I Laughed My Socks Off.....................

.........when I first heard this

"A recent national survey revealed that 80% of females like Shakin' Stevens. The survey also revealed that 80% of males think he is old enough to shake himself."

The Two Ronnies

Four Clowns

I love the Chuckle Brothers. They have that supreme talent; they can make children laugh. And their simple like-ability factor is so high, it is hard not to also enjoy them as an adult.

So how many Chuckle Brothers are there ? Easy. Two. But, looking at it a slightly different way, it could be argued there are four. As a stage act, the Chuckle Brothers consists of two real life brothers, Barry and Paul (real surname Elliott). However, there is another act called The Patton Brothers which is made up of two entertainers called Jimmy and Brian ( real surname Elliott). Yes, they are in fact the older brothers (in real life) of The Chuckle Brothers. And although the two acts are without doubt separate, they have worked together as a foursome in pantomimes, and on television where both Jimmy and Brian have appeared on Barry and Paul's very popular ChuckleVision. The Patton Brothers have been working the pantomime circuit for the last 48 years in fact and during that time also had spots on shows like Sunday Night At The London Palladium and 3-2-1.

This clip shows all four brothers together on the stage of Leeds City Varieties, home of the BBC TV production The Good Old Days between 1953 and 1983. The host was Leonard Sachs, and both he and the live shows achieved great acclaim. It showcased variety acts in a Victorian/Edwardian music hall style. The audience played their part, both dressing in appropriate costume and singing along. It is said that tickets for the dressed section were virtually impossible to purchase without joining a waiting list of fifteen years. The players included the very best entertainers who all, I am sure, relished a return to the stage; Ken Dodd, Roy Hudd, Les Dawson and Arthur Askey were all regulars. Over 2000 acts are said to have appeared over the 30 years including many who were household names.

Here we see Barry, Paul, Jimmy and Brian in a Wilson, Keppel and Betty style piece. It is simple clowning. Very old fashioned, but classically funny.

Which Newspaper Do You Read?

There was a great scene in the Yes, Prime Minister episode A Conflict Of Interest , first shown in December 1987. It featured the Prime Minister, Jim Hacker, in conversation with his Permanent Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleton, and his Principle Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley. Possibly, the punchline was the rudest dialogue to appear in any of the 39 shows in this brilliant satirical comedy programme.

Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers:
The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country;
The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country;
The Times is read by people who actually do run the country;
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
The Financial Times is read by people who own the country;
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country;
And The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.

Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?

Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits !!!

Bring Me Sunshine - The Song

About time I added the signature tune of this blog. Bring Me Sunshine was one of a number of musical pieces used by Morecambe and Wise to close their TV shows. They always ended with a certain feelgood factor, as illustrated here in the sentiments of a lovely little song :

Bring me Sunshine, in your smile,

Bring me Laughter, all the while,

In this world where we live,

There should be more happiness,

So much joy you can give,

To each brand new bright tomorrow,

Make me happy, through the years,

Never bring me, any tears,

Let your arms be as warm as the sun from up above,

Bring me fun, bring me sunshine, bring me love.

Ray Of Sunshine # 2 - Arthur Rudge

The second in a series called Ray Of Sunshine, dedicated to the comedy characters who contributed to the great British sitcom. The characters are listed in no particular order, just as I think of them.......but they all brightened our lives.

Ray Of Sunshine # 2 ARTHUR RUDGE

Through marriage to Olive Butler, Arthur Rudge made up a quarter of one of the funniest families to ever hit our television screens. In the late 60's and early 70's , On The Buses was a mighty popular sitcom. Whilst bus driver Stan Butler and his workmates at the depot were the central figures, Arthur also provided us with great comedy moments, not least with his relentless verbal destruction of Olive, who was a frumpy and luckless wife. Essentially, Arthur was a lazy 'hanger-on'. Though there was an indication that at some time he had held a job with British Rail, he is more often than not at home with his nose in the newspaper, leaving hard working Stan as the family breadwinner. Arthur is also not slow to push Olive forward for paid employment, as in the On The Buses movie when she is appointed as cook at the Luxton & District Traction Company canteen (she can't cook and soon blows up the kitchen). Strangely, Mum (Mrs Butler), rarely seems to notice Arthur's shortcomings, nor intervenes when Stan joins in with Arthur in dis-respecting poor old Olive. Two of Arthur's favourite lines were 'You stupid great lump' and 'You clumsy great nit'.She is often reduced to one solitary response : 'Don't be so rude'.

Not only was Arthur workshy, he was also a sponger. At one stage he rides a motor bike - providing some marvellous sketches with his rather large wife travelling in the side-car beside him. Spare parts were largely from the bus garage courtesy of Stan's wheeling and dealing. When the family meet hard times the machine has to go. Thereafter Arthur can be seen on many occasions riding for free on the bus (which even goes off route to pick the family up) ! Any money he had was from Olive's wage packets which he took from her on pay day. It did not see the light of day again. Stan had a general dis-like for his brother in law, he often has a dig about Arthur's unindustrious ways. They have huge differences in opinion, with Arthur often saying to Stan 'what a load of rot you do talk'. I have a lasting memory of meal times............it takes Arthur all his energy to fold up his newspaper and lift his knife and fork !

I do not want to give any impression that Arthur was anything less than lovable. One of the tricks of On The Buses was that it contained no real nastiness. Viewers watched the taunts shown to Olive, without any question as to how it made her feel. She often showed some hurt but it quickly disappeared. The funniest thing about Arthur, and the thing, I suspect, that made him such a well loved character, was his sneery tic when confronted with something he did not like. He kind of sniffed and twitched all in one movement. It also opened the door for Stan to have a go at him, and even occasionally Olive. Reference was often made to his 'operation', which made him particularly uncomfortable. I am not entirely sure we ever get to know exactly what his medical problem is, but the implication points towards it causing problems in the bedroom ! Olive can be seen on many occasions making a risque reference about their habits in that department. Arthur simply twitches in response.

Miraculously, they do eventually produce a child, providing Stan with a great seam of jokes during Olive's pregnancy. It is Stan's fault she got pregnant in the first place according to Arthur. It happened 'that night you blew up the telly' (Stan had wired it up wrong). After a visit to the clinic, Olive warns Arthur that the doctor has said he will have to give up some of his Saturday night pleasures for a while. He responds by saying he isn't going to miss the football.

In the final series, Arthur does not appear. He is written out on the premise that he has finally had enough of Olive and that divorce will follow. And there ended a great British comedy character.

Arthur Rudge was played by actor Michael Robbins, who also featured in minor roles in episodes of One Foot In The Grave, The New Statesman, and You Rang M'Lord ? The character was created by Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney. Michael Robbins died in 1992 aged 62.

Ray Of Sunshine #3 will be Major Gowen.

The Desperate Hours

April 1972 saw the first showing of the Steptoe & Son episode, The Desperate Hours. It is famous for the bringing together of two of the greatest British comedy actors ever; Leonard Rossiter and Harry H Corbett.

It certainly was a desperate plot, bleak and with no little sadness. Both Harold and Albert find their soul mates in the form of Johnny and Frank, escaped villains from the nearby Scrubs. Whilst there are the usual laughs within the episode, the real majesty of this edition lies in two comic angles : (i) that Harold has been held back all his life by his father and (ii) that Johnny and Frank are actually better off with their prison lives than the Steptoes' are with their existence.

The programme starts with Harold and Albert playing cribbage (Albert winning, as was usual in nearly all 'games' scenes between the two). The house is freezing cold, the Steptoes' have no money, no food, no ciggies, no booze. Work has been very bad in recent weeks. They do have the comfort of a wireless though, and hear that two dangerous prisoners have escaped from Wormwood Scrubs. Then the lights fail, the money has run out and they have to use foreign coins in the meter. There is a knock at the door and Albert goes to answer it whilst Harold finds a suitable coin for the electricity. When the lights come back on, the old man is being held by a frightening looking Johnny (Leonard Rossiter) with crow bar in his hand, and his partner in crime Frank, an old man not dissimilar in appearance and stature to Albert (and played by J G Devlin, a Northern Irish actor with a splendid accent). The crooks are certainly menacing, and more so when they realise the Steptoes' are going to be of absolutely no help with their escape. They want grub. There isn't any. They want to use the phone. It has been cut off. The final straw for Johnny is when he asks Harold for his car keys. After Harold explains that the 'garage' in the yard is actually for the horse, Frank says 'We can't make a getaway on a horse, Johnny'. Harold replies ' Why not? Dick Turpin did ' !

Johnny just can't believe that of all the houses they could have chosen to break into, they chose this one ! Albert finds some disgusting stale food and cold lumpy porridge from breakfast time, which Frank eats with relish. Johnny reckons if they served up stuff like that in prison there would be a riot and if that was what Harold had to eat, he would be better off inside. At one stage he winds Harold up by eyeing his pet goldfish - 'what are these like grilled ' ? Harold begs Johnny for a cigarette which he lets him have.The episode then enters a phase where the cast splits in two. Albert takes a real liking to old Frank ( in part I think because he gratefully accepted Albert's food), feels sorry for him and accuses Johnny of treating him badly just because he is old. He recognises that is exactly how his son treats him. Meanwhile, Harold and Johnny empathise with one another. Johnny says that Frank was to blame for his life of crime in the first place and he had no chance of escape with the old man in tow. Harold recognises that that is exactly what his father has done to him. Johnny says he was a bank clerk with prospects, until, turning to Frank ' you came in to open an account'. Harold says he could have been a doctor. ' You could well have had a string of abortion clinics by now' sympathises Johnny.

When Johnny decides they have to go, Frankie declares he is too exhausted. 'Too exhausted ?' asks Johnny. 'We've only come 500 yards'. And so he decides to go alone. Albert is disgusted with him. Harold urges Johnny to get going. Frank plays the bad health card for sympathy ( just as Albert always does in other episodes when he needs to). As police car sirens sound in the distance, Johnny even offers the old man £1000 if he lets him go alone (it's in a safe deposit box at Waterloo). But, after a few moments hesitation, it all gets too much for him. Resignedly, he gives in. 'With a bit of luck we can be back at the Scrubs in time for supper ' ! Perhaps typically, both old men tell one another they both have good lads (typical that is after they have got their own ways). Albert agrees to visit Frank and take in some lumpy porridge. Johnny asks Harold if he will visit him.The meter then runs out again and the Steptoes' have to rely on Johnny for a coin. With the house still in darkness, the prisoners leave, but not before Johnny, in an act of compassion, deposits what is left of his packet of cigarettes on the table. When the lights come back on they are gone. As the closing credits roll we see Johnny and Frank re-entering their cell.

There will be few Steptoe & Son fans who have not watched this episode time and time again. It is, arguably, one of the most famous sit-com episodes in TV history. Not particularly because of it's comic content, which was no higher than many other S&S editions, but because of the feelings that arise from the story - line. The writers, Galton and Simpson, brilliantly created two one off characters who were from a different world but remarkably similar to our lovable rag and bone men. It allowed them to highlight once again the paucity of the Steptoes' life and Harold's never ending fight to escape from his old man. By the end of the episode they are shown to be worse off the than two convicts. That was a bit sad I reckon. Thankfully in other shows they are not quite so poorly off. The excellent Leonard Rossiter was very dark and threatening in his portrayal of Johnny Spooner and it was wonderful to watch him and Harry H together. A shame it was only for twenty minutes or so.

My favourite moment comes quite early on with Harold complaining about being so hungry. ' Do you know what I've had to eat today' ? he asks Albert. 'Half a carrot. And I had to fight to get that out of the horse's mouth'.

Porridge

In 1973, the BBC produced a series of one episode comedies, Seven Of One, all featuring Ronnie Barker, as a different character over the seven shows. In the first episode he played an old shopkeeper called Arkwright !! But in the second, called Prisoner and Escort, we saw, for the first time Norman Stanley Fletcher. A year later the show was re-named Porridge, turned into a series, and one of Britain's best loved sit-coms was born.

Porridge had a relatively short shelf life of 20 episodes over a three year period between 1974 and 1977. The stories were very sharp, with clever and witty plots. With continual TV repeats over the last thirty years, the stories are now firmly stamped into the memory. They do not age. The characters are hugely believable though, of course, comically absurd. Although Slade prison often appears a pretty fun place to be, it also had a grim side, no better delivered to the audience than in the opening credits. There is no music, merely the voice of the judge ( and strangely, that of Ronnie Barker himself ), passing sentence:
"Norman Stanley Fletcher, you have pleaded guilty to the charges brought by this court, and it is now my duty to pass sentence. You are an habitual criminal, who accepts arrest as an occupational hazard, and presumably accepts imprisonment in the same casual manner. We therefore feel constrained to commit you to the maximum term allowed for these offences — you will go to prison for five years." There is the banging sound of a steel door being shut and the turning of a key. As soon as the first scene starts, the viewer really does think he is in prison.

The creators of Porridge were Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who had earlier had great TV successes with The Likely Lads and it's follow up Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? and later on went on to write Auf Wiedersehen Pet. In Porridge they served up a brilliant comedy dish, lovable rogues against the authority of the prison officers. And the show was hugely fortunate with the great cast put together. Ronnie Barker was already an established comic favourite (Porridge and the soon to follow Open All Hours were though to propel him to iconic status as a comedy actor). Fulton Mackay was superb as the strict strutting Prison Officer Mackay. Many of the greatest moments of the series came from the antagonistic wordplay of these two characters (deadpan delivery...........Fletch chewing gum, Mackay shoulders back and chin twitching). If Fletcher and Mackay provided the cynicism, the naivety came from Godber (Richard Beckinsale), serving his first stretch, and Mr Barrowclough (Brian Wilde) the soft and ineffective warden. The other inmates were a fabulous gang : Harry Grout (Peter Vaughan) the feared 'boss' of Slade prison, Ives (Ken Jones) a fraud convict who also happened to be a creep and a snitch, Warren (Sam Kelly) daft as a brush and dyslexic, McClaren (Tony Osoba) angry and volatile, Blanco Webb (David Jason),a very very old wife murderer, Harris (Ronald Lacey) much disliked ginger haired teddy boy, Heslop (Brian Glover) slow and not very bright, Evans (Ray Dunbobbin) who ate light bulbs in order to get a transfer to a hospital, and finally Lukewarm (Christopher Biggins) who cooked and knitted and had a boyfriend called Trevor. A great bunch. What about having that lot round for dinner ? !!

Porridge also had a language of it's own, carefully woven into the scripts in order to get round any swearing from the inmates. Fletcher often used the word naff, as in 'naff off' or 'naff all'. It is easy to guess which alternative term is probably used in most prisons. He also referred to some other inmates (notably Ives and Harris) as nerks , presumably a clever word change from berk. Anybody he considered detestable was a scrote ! All of this allowed the writers to portray prison life as earthy without being offensive to the viewer.

Throughout the series, Fletcher was a crafty character who had developed the talents to survive the traumas of Slade. He was often bad tempered and wasted no time in exploiting weaknesses in others. Because crime and incarceration had been so much part of his life, others looked to him for guidance, especially Godber who was learning the ropes. But there was always a price or trade-off with Fletch, he would want something tangible in return. He had absolutely no time for the losers on his wing and essentially sought as easy and trouble free a life as he could get. Slade had more than it's fair share of trouble however. During the twenty episodes we saw gambling, a riot, a roof top protest, production of illicit alcohol, stealing of drugs and a passport, fixing of a boxing match, and an escape plot amongst other situations. Throughout it all Fletcher managed to duck and dive the real trouble by being one step ahead of both his fellow inmates and the staff. His continual point scoring off Mackay added to this reputation (any victory over authority was worth having however narrow it was). The only character who seemed to unnerve him was Groutie (who had that effect on everyone after all) but you always felt there was a mutual respect in that relationship.

I am not going to attempt to name a favourite episode because in truth they were all very good. The same applies to the characters. A few memories, however, to share from those Thursday evenings from the mid 70's. I thought the character Ives was great. Yes he was a weasel, but I loved the way the Scouser started every new conversation with 'ere listen'. Fletcher despised him. In one episode he said ' Ives is such a loser that if Elizabeth Taylor had triplets, he'd have been the one in the middle on the bottle'. In the first episode, Fletcher is put in the same cell as the dim Heslop who declares, 'I read a book once. Green it was'. And simply , whilst playing Monopoly during association time, Fletcher takes his turn, moves his token and says ' Would you Adam and Eve it ? Go to jail !! ' .

A follow up series called Going Straight was made in 1978. It plotted the life of Fletcher on his release from Slade and his determination to turn his back on crime. Godber also featured as the boyfriend of Fletcher's daughter Ingrid (Patricia Brake). A very young Nicholas Lyndhurst played Fletcher's son Raymond (he was earlier referred to in an episode of Porridge where Fletch tells us Raymond broke into his school and stole exam answers - yet still went on to fail the exam !). However, it lasted only one series and six episodes. Any plans for a future series were abandoned by the tragic death of Richard Beckinsale in March 1979 from a massive heart attack. Three days later, Going Straight won a BAFTA.

I Didn't Know That - #1

You stumble across all kinds of things you didn't know whilst researching for a blog :

Leonard Rossiter was once married to Josephine Tewson, who is best known for her portrayal of Elizabeth Warden, the nervy clumsy next door neighbour of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances.

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The Hanna-Barbera cartoon Top Cat was based on The Phil Silvers Show. Top Cat was inspired by Sgt Bilko and Benny The Ball by Pvt Doberman.

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Easter weekend 1992 saw the death of two British comedy legends. Frankie Howerd died on April 19th aged 75 and the very next day Benny Hill passed away aged 68.

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Jon Pertwee was not the only Doctor Who to appear in a Carry On film. William Hartnell was top of the bill as Sergeant Grimshawe in Carry On Sergeant in 1958. It was the first Carry On and he was also the first Doctor.

Carry On..........The Most

It's been a few weeks since I posted a blog that is a list. I love lists and I also love Carry On films so I hereby combine the two.

In an idle moment , I wondered who, from that amazing cast of comedy legends, had appeared in the most Carry On films. On researching the subject I found it easy enough to get my answer though there is a slight contradiction as to how many films there actually were. The 'problem' film was That's Carry On from 1977. There is no doubt it was a film but was actually released as a support feature to a Richard Harris pic called Golden Rendezvous. It was a compilation Carry On starring Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor only. They were in a projectionist's room selecting 'the best bits' from the Carry On's made up until then. I have therefore not counted it in my appearance figures that follow.

So, there were in total 30 Carry On films made, starting in 1958 with Carry On Sergeant and ending in 1992 with Carry On Columbus. Before I list the top 10 Carry On stars by their number of films, it is worth noting a few people who did not make the list. There are some comedy actors who you would automatically think were always in the Carry On's but actually only made a few. Try Frankie Howerd (2), June Whitfield (4), Terry Scott (7). Yes I was surprised at that. Alternatively, I was also surprised that the great Patsy Rowlands made as many as 9, Jack Douglas and Julian Holloway 8, Valerie Leon 6 and Jon Pertwee and Leslie Phillips 4 each ( I would have guessed fewer ). The real shock was Barbara Windsor with a relatively low 9. She first appeared in 1964 in Carry On Spying and finished ten years later with Carry On Dick , leaving 'because she thought they had gone beyond the innocent sauciness which initially drew her to the series'. It was also the last Carry On featuring Sid James. The three stars pictured are, from top to bottom, Peter Gilmore, Valerie Leon and Julian Holloway.

The Top Ten then, was :

10th Peter Gilmore 11 films (nearly all minor roles)

9th Jim Dale 11 films

8th= Hattie Jacques 14 films

8th= Bernard Bresslaw 14 films

6th Peter Butterworth 16 films

5th Kenneth Connor 17 films

4th Sid James 19 films

3rd Charles Hawtrey 23 films

2nd Joan Sims 24 films

1st Kenneth Williams 25 films

The Art Of Farce

Farce is a comedy style often used in sitcom and widely in theatre plays. Plots will consist of deliberately absurd and ludicrous incidents with lots of exaggeration and highly improbable boundaries. The situations created will be fast paced and hectic and characters will often be hiding the truth from one another. A lie or fib will lead to an acceleration in circumstances resulting in further mis-truths having to be told and the character involved getting into an even worse tangle. The audience often know the secret so shares in the joke. They may be sympathetic or , alternatively, stressed at the thought of what will happen when the truth comes out. Mis-understandings and mis-interpretations will be rife leading to a frantic conclusion together with a plot twist,which the audience may or may not have seen coming. Settings for farce are normally relatively confined places, such as two or three rooms in a house or building. The characters will move from room to room as the story unfolds. Theatre plays often centre around bedrooms, with characters ending up in the wrong beds and rooms (the modern meaning of the French word vaudeville is bedroom farce). Farce can be both verbal and physical.

Farce has a long history and when performed with expertise it is a rich and hugely enjoyable experience to watch. Shakespeare's 'The Comedy Of Errors' was a very early farce. 'The Importance Of Being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde is another classic play based on farce. More modern productions are 'No Sex Please, We're British' by Anthony Marriott and Alistair Foot, and Ray Cooney's 'Run For Your Wife'. One of the great British farce actors was Brian Rix who was occasionally on our TV screens in the 70's but was essentially a stage actor and usually lost his trousers at some stage of the play !

Many sitcoms, as with comedy films, often rely on farce for just the odd episode or scene, and is mixed in with other comedy styles. Three well known British sitcoms that immediately come to mind are 'Allo 'Allo, Duty Free, and Sykes. The master farce series though was Fawlty Towers. Whilst the series revolved around the rudeness, eccentricity and general hopelessness of Basil, the greatest fun emerged from the plot lines themselves. Basil merely needed the shovel in order to dig larger and larger holes for himself. Sybil was normally the character kept in the dark or the hotel residents. Polly held it all together, aiding and abetting Basil with lies and cover stories. Like so many other people, I have watched all 12 episodes time and time again and never get fed up of them. They remain as original as they were when first screened (in 1975 and 1979). The farce is of course diluted when you know the outcome. I remember watching the episodes when they were first shown on television. There was a very definite panic element. You could see situations emerging before your very eyes ( Basil in the wardrobe of the pretty Australian girl..........Sybil comes into bedroom to apologise for her husband's behaviour............then you see his hooked finger holding the wardrobe door shut.............and you just know that Sybil will spot his finger! ) and somehow you wanted to intervene or maybe cover your face because you knew what was about to happen would be embarrassing. There was more fantastic farce in the 'corpse' episode , and also the story where Basil wins a gamble on the horses but has to hide it from Sybil (again with Polly's help). Almost all the scenes were in the hotel (notable exception beating his car up with a branch from a tree). The reception area allowed constant movement from one room to another such as bar, dining room, kitchen and bedrooms. I always thought it clever that the reception desk had an office close by............it was an ideal retreat for confirming stories or sharing a secret and away from the ears of Sybil or the guests. In the majority of cases the farce would end with Basil getting his come-uppance. Watchers would be almost tired out by the pace of events and in particular the speed in which Basil's position just went from bad to worse. Fawlty Towers was brilliantly written, of that there is no doubt.

I watched an episode of Rising Damp the other day which contained a wonderful example of farce. It was called Pink Carnations and was one of the final episodes of this series to be screened ( only two further shows were to follow this one ). Rigsby places an ad in the local paper looking for love. As you might expect his description of himself is something less than accurate; he is a sophisticated young businessman with plenty of prospects. He gets one written reply and after telephoning (to a phone box) arranges to meet the young lady at the George PH. Both have agreed to wear pink carnations as identification. What Rigsby does not know but the viewers do , is that it was Miss Jones who replied , thinking the man sounded like an ideal lover.

Rigsby, admirably attired in tweed suit with top coat draped over his shoulders, arrives at The George and sets about finding his woman with her pink carnation. But he finds Miss Jones sitting quietly on her own 'waiting for a friend ' but does not notice the pink carnation on the table. She does not want Rigsby around when her man arrives so excuses herself by going off to powder her nose. Meantime, a newly married couple arrive at the bar. It is their wedding day and they have a private room booked for their reception. The groom leaves his bride whilst he goes to see if the room is ready. Spotting the woman , together with a pink carnation (it is after all her wedding day !) Rigsby naturally assumes she is his date and moves in on her. She is horrified as he propositions her, declaring she is 'a married woman'. Rigsby is disgusted she did not mention she was married in her letter. Husband arrives back at the bar , wants to know why his new wife has written to this man, and accuses her of being unfaithful. They row and she runs out of the pub in tears.

The husband then approaches Miss Jones who is still sitting quietly and patiently. She of course sees he is wearing a pink carnation ( it is after all his wedding day ! ) and naturally assumes her date has arrived at last. She wastes no time and is soon all over him. His wife re-enters the pub and catches him in a compromising position with Miss Jones. It is now his turn to be accused of being unfaithful and for the second time the bride runs out crying. This time she sees her formidable mother on the way out , wearing a pink carnation ( she is after all a guest at her daughters wedding ! ). Mother verbally attacks new son-in-law who blames Rigsby as the cause of all the trouble. Rigsby is by this stage sitting on his own and somewhat brassed off at being stood up. Mother goes after Rigsby to sort him out. On seeing her pink carnation he naturally assumes his date has arrived at last. He is mortified by her age and dragon-like ways but Rigsby being Rigsby he decides she is the best he is likely to get that night so propositions her anyway. She is greatly offended and goes to fetch her husband.

The manic scene calms at this stage. Rigsby goes and sits with Miss Jones. They are both disappointed and deflated that their dates did not turn up. It is now that they both spot that they each have a pink carnation and the penny drops that they were in fact meeting each other. They both readily admit to being liberal with the truth regarding their personal descriptions, laugh about it and even seem to be getting a little romantic towards one another, in a resigned sort of way , when............................the father of the bride enters the pub, tears Rigsby away from Miss Jones, and with the help of the barman, throws him out on his ear!!

A final thought on farce, and a great quote attributed to Chuck Jones, the American animator ( Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Road Runner ) :

Comedy is unusual people in real situations
Farce is real people in unusual situations.

Kind of sums it up, don't you think ?

Jerry Lewis - The Typewriter

Jerry Lewis - Typewriter - video powered by Metacafe

Many of the things that have made me laugh over the years will have been British. However, I still have vivid memories of American humour from watching television in the late sixties and early seventies and in particular Saturday morning viewing. The highlight of Saturday was in fact Grandstand as I was sports mad. That programme started between midday and twelve thirty with first item normally Football Focus with Sam Leitch. But immediately before this, the BBC would show American black and white comedy films such as Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplain. I can also remember 'movie seasons'. The Marx Brothers, Bob Hope, Abbott and Costello all had time on the Beeb on a Saturday morning. And the one who cracked me up most.................Jerry Lewis.

As indeed he still does today. I found these clips recently and think they are hilarious. It is the same joke of course but with one glaring difference! The first clip dates from the early/mid fifties and is therefore before my time. It comes from The Colgate Comedy Hour which was an American variety show on the NBC network. It was hosted by various entertainers including Lewis and his stage partner at the time, Dean Martin.The show was a huge success in America (and yes the Colgate part of the title was that Colgate..............as in toothpaste - they were the shows sponsors).The joke was then re-worked by Lewis in 1963 in the Paramount film Who's Minding The Store? and it is this version I remember. Lewis played the role of Norman Phiffier, a rather worthless guy who is unwittingly in love with the heiress of a wealthy department store. Future mother in law sets out to disgrace him by setting him up in jobs she knows he will fail in. In the clip, Jerry is paying a visit to the store's Personnel Department.

Jerry Lewis's film output in the 50's and 60's was prolific (with Dean Martin until 1956 then on his own after an acrimonious splitting of the double act which led to the pair not talking to one another again until the 1980's). His style was magnificent slapstick. It was highly chaotic, zany and , I guess, infuriating to those who did not like it. His facial clowning was without equal and it gave him the ability to make just about any situation funny. It was easy to get tired just watching him for a short while as he was high energy from start to finish. His characters were often nerdy ( although he is silent in both these clips, believe me he had a wonderful nerdy voice when he needed to use it), accident prone, sad and vulnerable. His popularity in Britain had largely fizzled out by the start of the 80's and I can't remember the last time I watched a Jerry Lewis film on UK TV. He has remained in the limelight in America to this day largely due to his charity work which he began in the early 50's. In 1966 he hosted a national telethon on Labor Day and in 2005 did the same again for the 40th time! Next birthday he will be 81 years old.