Monday 13 July 2009

Recycled humour, now exporting.


Here is an unusual post from me. I rarely get to catch TV beyond the news and a really good documentary. So I am increasingly pleased with youtube, a virtual picnic of clips you can get in your inbox, choose or drop without having to sit through a precious half hour.

Thanks to them I get to share some new British comedy with you that you may be unfamiliar with. Humour is continually evolving here, but what I adore is that it never loses it's wit, irreverence or more to the point, kind satire; be it towards Churchill or the Church of England - the latter being the church King Henry VIII invented so he could legally get a divorce. Ahem. With that, please enjoy this comedy window with brief descriptions. I'm leaving the best until last but they're all quite good.

The following BBC clip comes from the naughty schoolboys in grown men's clothing known as Armstrong and Miller. This clip is one I like because of the literary references and tongue-in-cheek treatment of manuscript readings à la Byron, Shelley and Co.



We take a brief break from this presentation to bring you the following "advertisement" from Mitchell and Webb. Another funny pair who are rather similar to the above. Sometimes I feel like my country's entire comedy repertoire consists of the grown up antics of former public school boys (public school means private school in England, we call none-private schools, state schools). Happily this advert spoof needs no translation:




We return to regular transmission to
finish with Armstrong and Miller. Their funniest work is the spoofing of British WW2 Films and the stiff upper lipped pilots therein - only the language these characters use is current slangy "London street":





There's a brief foray into some laughs, let me know what you think.


Peace,
x

27 comments:

Jennifer said...

These are great! I always enjoyed British humor. Thanks for the very fun clips!

Anika said...

There is nothing quite like the British sense of humour (apologies to the Americans here :). I love the fact too that I have seen the first spoof courtesy of a fabulous Australian tv channel that shows random shows and spoofs such as this :).

Its usually on ABC or SBS. Love :)

Laurel said...

Ahhhhhh!!! Thanks you for the huge laugh. That is the best way to start any day. Oh My Gosh- Scooby Doo- Hilarious:) Thanks Sweet Clarity for those laugh and more for your very sweet words around my parents fire, You are just a spectacular human beng. xxooLaurel

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Gosh, I loved this!

Unknown said...

This is my first time visiting your site. Great blog. Love the video on female problems. I always say, its not easy being a girl!

Tasha said...

I have to say we know our comedy! The Armstrong and Miller shows is very funny. Michael McIntyre is a great stand up comic you should check out too! :)

Renee said...

har har har.

Laughing my head off especially when the guy was imitating scooby doo.

Thanks for the laugh.

Love Renee xoxo

Cafe Fashionista said...

British humor is the absolute best! :)

Rebecca Corvese said...

Very funny! Thank you for leaving such a sweet comment on my blog... your words were so kind! How fun that you posted these clips. British humor is so dry and funny.

paolo said...

i like the funny scenes and humor, thanks for sharing, great!

Baglady said...

I adore the airmen. And shit.

I like your turn of phrase - a virtual picnic of clips. So true. And you don't have to eat any salad or vegetables if you don't want to!

Word verification - penklie. The sound of rain on a tin roof.

Clarity said...

I am glad that the humour is travelling well - also pleased to discover a good sense of humour out in blogland.

Laurel, you are sweet, thank you so.
Pamela - glad you did!
HH - welcome and thank you, the female ad is a good spoof and so ironic underneath.
Butterfly - certainly do, chum :)
Thanks Paolo.
Thank you back. Renee and Rebecca, both your blogs are inspirational in unique ways.
Cafe fashionista - England thanks you :)
Baglady - gasp! the first (quote)swear word in my commentary box. Thank you for the compliment.

debra@dustjacket said...

I love British humor,have always said they make the best comedies! Mind you half my family is British - dad's side, so maybe a bit bias.

You like Hitchcock's "something about Harry" and "arsenic" great, I don't find many fellow fans.

Thanks so much for dropping by and commenting and yes the cakes did deserve an oscar!!

Lori ann said...

Dear Clarity,

heeehee! how generous of you to find these and share them with us! They were so fun to watch and since I am American I could listen to British "accents" for days and still want to hear more.

I agree with you, I'm not a t.v. watcher but these small clips from youtube are brilliant!

love,
lori

crystal said...

The Armstrong and Miller clip was cute. :)

Willoughby said...

The clips are great! My two best friends were British when I was younger and they introduced me to a lot of British humor. I've enjoyed it ever since.

Cheryl Lynn Pastor Romance Author said...

This is crazy funny! OMG! I love British humor, always have, and this is just a reminder why!

Thank you so much for dropping by my neck of the woods and for your kind comments about my poetry. I need to write more but it's so hard to find the time.

Have a great and wonderful day.

VanessasRunway said...

haha - these are great! Thanks for some laughs for my morning! ;)

NicNacManiac said...

Nothin like British humour. Because I'm South African I at least understand some of the words that they are calling things.
Hilarious!!
Thanks for stopping by!!
Hugs, Nerina :)

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Clarity in Wonderland...thank you so very much for your visits and your delightful comments...much appreciated...Dzintra♥x

Anonymous said...

hello :)

thank you for the lovely comment! One has to love the Byrone teacups :D

x

Sierra said...

These are very funny! Thanks for sharing and thanks also for your compliment on my blog - enjoying your blog as well! :)

Anonymous said...

You never know what you're going to find on Youtube!

Lisa Borgnes Giramonti said...

Innit genius, though?!!! I just watched "Charlotte Gray" last night, so watching the RAF spoofs this morning had me on the floor (practically)...Well brilliant, this...!

Anonymous said...

This was way too funny! I adore Catherine Tate, she is fierce...innit though..lol-
Thanks for the laugh, XXX, C.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed these clips. I'm curious if you've seen any of the clips of the film, "In the Loop." It looks very funny and is about the UK and US political systems. It has a very "Yes, Prime Minister" feel about it.

Clarity said...

Thanks everyone for enjoying the laughs, you're all welcome to move here :)

I was supposed to see it Des but time and my own film got in the way. I do still want to though; it was a very timely production from what I hear.