Tag Archives: humor

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British comedy

I’ve always had a soft spot for British comedy. It’s hard to pinpoint why, but there it is. My favorites are Benny Hill, Monty Python and Mr. Bean. I’ve recently discovered Harry Enfield’s work, and I love his black and white mockumentaries (but only those, not his color work).

Here’s Benny Hill, in “The life of Maurice Dribble, from womb to tomb”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIoZM1OQGzs

Or how about this classic hospital scene? There’s the classic Benny Hill twist at the end:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=810TQyT2KXI

Here’s Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), in a couple of clips from another famous show called “Blackadder”. In this first clip, a secret mission is planned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uzZNWu9LNc

In this second Blackadder clip, the origin of WWI is discussed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4TKTRV4HM0

John Cleese performs his own eulogy in this clip from the 2006 International Comedy Festival:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3v-OCYYIuM

Harry Enfield’s comedic genius shines in this clip, entitled “Women keep your virtue”:

While British humor is still likeable nowadays, it has lost its lustre and subtletly. It’s now crude and lewd. Have a look at this clip from a show called “Extras”. This is definitely a few orders of quality below the vintage British comedy I like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REfmANxv264

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A Guide To A Good Life, Reviews

The Awful Truth (1937)

The Awful Truth (1937)Ligia and I just watched The Awful Truth (1937) for the second time. We love it! The cast was perfect for the roles, the script was witty, and the direction was wonderful. Cary Grant plays Jerry Warriner, a husband who finds his wife Lucy’s tale (Irene Dunne) of car trouble hard to swallow when she tells him she spent an innocent night at her father’s cabin with her music instructor. He, of course, has his own tall tale to tell — or rather, avoid telling.

They argue, and they divorce, but there’s a 90-day grace period. And of course, there’s Mr. Smith, the dog — Jerry uses him as a pretext to visit Lucy. During that time, each does his and her best to split their rebound romances through all sorts of wacky shenanigans. It’s a pleasure to watch them dog it out, each motivated by the love they still bear for the other. There’s a wonderful conclusion to the film, driven home eloquently by the director’s use of a grandfather clock and his/her figurines, animated by Cary and Irene. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

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Thoughts

The Internet is not a truck

You may or may not have heard about the serious gaffe on the part of Senator Ted Stevens (R), who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. He voted against the Net Neutrality Act, and gave a speech on the Senate floor to explain his actions. He may have been better off not saying anything.

By giving this speech that keeps on truckin’, Senator Stevens has shown that he wasn’t knowledgeable enough about the issue to even speak about it, much less vote on it. It worries me that he’s in charge of a committee charged with deciding on matters as important as science, commerce and transportation, when his understanding of the Internet is that it’s a “it’s not a truck, it’s a series of tubes” that can get “clogged up”. I wonder which telecom lobbyist fed him that analogy. At any rate, the aftermath of the speech is haunting him, and one of the funniest takes comes from The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.

I am reminded of an Abraham Lincoln quote: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

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