BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 May 08 - 06:57 PM

Big screen stuff? Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. A real example of Britcom nowadays? The last 'one foot in the grave' where Victor dies and it is STILL funny!

Cheers again.

:D

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 May 08 - 06:51 PM

My recent favourites include Black Books and The Smoking Room. Wouldn't recommend then to anyone though. I am not a full shilling anyway...

:D

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 15 May 08 - 06:49 PM

What currently passes for "Brit Comedy" TODAY is a simple extension of the slumcult of much of England today and will do nothing for an arts student unless he is simply looking for the most banal crap to pitch to an exxex/barrow boy/girl at Sky/Carlton/Beeb/C5/C4.

Try the original St Trinians series, try the "Carry-ons" to demonstrate the English ambivalence to sex. Butterflies was excellent but I think you want big-screen, don't you? If you include small screen start wireless and go ITMA, ISIRTA, Goons, Michael Bentine, TW3, and then the leap to Python has a run-up. Peter Sellers should be studied. Lovejoy showed some understanding of the English "loveable rogue" and attitudes to class.

You might try Frankie Howard (I liked), or Tony Hancock, or Steptoe and indeed Goerge and Mildred or Michael Crawford (I didn't). 2.4 Children I thought had something.

The Young Ones, Ben Elton, B'Stard and the stuff that has flowed out of it since seems, frankly, idiotic.

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: KB in Iowa
Date: 15 May 08 - 04:52 PM

My 12 year old son has just discovered Are You Being Served? and thinks it is hilarious (it has been on public TV here nearly every Saturday for at least 25 years). He even checked out old episodes from the library and watched tham all. Monty Python was always my fav. How about Good Neighbors (as it was called this side of the pond, I forget the original title)?

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: Gurney
Date: 15 May 08 - 04:36 PM

Open all Hours, The Two Ronnies, Last of the Summer Wine. Not the Nine-O-Clock News, Monty Python....
I sometimes think humour has something to do with the age that you are when first exposed to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: irishenglish
Date: 15 May 08 - 04:30 PM

One that probably most people wouldn't include, but I used to like Chef, with Lenny Henry. The episode with them in Paris at a cooking competition and due to a mixup, them looking for Le vin angleterre in French wineshops was priceless!

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: *Laura*
Date: 15 May 08 - 04:27 PM

"If he really has never seen any of these before, start with something recent, so he doesn't think anything funny has been made past 1975!"

It hasn't much!!

Some good ideas though thanks. The language isn't a problem he's really good. I'd forgotten completely about the Thin Blue Line I used to like that!!
I'm off to youtube now...

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 15 May 08 - 03:12 PM

How about the Two Ronnies - a lot of their stuff is visual rather than aural, if his English is not quite fast enough.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 15 May 08 - 03:12 PM

Blackadder was one of our favorites, but in the "collections" it's really 4 or 5 separate series. The "humor" varies with the era depicted - or it seemed so to us.

Are You Being Served was another that had a long run and lots of reruns in the US, and wasn't "out of reach" for non-Brits, while still having a lot of great (subtle?) humor.

Butterflies was one of very few programs that Lin actually made a point to try to watch occasionally, so I guess it might be said to have a good "crossover" appeal while still conveying some "Brit attitude."

Benny Hill was funny, mostly, but impressed us more as "juvenile" humor than as peculiarly British; but I suppose based on the few hundred "greenies" I've worked with, possibly "puerile" is an important element in some "British humor." (They mostly claimed to be "ruggers" as well.)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 May 08 - 02:50 PM

Madame, Are You Being Served. For bawdy, try some Benny Hill?

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: irishenglish
Date: 15 May 08 - 02:41 PM

AbFab!

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: GUEST,Shimrod
Date: 15 May 08 - 02:39 PM

Have you thought of exposing/subjecting him to 'Men Behaving Badly' - my favourite TV comedy of the last few years.

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: irishenglish
Date: 15 May 08 - 02:11 PM

Holy Grail is fine, but I think TV shows including some Python episodes would be better. Spaced I don't know, but Fawlty, Blackadder, Thin Blue Line, The Office...all excellent choices. If he really has never seen any of these before, start with something recent, so he doesn't think anything funny has been made past 1975!
Cheers

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 15 May 08 - 02:02 PM

Any thread here with the word 'folk' in the title. At least, I THINK those are supposed to be full of British humour ... aren't they?

Subject: RE: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: Peace
Date: 15 May 08 - 01:39 PM

Any session of Parliament.

Subject: BS: Educating an Italian in Brit Comedy!
From: *Laura*
Date: 15 May 08 - 01:31 PM

So - my (film student) flatmate needs to be educated in the ways of British Comedy for his own good.
I have to get through

Monty Python (films and flying circus)
Blackadder
Fawlty Towers
Spaced

And where to start!? I'm thinking of starting with the Holy Grail. Or Spaced....

hmm. Any suggestions? And anything else you think is essential viewing?