19,510
The Ballad Of Barry And Freda, I
think it's called, which is one of

1560
01:21:19,510 --> 01:21:23,430
her more famous ones, as a piece of
work, that really is extraordinary.

1561
01:21:23,430 --> 01:21:26,790
The momentum, the tempo, as it
gets funnier and funnier

1562
01:21:26,790 --> 01:21:29,190
and funnier and funnier and funnier.

1563
01:21:29,190 --> 01:21:31,550
I mean, the whole thing must be
about five or six minutes long.

1564
01:21:31,550 --> 01:21:34,590
# "Let's do it, let's do it

1565
01:21:34,590 --> 01:21:37,110
# "Do it while the mood is right

1566
01:21:37,110 --> 01:21:39,350
# "I'm feeling appealing

1567
01:21:39,350 --> 01:21:41,830
# "I've really got an appetite

1568
01:21:41,830 --> 01:21:43,070
# "I'm on fire

1569
01:21:43,070 --> 01:21:44,270
# "With desire

1570
01:21:44,270 --> 01:21:46,630
# "I could handle half the tenors
in a male voice choir

1571
01:21:46,630 --> 01:21:47,830
# "Let's do it

1572
01:21:47,830 --> 01:21:50,030
# "Let's do it tonight... #

1573
01:21:50,030 --> 01:21:53,270
And it just gets better and better
and better and better,

1574
01:21:53,270 --> 01:21:56,270
until the audience are almost sort
of, like,

1575
01:21:56,270 --> 01:22:00,470
hypnotised into some kind
of comedy trance.

1576
01:22:00,470 --> 01:22:02,310
# "Don't choose me, don't use me

1577
01:22:02,310 --> 01:22:04,550
# "My mother sent a note to
say you must excuse me

1578
01:22:04,550 --> 01:22:05,750
# I can't do it

1579
01:22:05,750 --> 01:22:08,630
# "I can't do it tonight"

1580
01:22:08,630 --> 01:22:10,350
# "Let's do it, let's do it

1581
01:22:10,350 --> 01:22:12,390
# "I feel I absolutely must

1582
01:22:12,390 --> 01:22:14,390
# "I won't exempt you,
want to tempt you

1583
01:22:14,390 --> 01:22:16,670
# "Want to drive you mad with lust

1584
01:22:16,670 --> 01:22:18,430
# "No cautions, just contortions

1585
01:22:18,430 --> 01:22:21,910
# "Smear an avocado on me
lower portions..." #

1586
01:22:21,910 --> 01:22:24,110
The comic imagery is
richer and richer.

1587
01:22:24,110 --> 01:22:25,990
It's like joke after joke
after joke.

1588
01:22:25,990 --> 01:22:30,030
And if you can combine that kind of
writing with music as well,

1589
01:22:30,030 --> 01:22:32,750
it just is such a powerful
combination.

1590
01:22:32,750 --> 01:22:34,550
# "Let's do it, let's do it

1591
01:22:34,550 --> 01:22:37,070
# "I really want to rant and rave

1592
01:22:37,070 --> 01:22:40,830
# "Let's go, cos I know
just how I want you to behave

1593
01:22:40,830 --> 01:22:42,710
# "Not bleakly, not meekly

1594
01:22:42,710 --> 01:22:44,950
# "Beat me on the bottom
with a Woman's Weekly

1595
01:22:44,950 --> 01:22:46,150
# "Let's do it

1596
01:22:46,150 --> 01:22:53,750
# "Let's do it tonight." #

1597
01:22:53,750 --> 01:22:55,270
Thank you.

1598
01:22:56,430 --> 01:22:59,190
There could be two members of her
audience sitting in the front row

1599
01:22:59,190 --> 01:23:03,070
listening, "How did she know about
this? Has she been watching this?"

1600
01:23:03,070 --> 01:23:06,270
It's just astonishing, and it...

1601
01:23:06,270 --> 01:23:08,470
It reaches the peak of
comic invention.

1602
01:23:08,470 --> 01:23:09,870
It's extraordinary.

1603
01:23:09,870 --> 01:23:12,030
A big welcome, please,
for Mick Miller.

1604
01:23:12,030 --> 01:23:14,910
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

1605
01:23:20,350 --> 01:23:21,710
Ah.

1606
01:23:21,710 --> 01:23:25,030
Is that... Am I a double act?

1607
01:23:25,030 --> 01:23:27,590
Firstly, I'm not the fella from
Little Britain in a wheelchair.

1608
01:23:27,590 --> 01:23:29,870
I've just, er...

1609
01:23:29,870 --> 01:23:32,670
Mick Miller was somebody who
always stood out to me.

1610
01:23:32,670 --> 01:23:37,350
He had a bald head and this rather
eccentric hairstyle,

1611
01:23:37,350 --> 01:23:40,870
almost as if he'd,
sort of, been...

1612
01:23:40,870 --> 01:23:44,270
His hair had been cut by a
drunken barber or something.

1613
01:23:44,270 --> 01:23:46,430
I was born bald, so I think
I've done quite well.

1614
01:23:48,830 --> 01:23:50,950
I got this shampoo -
it's called Shoulders.

1615
01:23:53,030 --> 01:24:00,150
Amongst a plethora of big northern
men, he was different in his look.

1616
01:24:00,150 --> 01:24:01,750
He risked looking different

1617
01:24:01,750 --> 01:24:05,990
and he didn't mind looking a bit
silly or comic.

1618
01:24:05,990 --> 01:24:08,590
Here's an impression.
This is a pale man with a beard.

1619
01:24:12,430 --> 01:24:14,030
Very straight-faced, as well,
I think.

1620
01:24:14,030 --> 01:24:15,990
Very, sort of, like, deadpan.

1621
01:24:15,990 --> 01:24:19,510
And, of course, being deadpan is
something I do sometimes,

1622
01:24:19,510 --> 01:24:21,510
quite a lot or whatever.

1623
01:24:21,510 --> 01:24:24,630
It's quite a useful device because
if the comic doesn't look like

1624
01:24:24,630 --> 01:24:28,150
what he's saying is funny to him,
that makes it, kind of, funnier.

1625
01:24:28,150 --> 01:24:31,910
And there's a puzzled look where
you look in in the eyes, like,
"Well, why are they laughing?"

1626
01:24:31,910 --> 01:24:35,550
I keep rescue dogs and I've
got one, bless him, Charlie.

1627
01:24:35,550 --> 01:24:38,310
He's eight months old, Charlie,
and he's got an ingrowing tail,

1628
01:24:38,310 --> 01:24:40,470
Charlie, bless him.

1629
01:24:40,470 --> 01:24:42,190
And he costs me a fortune.

1630
01:24:42,190 --> 01:24:45,550
You know, I get him X-rayed
every day, see if he's happy.

1631
01:24:49,630 --> 01:24:52,230
And that can sometimes add to
the laugh that you've already got

1632
01:24:52,230 --> 01:24:55,470
by delivering the punchline,
so it's a sort of...

1633
01:24:55,470 --> 01:24:58,830
You know, it's a technique that's
as old as the hills

1634
01:24:58,830 --> 01:25:00,790
but I particularly liked him because
of that,

1635
01:25:00,790 --> 01:25:03,630
and he didn't have chubby fingers
wearing gold rings, either.

1636
01:25:06,310 --> 01:25:07,950
After the break, I'll take
a look back

1637
01:25:07,950 --> 01:25:11,590
at Lenny Henry's amazing
45-year career,

1638
01:25:11,590 --> 01:25:14,110
and celebrate the man who
inspired me to make

1639
01:25:14,110 --> 01:25:16,030
the move into comedy.

1640
01:25:21,160 --> 01:25:24,680
Welcome back. Our next comedy giant
has the kind of career longevity

1641
01:25:24,680 --> 01:25:27,560
today's young comics can only
dream of -

1642
01:25:27,560 --> 01:25:30,320
45 years appearing on stage
and telly

1643
01:25:30,320 --> 01:25:34,000
in every genre from stand-up
to sketch to sitcom -

1644
01:25:34,000 --> 01:25:37,120
even throwing in a bit of the old
Shakespeare for good measure.

1645
01:25:37,120 --> 01:25:39,920
I am, of course, talking
about Sir Lenny Henry.

1646
01:25:39,920 --> 01:25:42,440
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

1647
01:25:44,960 --> 01:25:48,720
You can hear in the audience's
response to his return to stand-up

1648
01:25:48,720 --> 01:25:52,920
a few years ago just how much
the British public love Lenny.

1649
01:25:52,920 --> 01:25:55,080
Oh, yeah.

1650
01:25:55,080 --> 01:25:57,000
Good evening.

1651
01:25:57,000 --> 01:25:59,160
How you doing?

1652
01:25:59,160 --> 01:26:00,800
Nice to see you.

1653
01:26:00,800 --> 01:26:03,240
# Barack Obama

1654
01:26:03,240 --> 01:26:07,120
# Now he's in, we'll run
a little bit calmer

1655
01:26:07,120 --> 01:26:10,960
# He's inspirational
like the Dalai Lama

1656
01:26:10,960 --> 01:26:15,360
# When he goes down south, he'll
have to wear a suit of armour. #

1657
01:26:15,360 --> 01:26:19,320
Myself and Lenny Henry are roughly
the same age - late 30s -

1658
01:26:19,320 --> 01:26:22,760
and I remember seeing him on
television, New Faces,

1659
01:26:22,760 --> 01:26:27,640
when he was about 16 years old, as
indeed I was, some 15 years ago.

1660
01:26:27,640 --> 01:26:31,720
And, um, I was astonished by just
the confidence he had.

1661
01:26:31,720 --> 01:26:35,080
I mean, you know, he was very funny,
the impressions were very funny,

1662
01:26:35,080 --> 01:26:39,600
but he had such confidence,
as a 16-year-old,

1663
01:26:39,600 --> 01:26:41,320
to be doing live television.

1664
01:26:41,320 --> 01:26:46,040
# Got myself a crying, talking,
sleeping, walking

1665
01:26:46,040 --> 01:26:47,920
# Living doll... #

1666
01:26:47,920 --> 01:26:49,840
I don't know how he did it.

1667
01:26:49,840 --> 01:26:53,160
The extraordinary confidence
and belief,

1668
01:26:53,160 --> 01:26:56,560
which is a wonderful thing
to have at that age.

1669
01:26:56,560 --> 01:26:59,280
It took me... It took me a long time
before I got there

1670
01:26:59,280 --> 01:27:01,440
and I'm not even sure
I'm still there yet, actually.

1671
01:27:01,440 --> 01:27:03,000
I think there's still a way to go.

1672
01:27:03,000 --> 01:27:05,400
I'm Lenny Henry and I'm on the
New Faces winners' show

1673
01:27:05,400 --> 01:27:08,280
a week on Saturday. It's time you
old faces moved over a bit

1674
01:27:08,280 --> 01:27:09,680
and let us new ones get in.

1675
01:27:09,680 --> 01:27:11,360
Old faces!

1676
01:27:12,800 --> 01:27:16,440
True to his word, just six years
later Lenny was on the BBC,

1677
01:27:16,440 --> 01:27:19,160
starring in a new comedy show.

1678
01:27:19,160 --> 01:27:21,120
Yeah, my name is Delbert Wilkins

1679
01:27:21,120 --> 01:27:23,520
and I'm from Brixton,
hub of the universe.

1680
01:27:24,760 --> 01:27:27,240
You know Brixton, that well-known
South London resort.

1681
01:27:27,240 --> 01:27:29,800
Well, the last resort
anyway, you know I mean?

1682
01:27:29,800 --> 01:27:31,400
HE CHUCKLES

1683
01:27:31,400 --> 01:27:35,840
He was, sort of, the pioneer that
was holding the torch up

1684
01:27:35,840 --> 01:27:38,920
for a future generation to
come behind him.

1685
01:27:38,920 --> 01:27:40,680
It's a good year for my people.

1686
01:27:40,680 --> 01:27:42,840
Pfft! Anybody see
the Lewis Hamilton?

1687
01:27:42,840 --> 01:27:44,480
CHEERING

1688
01:27:44,480 --> 01:27:46,320
How did he do that?

1689
01:27:46,320 --> 01:27:48,440
How did he pull a Pussycat Doll?

1690
01:27:50,560 --> 01:27:53,800
How fast do you have to drive
to get one of THEM?

1691
01:27:53,800 --> 01:27:56,720
I've done 72 on the M4 -
can I have a Nolan sister?

1692
01:27:58,520 --> 01:28:03,000
His importance, I think,
can't be overestimated.

1693
01:28:03,000 --> 01:28:05,160
All right? Good evening.

1694
01:28:05,160 --> 01:28:07,120
My name's Alexei Sayle.

1695
01:28:07,120 --> 01:28:08,480
I'm actually a journalist.

1696
01:28:08,480 --> 01:28:11,560
I'm gossip columnist on
What's On In Stoke Newington.

1697
01:28:13,920 --> 01:28:15,440
Yeah, you might have seen it -

1698
01:28:15,440 --> 01:28:18,480
it's a big piece of paper with
"fuck all" written on it, you know.

1699
01:28:18,480 --> 01:28:21,800
Alexei Sayle - I remember seeing him
in about 1980

1700
01:28:21,800 --> 01:28:25,800
in a very small theatre in London -
a 60-seater or something -

1701
01:28:25,800 --> 01:28:28,240
and he was just astonishing.

1702
01:28:28,240 --> 01:28:30,400
There's a nice person here
for a Morris Minor

1703
01:28:30,400 --> 01:28:32,720
going to Afghanistan this summer.

1704
01:28:32,720 --> 01:28:35,400
Room for eight more
on the roof rack!

1705
01:28:35,400 --> 01:28:38,280
Seems like half the student union's
in Afghanistan.

1706
01:28:38,280 --> 01:28:40,120
Nom, sorry -
it's half the Soviet Union.

1707
01:28:40,120 --> 01:28:41,560
I get mixed up, sorry.

1708
01:28:41,560 --> 01:28:43,400
Political satire! Yeah!

1709
01:28:43,400 --> 01:28:46,680
This is what we come
from Islington for! Yeah!

1710
01:28:46,680 --> 01:28:49,040
He gave you the impression
that he didn't care

1711
01:28:49,040 --> 01:28:50,760
whether you found him funny or not.

1712
01:28:50,760 --> 01:28:53,560
He wasn't interested in whether
the audience found him funny.

1713
01:28:53,560 --> 01:28:55,720
The fact that we were just
having hysterics.

1714
01:28:55,720 --> 01:28:59,240
HE MUTTERS INCOMPREHENSIBLY

1715
01:28:59,240 --> 01:29:02,160
They're not called wine bars cos
of what they drink.

1716
01:29:02,160 --> 01:29:05,040
It's cos of what they fucking do -
whine all the time.

1717
01:29:05,040 --> 01:29:07,160
HE MUTTERS

1718
01:29:08,240 --> 01:29:12,000
"Ever had a multiple orgasm?
Awful, isn't it?"

1719
01:29:12,000 --> 01:29:15,200
The suit got sort of, like,
you know, tight around his body,

1720
01:29:15,200 --> 01:29:16,680
and just swinging his arms.

1721
01:29:16,680 --> 01:29:20,200
It was to the point where you just
wanted him to stop,

1722
01:29:20,200 --> 01:29:22,400
because it was hurting so much.

1723
01:29:22,400 --> 01:29:25,040
"Seen the latest Woody Allen?"
"Yes, awful, isn't it?"

1724
01:29:25,040 --> 01:29:27,920
"Oh, the quiche looks rather nice."

1725
01:29:31,200 --> 01:29:35,280
It's very funny to be very
aggressive and angry about trivia.

1726
01:29:35,280 --> 01:29:39,360
So he would do stuff
about a mime artist.

1727
01:29:39,360 --> 01:29:41,760
Ain't it a load of old wank,
mime, eh?

1728
01:29:43,240 --> 01:29:45,760
I mean, who in their right mind
would pay good money to see

1729
01:29:45,760 --> 01:29:48,160
a real man sew his fingers together,

1730
01:29:48,160 --> 01:29:51,840
walk into a high wind and get shut
in a fucking glass box?

1731
01:29:54,440 --> 01:29:57,360
With some French fucker called
Bip or Snot or something.

1732
01:29:59,240 --> 01:30:03,080
He pretends to sew his fingers
together, walk into a high wind

1733
01:30:03,080 --> 01:30:04,920
and get shut in a fucking glass box

1734
01:30:04,920 --> 01:30:08,080
and people travel from Guildford
to see him!

1735
01:30:08,080 --> 01:30:10,600
And he to do jokes about Mussolini.

1736
01:30:10,600 --> 01:30:13,400
You know, he'd have punchlines with
the word Mussolini in them.

1737
01:30:13,400 --> 01:30:17,240
This girl comes up to me and she
goes, "Here, are you Mussolini?"

1738
01:30:19,400 --> 01:30:20,920
I said, "Erm...

1739
01:30:20,920 --> 01:30:22,720
"Erm, yeah, yeah."

1740
01:30:22,720 --> 01:30:24,960
She says, "I thought you was dead."

1741
01:30:24,960 --> 01:30:28,200
I said, "No, it was just
my day off, you know."

1742
01:30:28,200 --> 01:30:31,720
So, she pulled me over the dance
floor and butted me in the face.

1743
01:30:31,720 --> 01:30:33,200
I said, "What's that for?

1744
01:30:33,200 --> 01:30:36,040
She said, "That's for the
invasion of Crete."

1745
01:30:36,040 --> 01:30:38,960
Suddenly, here's this guy saying,
"It's great being Jewish, you know,

1746
01:30:38,960 --> 01:30:41,640
"cos you can going to work
and you say,

1747
01:30:41,640 --> 01:30:45,000
" 'Today I've got to sit in the back
garden with a porkpie on my head.' "

1748
01:30:45,000 --> 01:30:47,800
The way he, sort of, "Porkpie."

1749
01:30:47,800 --> 01:30:49,040
You know, it was...

1750
01:30:50,280 --> 01:30:54,880
As if, almost, he was blaming
the pie for being pork.

1751
01:30:54,880 --> 01:30:56,480
Just astonishing.

1752
01:30:56,480 --> 01:30:59,000
The attack was just...

1753
01:30:59,000 --> 01:31:00,760
A weirdness...

1754
01:31:00,760 --> 01:31:03,480
I'd never seen anything like that
in this country up to that point.

1755
01:31:03,480 --> 01:31:04,960
You know, it was...

1756
01:31:04,960 --> 01:31:09,440
There are a lot of comedians,
I think, who never saw him,

1757
01:31:09,440 --> 01:31:12,560
who are influenced by him because
they've been influenced by

1758
01:31:12,560 --> 01:31:15,560
somebody who was influenced by him
who's been influenced by him.

1759
01:31:15,560 --> 01:31:18,600
They don't even know they've been
influenced by Alexei Sayle
but they have.

1760
01:31:18,600 --> 01:31:22,440
There was a whole new way of doing
stuff which he embraced.

1761
01:31:22,440 --> 01:31:24,120
And along with Billy Connolly,

1762
01:31:24,120 --> 01:31:28,720
he is one of the most
influential comedians

1763
01:31:28,720 --> 01:31:30,280
since the Second World War.

1764
01:31:30,280 --> 01:31:32,960
And the great thing about Alexei is
he'll readily admit that.

1765
01:31:32,960 --> 01:31:37,560
There's no false modesty - he knows
how important he was, and is.

1766
01:31:37,560 --> 01:31:39,040
Sounds fair enough, really.

1767
01:31:41,720 --> 01:31:44,760
Tonight, we have looked at a tiny
slice of the history of

1768
01:31:44,760 --> 01:31:47,800
British comedy, highlighting a few
people along the way

1769
01:31:47,800 --> 01:31:49,680
who must stand in for the many

1770
01:31:49,680 --> 01:31:52,200
who are only omitted through the
chronic lack of time.

1771
01:31:54,880 --> 01:31:56,280
Comedy is personal.

1772
01:31:56,280 --> 01:31:59,960
What you find funny may or may not
appeal to everyone else.

1773
01:31:59,960 --> 01:32:01,840
Nobody likes a good laugh
more than I do.

1774
01:32:01,840 --> 01:32:04,560
But the performers who I've
highlighted this evening have,

1775
01:32:04,560 --> 01:32:07,480
by and large, pulled off
the difficult task of building

1776
01:32:07,480 --> 01:32:11,240
large fan bases that have remained
loyal throughout their career.

1777
01:32:11,240 --> 01:32:12,880
We Brits excel at comedy.

1778
01:32:12,880 --> 01:32:14,880
If comedy was an Olympic sport,

1779
01:32:14,880 --> 01:32:17,760
we would have earned hundreds of
gold medals.

1780
01:32:17,760 --> 01:32:20,400
Well, I'm worn out before I start.

1781
01:32:20,400 --> 01:32:22,200
Why is something funny?

1782
01:32:22,200 --> 01:32:24,720
It can be an unexpected word
or attitude.

1783
01:32:24,720 --> 01:32:28,640
She's dipping her slippers in
vinegar and kicking you up the arse.

1784
01:32:28,640 --> 01:32:32,000
A description of a commonplace
occurrence rendered farcical

1785
01:32:32,000 --> 01:32:35,160
through exaggeration or hyperbole.

1786
01:32:35,160 --> 01:32:37,680
A rude word, a funny face.

1787
01:32:37,680 --> 01:32:41,360
An astute observation that you've
always known but never thought of.

1788
01:32:41,360 --> 01:32:44,560
Stannah stairlifts - you look like
a right wanker on them.

1789
01:32:46,400 --> 01:32:49,360
A marvellous piece of misdirection
which shows you one path

1790
01:32:49,360 --> 01:32:51,720
before suddenly revealing another,

1791
01:32:51,720 --> 01:32:55,520
verbally subverting reality and
turning the commonplace on its head.

1792
01:32:55,520 --> 01:32:57,360
You know who it was? Who?

1793
01:32:57,360 --> 01:32:58,760
Bloody Greta Garbo.

1794
01:33:00,560 --> 01:33:03,200
Oliver Hardy disappearing into
a very deep puddle.

1795
01:33:05,160 --> 01:33:06,680
Humour is subjective.

1796
01:33:06,680 --> 01:33:08,880
What you find funny is up to you.

1797
01:33:08,880 --> 01:33:10,760
But hopefully a lot of what you've
seen tonight

1798
01:33:10,760 --> 01:33:12,680
has tickled your funny bone.

1799
01:33:12,680 --> 01:33:14,440
I do hope so.

1800
01:33:14,440 --> 01:33:15,880
Goodnight.

1801
01:33:18,440 --> 01:33:21,440
Subtitles by Red Bee Media