"For sixteen years, big Ronnie Barker and little Ronnie Corbett hit hard on the nation's funny bone with their gently subversive, often wonderfully rude comedy routines, which lampooned countless aspects of British life - pompous authority figures, eccentric middle class guests at dreary cocktail parties, shabby men (with distinctly surreal private lives) putting the world to rights over a beer or ten, ghastly restaurants with rude waiters and incompetent chefs, bumptious politicians, leery rock stars and deeply suspicious doctors. Although often regarded as a "safe" series, The Two Ronnies' best sketches often strayed toward decidedly bizarre and ridiculous Monty Python territory, which isn't surprising as several of the Pythons (together with genius upstarts like Marshall and Renwick) wrote for the series - that's when the great Ronnie Barker wasn't providing the bulk of the material himself under a number of unlikely pseudonyms! (Remember Gerald Wiley? That was him.) The musical numbers can seem dated to modern eyes, but the country and western parodies from 'Big Jim Jehosophat'(Corbett) and 'Fatbelly Jones'(Barker) were always a joy, wrapping dozens of double-entendres around some genuinely catchy tunes, as were the lesser-seen spoofs of Chas and Dave, Status Quo and even Kid Creole and the Coconuts! As with many of the 'old school' comedians, the Two Ronnies' work has endured far better than many of the 'alternative' comedians who tried to push them aside - not only that, they're still being repeated."
Sadly Ronnie Barker passed away today and so this serves as a small reminder of his comedy genius.
Jehosophat & Jones - Stuttering Bum
Jehosophat & Jones - Gal From Arkansas
These Rapid Share files are accessible by scrolling down the page and clicking the FREE button. wait at bottom of page for your files to appear (about 20 seconds).
Posts
6 comments:
A short 15 mins. podcast test .Find it HERE
Its the same one as over on Curios Things. I dont know who the artistes are so dont ask!
i remember my dad took me in the mid sixties to see morecambe and wise at the cinema. the famous film that they made where eric works in an italian/mexican coffee bar. very funny.
they (morecambe and wise) had a universal appeal that, had they wanted to, could have cracked the USA.
the two ronnies were VERY english and by far my personal favs. totally selfish of me but it is
sad to see such a talented person die.
Yes, i remember that Morecambe and Wise film but It's on TV that they worked best. Ant and Dec the new Morecambe and Wise? you must be jokin- the new Mike and Bernie Winters more like!
The Two Ronnies were up there with the best too and this record doesn't really do them justice. You had to see them.
Thankfully Ronnie left a great mountain of material to watch over and over again. At the boot sale at the weekend a bloke had the whole three series of Porridge and Open All Hours on pirated DVD's - I was sorely tempted i must say.
That Stuttering Bum, fu-fu-fu-fu-funny stuff!
I think that i would have been very tempted as well. Porridge, along with Dad's Army and Only Fools and Horses, are timeless TV comedy classics (another blog site for you?).
Open All Hours was also good but I cannot remember the name of that other programme Ronnie did as a Welsh photographer with one eye on the lens and the other eye on the ladies?
I think it was called "The Magnificent Evans" which is great title but sadly it passed me by at the time. I'd love to see them again and "Clarence" the short sighted delivery man. Maybe they will be shown again now he has popped his clogs.
I could have any number of blogs about my favourite things but where do i find the time to tinker with them? Angelica has already talked me into joining her on another collage blog that puts the total of blogs up to a magnificent seven!
Post a Comment