The UK Comedy Double Act Thread (UPDATED: 20th July 2013) (Page 1 of 3)

Awesome!

EDIT: I've been a fan of British comedy since I discovered Monty Python as a teen. Brits probably know that that was a gateway drug for many American nerds. It's college-level cleverness combined with college-level silliness that simply never existed in America until The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. When I discovered Fry & Laurie (please do next, btw) and later Red Dwarf and Blackadder, I realized there was a whole boatload of this stuff if only I could get my hands on it (cue invention of Internet). Granted, Benny Hill and Are You Being Served? aren't in that class, but they're also no worse than most American comedy programs. And, as I've mentioned several times on this forum, QI is my latest crush (since Top Gear went kind of soft [sorry, Jezza]). Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Bill Bailey, Jimmy Carr, and others in a battle of wits with actual facts? Heaven.*

* Heaven may not include a second moon of Earth.

Last edited by Zarban (2012-11-06 20:57:04)

No pressure then,lol.

Next double act will be up soon

Fry & Laurie are coming

I have a fixed amount of acts  I am talking about but I'm doing them 'in order' to try to show how British comedy and the double act have developed over the years. This is why I started in the 60s with Eric and Ernie. I have thought this shit out, you know......sort of

I only know of them through repeats, I'm not that old

Next entry up later today

No, dude, I didn't mean you implied that, I was poking fun at myself

I quite liked The One Ronnie, it was much better than I expected. This sketch in particular is my favourite.

Cheers for taking the time do these write up's Jimmy 

Little and Large
First teaming up in the early 60s, Syd Little (Cyril Mead) and Eddie Large (Edward McGinnis) paid their dues performing in local pubs in Manchester including comedian Bernard Manning’s World Famous Embassy Club. They caught a break when they appeared on TV talent show Opportunity Knocks, which they won. In 1977, they got their own ITV show, The Little and Large Tellyshow only to defect to the BBC the following year. And it was there they stayed until 1991 as they proved to be immensely popular (in 1980, their show was in the top 20 most watched shows of the year in the UK)  although, to be honest with you, it’s pretty hard to understand why. The main point of their act was their stage names- Little (because he was skinny) and Large (because he was, well, large) and that was the joke. Eddie would perform impressions while both would sing but there was nothing really clever or unique about them.  Here is a clip of them as Laurel and Hardy, one of the better impressions the pair did-

I will now, so I don’t look like a dick, list some positives about the pair, one major one being their lack of egos. To get a laugh, pretty much anything would go, including Syd dressing as a chicken (which occurred a surprising amount of times) and Eddie in drag. The pair were never afraid to look ugly to get laughs. Next, I’ll admit they were topical, always looking for something new to lampoon, the duo were the first on UK TV to spoof the movie Grease in their 1978 Christmas special. And third, they usually had really good musical guests, including this clip featuring the Shadows….which Syd and Eddie ruin by joining in (note: this is taken from a VHS tape)-

Unusually for a pair who tread on very safe Saturday evening family TV ground, Syd and Eddie sometimes found themselves the cause of some viewer complaints regarding the one or two of their sketches. One such sketch involved Syd buying ice creams for a bunch of kids from an ice cream seller only to discover that the seller is the dad of the kids. It caused such a furore it even ended up on BBC viewers-complain-about-stupid-shit show Points Of View. When they weren’t dealing with censorship, the duo often had to fend off the BBC too. The corporation made plans to axe their show on what seemed like a regular basis, only for the decision to be overturned at the very last minute. In 1989, it was being reported that the BBC’s light entertainment department had scrapped the show only for BBC bosses to insist on its rescue due to high ratings. In 1990, the BBC even went as far as publicly announce that the show had was done only for it to appear in their schedules the following year. The axe finally fell in 1991 but from the duo themselves who decided to call it a day. Here is a clip that has nothing to do with what I just said-

Despite the length of time the show ran for it appears to be one that the BBC like to forget. You can’t find copies of it anywhere and it has never been repeated or released on dvd. I couldn’t even find many clips on Youtube, especially not of the non-musical sketches but hopefully what I found gave you a taste. If you want there is a full 50 minute Christmas special up on Youtube….

Anyway, in an interview in 2010, Eddie Large stated that he hadn't spoken to Syd Little in a very long time. Now, while I personally don't find them funny, the duo were huge in the 80s and to discover that not only the BBC ignore them but that they now also ignore each other is a bit sad. You have to respect a double act who had the staying power and who avoided the axe as much as Little and Large did so more power to them, I say.....

Last edited by Jimmy B (2012-11-10 20:52:20)

Cannon and Ball
If Little and Large were a step in the direction of ‘working class’ comedy, then Cannon and Ball were a giant leap. Working together on the club circuit, Tommy Cannon (Thomas Derbyshire) and Bobby Ball (Robert Harper) got their break in the TV variety show The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club before getting their own ITV show in 1979. Their set up was simple, Tommy was the straight man while the moustache sporting Bobby was the aggressive, petulant, little scrapper. Each and every week, the boys would enact sketches and routines that mostly involved either Tommy trying to break away from Bobby or Bobby finding new ways to wind Tommy up-

Much like Little and Large, it is difficult now to just understand why Cannon and Ball were so popular in the UK. The reason is probably the same one why they lost their popularity, they were deemed as being ‘safe’. Their humour was family friendly and often immature and extremely suitable for Saturday evening television. The only difference between C&B and the other acts mentioned in this thread before them is the sheer aggressiveness of a lot of their material. Seen by many as a reaction to the social climate of the time, Tommy and Bobby’s working class shtick was, for some, a remedy against the all-singing, all-dancing smart-arses that came before them The fact that they were on ITV rather than the BBC seemed to reflect this. Bobby Ball’s main character trait was that he was like a child, prone to tantrums and outbursts while trying so hard to be liked. He would often get irate and jokingly threaten audience members and they loved it. Sometimes their sketches involved cartoon violence as evidenced in this rather poorly written sketch guest starring Rik Mayall who, by this point, was known for having comedy violence in his shows-

By the mid-80s people had grown tired of the duos routine, not least of all LWT, the ITV company that produced their show. In 1986, their show was basically transformed into a sitcom with the pair living together in a flat but it didn’t really work. This wasn’t helped by the fact that behind the scenes, the pair were just as adept at getting on each others nerves as their on screen counterparts. They persevered , though, an even turned down a contract to move to the BBC. When their show was finally given the axe, they moved onto hosting game shows such as Cannon and Ball’s Casino which was a flop and the pair admit today that the shows was a ‘monkey on their backs’. ‘Casino’ was also the show that ended their run on Saturday evenings. They next attempted to break into the world of sitcom, making a series of pilots and then making a series of the most well received. The ‘winner’ was a shows called Plaza Patrol, in which the duo played Mall cops. Despite the show actually being popular and receiving high mid-week ratings it only lasted one series of six episodes. Another clip from their sketch show that has no link to what I was just saying? Why, sure-

Cannon and Ball still work today both apart and together. Despite their previous spat, the duo are now friends again and are both born again Christians. In 2005, they appeared as contestants in I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here where they were using one liners that they used in their show in the 80s ('I'm a sex object- I want sex and they object...'). They still tour though and still have a fanbase as their shows are often sold out which is just a reminder that although their type of comedy may not be for everyone, there is still a place for it. Besides, I am not ashamed to admit that I have a soft spot for them and that puppet sketch above made me chuckle

For the next entry, we are finally going to move away from family friendly Saturday evening entertainment and focus on more adult orientated prime time television…..

Yeah, the things they could get away with at 7pm on a Saturday in the 80s. And you're right, that Rik Mayall sketch is largely improvised with the exception of the actors knowing when the hits are coming and whatnot. Mayall makes almost anything better.

I am writing the next entry now. As you can probably guess, I am focusing on acts that have had sketch shows as that is far easier for clips. Once these initial ten are done, I may do bonus ones for other duos

Last edited by Jimmy B (2012-11-15 01:40:51)

Sorry for the delay, folks-

Smith and Jones
After being part of the Not The Nine O’Clock News comedy team, Mel Smith (chubby)and Griff Rhys Jones (Welsh) got the opportunity to have their own show. The other members of the troupe, Rowan Atkinson and Pamela Stephenson became Blackadder and married Billy Connolly while becoming a psychiatrist respectively. Produced by Smith and Jones' own Talkback Productions, Alas Smith And Jones or later just Smith and Jones, aired on the BBC from 1984- 1998 in a post-watershed (9pm) slot. Continuing the trend of modern comedy like Not The Nine O’Clock News, the show wasn’t afraid to tackle adult themes while providing social commentary on the state of 'Thatcher's Britain'. In a regular. hugely popular skit, Mel and Griff had a conversation facing each other in front of a black background. These sketches normally had the pair play dumber versions of themselves-

Each show opened with a sketch, usually parodying a show/film/ad then the pair address the studio audience to introduce the show. This intro would normally be hindered in some way, one had Griff dressed in a leather bondage outfit because he couldn’t get out of it before the show. As with all of the ‘young’ comedians of the 80s, Smith and Jones took pot shots at authority including scathing sketches against the police.....

During the time of their show, Mel and Griff made two motion pictures together- Morons From Outer Space in 1985 and Wilt in 1989 but both were box office flops. Smith also appeared as the Albino in The Princess Bride and directed a few films including Radioland Murders and the first Mr. Bean movie (called ‘Bean’, funnily enough).  Also outside of their sketch show, they worked together on other shows including a series of one off comedy dramas for the BBC. Unrelated sketch time-

Smith and Jones still work but separately. Griff has done a lot of presenting over the years as well as acting on tv and in the theatre. Mel didn't work as much, making guest appearances on shows and directing the odd film. In  2008, Mel caused concern when he appeared to be ill while being a contestant on Celebrity Mastermind. Viewers took to the internet to speculate what was wrong and some even contacted the BBC. It transpired that he was suffering from Pharyngitis an inflammation of the throat. He has since made a full recovery. The last time the duo worked together was in a brief head to head sketch in a BBC special that had Griff appear in various specially written sketches called The One Griff Rhys Jones.
I have always liked Smith and Jones, they were crude but very likeable and proof that tv double acts were moving on from the days of soft double entendres and gentle ribbing. Here, there is outright crudeness and a mean streak that reflected the mindset of the country at the time. A trend that would carry on during the 80s.

Next up, it's time for some ladies. Well, two.......

Last edited by Jimmy B (2012-11-22 18:45:25)

French and Saunders continue to be well loved in the Commonwealth, too. Ab Fab / Vicar of Dibley are frequent re-runs here.