Since the above I thought about it too much and now can't turn it off! 😂
E.g. Nicola Sturgeon - is one of my favourites.
Does Ethel Merman count?
Magnus Pike a blast from the past - one of those little known historical TV personalities Richard likes to catch us out with - luckily I am the same age as Richard and remember nearly all of the same things.
It's the sort of thing that I enjoy thinking about when I'm doing something tedious like weeding the garden. Yes, Ethel Merman definitely counts. I'm a bit younger than you and Rich, but I sort of remember Magnus Pike. On a slight tangent, I'm an amateur genealogist and recently discovered I have an ancestor called Barbara Parsley. Perfect for a (Bernard) Codd and (Ellen) White sauce!
LOL UK was fantastic. So on that we went for a jaunt to LOL Ireland, very excited to see Catherine Bohart and Deidre Kane there!
And along with Aisling Bea the only few laughs in 6 episodes of ridiculous, competitive, boredom as some folk with no ability not to be the centre of attention did everything to get attention and Graham Norton hosting jumped on every opportunity to press the red button even in the middle of people's bits. The UK one had a better judge in Carr, a better format with the jokers, more room to breathe and Bob Mortimer.
I hope you adore Last One Laughing UK as much as I did - just fantastic. However I would love to hear your take on the other versions - they really showcase how very different comedy is in different countries - feels like an off culture exchange experiment.
I hope the rest of the move goes smooth - and you make fantastic memories in your next place.
I do wonder if you should get those cases builders get to protect thier phones - but sounds like you borked the software too.
I really hope you use dictation to draft all these lovely comms - don't want you getting arthritis or carple tunnel. X
It’s absolutely brilliant. The funniest thing to me about Harriet’s ping pong ball bit, wasn’t the ping pong balls so much as the expression on her face while she was doing it. She gives off this angsty confusion as the balls arc across the room. I found it absolutely hilarious.
I've only watched the UK version. I'm not gonna bother with the US one as 90% of the time American comedy does not land for me. Toying with watching the Aussie version, but sadly comedians from my own country can be very hit or miss.
Yeah. It was funny if you were a very rich comedian in yet another show featuring the same very rich comedians. But I found it all rather self-involved and cliched. Where is the Comedy Strip when you need it? Something has to break… surely
The core cast of the film were the Monty Python crew. Everyone else was a bit part. Some established actors or other famous faces only had single lines (I'm looking at you, George Harrison). You can't argue that they were part of the core crew just because they were established actors.
Either way, that scene was mostly improvised from the moment the first centurion cracked up.
They were in multiple scenes and you can check their IMDb. They were not extras. And filming doesn’t work like that as much as people love the idea that all comedy is made up on the spot. Believe what you want though if it makes you happy! All the best.
Here’s Michael Palin confirming that small portion of scene was improvised, as I said. Just the bit about the name of the wife. He knew he had to give the actors something to work from, but it’s nearly all scripted and still an acting job, by actors, not by some extras told not to laugh at something they hadn’t got foreknowledge of.
A delay for lighting, then a very gruelling day shooting the first Pilate scene. The need to keep the vital giggling ingredient fresh and spontaneous made it a little bit harder to play than an ordinary scene with set words and reactions. The success of this scene will depend on the genuineness of the guard’s reaction to Pilate. It can’t all be acted, it must be felt.
So I have to do a great deal of ad-libbing at the end of the scene – and by the end of the day I must have thought up over twenty new names for Biggus Dickus’ wife – ranging from the appallingly facetious Incontinentia Buttox to the occasional piece of inspiration which resulted in breakdown from the guards. Bernard McKenna in particular did the nose trick spectacularly – once right down my toga**.
You assume I didn't already check. The main 3 centurions played 3 roles each. They were not members of the Monty Python crew, therefore they were not part of the central crew who played 40 roles between the six of them. The centurions were supporting or background roles.
So I misspoke. They were not central cast. They were supporting or background roles, there for the Monty Python crew to play off for humour. It doesn't change how that scene played out.
Especially when at least one of the MP cast has confirmed that the guards were supposed to keep a straight face and their failure led to Palin improvising most of that scene.
I'm done arguing with you over whether improvisation happens on movie sets and humour in movies can be organic.
You misspoke quite a lot as those were pro actors who had seen the script, the scene isn’t mostly improvised from the start. Please feel free to argue with palin who was there and wrote it
I never said anything about the actors. We were discussing the roles.
It was stated in an interview that the actors involved were told not to laugh and the scene was mostly improvised after the first one broke. Reports that the scene was mostly improvised are widespread and uncontradicted, you can find them all over the Internet from IMDb to Reddit and it has in fact been confirmed in Palin's own words in his diary.
I've thought about checking out that show, but there's no way it's going to beat the poor centurions in Monty Python's Life of Brian desperately trying to hold back their laughter as Michael Palin's Pontius Pilot harangued them about his dear fwend in Wome, Biggus Dickus.
Give it a try and see. This is that, but not acted. It’s very funny. Be a shame to miss something because you think something else might have been better
Apparantly that bit wasn't acted. All the guys playing the centurions were told for that scene was "whatever happens, do not laugh", then they unleashed Palin.
It also looks very much like people acting not laughing rather than genuinely not laughing. May be a grain of truth as it’s possible Palin tried to get them to corpse at points, but that would only work once on scenes that would be shot multiple times from multiple angles. The film is scripted.
I am afraid that isn’t true. That’s not how filming works. And it’s done from multiple angles. It’s a bit offensive to the actors to think they couldn’t act that. I am sure they had to stifle real laughs too and might have been some ad-libbing, but they would have spent a day on this. It’s acting
It's been widely reported that for that particular scene the extras playing the centurions were not aware of the script and were simply told to stand there and not laugh. Being that the Monty Python guys were comedians rather than traditional actors, it's believable.
The guards were some of the few characters who were not played by the central Monty Python cast members. The laughter was not scripted and led to a good portion of that scene being improvised.
“It's been widely reported that for that particular scene the extras playing the centurions were not aware of the script and were simply told to stand there and not laugh”. wide reports were wrong. As they had to be as filming does not work like that except in entirely improvised stuff and even then you have a few runs at it. All the best.
What nominally piscatorial person is moving in?
Alex Salmon? Bert Troutman? Michael Fish?
Err...Fish from Marillion?
I have friends whose surname is Haddock. Last I knew, they're still living in Cambridgeshire.
Since the above I thought about it too much and now can't turn it off! 😂
E.g. Nicola Sturgeon - is one of my favourites.
Does Ethel Merman count?
Magnus Pike a blast from the past - one of those little known historical TV personalities Richard likes to catch us out with - luckily I am the same age as Richard and remember nearly all of the same things.
Feargal Sharkey!
😁
It's the sort of thing that I enjoy thinking about when I'm doing something tedious like weeding the garden. Yes, Ethel Merman definitely counts. I'm a bit younger than you and Rich, but I sort of remember Magnus Pike. On a slight tangent, I'm an amateur genealogist and recently discovered I have an ancestor called Barbara Parsley. Perfect for a (Bernard) Codd and (Ellen) White sauce!
LOL UK was fantastic. So on that we went for a jaunt to LOL Ireland, very excited to see Catherine Bohart and Deidre Kane there!
And along with Aisling Bea the only few laughs in 6 episodes of ridiculous, competitive, boredom as some folk with no ability not to be the centre of attention did everything to get attention and Graham Norton hosting jumped on every opportunity to press the red button even in the middle of people's bits. The UK one had a better judge in Carr, a better format with the jokers, more room to breathe and Bob Mortimer.
I hope you adore Last One Laughing UK as much as I did - just fantastic. However I would love to hear your take on the other versions - they really showcase how very different comedy is in different countries - feels like an off culture exchange experiment.
I hope the rest of the move goes smooth - and you make fantastic memories in your next place.
I do wonder if you should get those cases builders get to protect thier phones - but sounds like you borked the software too.
I really hope you use dictation to draft all these lovely comms - don't want you getting arthritis or carple tunnel. X
It’s absolutely brilliant. The funniest thing to me about Harriet’s ping pong ball bit, wasn’t the ping pong balls so much as the expression on her face while she was doing it. She gives off this angsty confusion as the balls arc across the room. I found it absolutely hilarious.
I've only watched the UK version. I'm not gonna bother with the US one as 90% of the time American comedy does not land for me. Toying with watching the Aussie version, but sadly comedians from my own country can be very hit or miss.
Yeah. It was funny if you were a very rich comedian in yet another show featuring the same very rich comedians. But I found it all rather self-involved and cliched. Where is the Comedy Strip when you need it? Something has to break… surely
The core cast of the film were the Monty Python crew. Everyone else was a bit part. Some established actors or other famous faces only had single lines (I'm looking at you, George Harrison). You can't argue that they were part of the core crew just because they were established actors.
Either way, that scene was mostly improvised from the moment the first centurion cracked up.
They were in multiple scenes and you can check their IMDb. They were not extras. And filming doesn’t work like that as much as people love the idea that all comedy is made up on the spot. Believe what you want though if it makes you happy! All the best.
Here’s Michael Palin confirming that small portion of scene was improvised, as I said. Just the bit about the name of the wife. He knew he had to give the actors something to work from, but it’s nearly all scripted and still an acting job, by actors, not by some extras told not to laugh at something they hadn’t got foreknowledge of.
A delay for lighting, then a very gruelling day shooting the first Pilate scene. The need to keep the vital giggling ingredient fresh and spontaneous made it a little bit harder to play than an ordinary scene with set words and reactions. The success of this scene will depend on the genuineness of the guard’s reaction to Pilate. It can’t all be acted, it must be felt.
So I have to do a great deal of ad-libbing at the end of the scene – and by the end of the day I must have thought up over twenty new names for Biggus Dickus’ wife – ranging from the appallingly facetious Incontinentia Buttox to the occasional piece of inspiration which resulted in breakdown from the guards. Bernard McKenna in particular did the nose trick spectacularly – once right down my toga**.
You assume I didn't already check. The main 3 centurions played 3 roles each. They were not members of the Monty Python crew, therefore they were not part of the central crew who played 40 roles between the six of them. The centurions were supporting or background roles.
Have a nice day.
You said they were extras. They are all established and award winning actors
So I misspoke. They were not central cast. They were supporting or background roles, there for the Monty Python crew to play off for humour. It doesn't change how that scene played out.
Especially when at least one of the MP cast has confirmed that the guards were supposed to keep a straight face and their failure led to Palin improvising most of that scene.
I'm done arguing with you over whether improvisation happens on movie sets and humour in movies can be organic.
Have a nice day.
You misspoke quite a lot as those were pro actors who had seen the script, the scene isn’t mostly improvised from the start. Please feel free to argue with palin who was there and wrote it
I never said anything about the actors. We were discussing the roles.
It was stated in an interview that the actors involved were told not to laugh and the scene was mostly improvised after the first one broke. Reports that the scene was mostly improvised are widespread and uncontradicted, you can find them all over the Internet from IMDb to Reddit and it has in fact been confirmed in Palin's own words in his diary.
Good day to you.
I've thought about checking out that show, but there's no way it's going to beat the poor centurions in Monty Python's Life of Brian desperately trying to hold back their laughter as Michael Palin's Pontius Pilot harangued them about his dear fwend in Wome, Biggus Dickus.
Give it a try and see. This is that, but not acted. It’s very funny. Be a shame to miss something because you think something else might have been better
Apparantly that bit wasn't acted. All the guys playing the centurions were told for that scene was "whatever happens, do not laugh", then they unleashed Palin.
It also looks very much like people acting not laughing rather than genuinely not laughing. May be a grain of truth as it’s possible Palin tried to get them to corpse at points, but that would only work once on scenes that would be shot multiple times from multiple angles. The film is scripted.
I am afraid that isn’t true. That’s not how filming works. And it’s done from multiple angles. It’s a bit offensive to the actors to think they couldn’t act that. I am sure they had to stifle real laughs too and might have been some ad-libbing, but they would have spent a day on this. It’s acting
It's been widely reported that for that particular scene the extras playing the centurions were not aware of the script and were simply told to stand there and not laugh. Being that the Monty Python guys were comedians rather than traditional actors, it's believable.
It’s not believable and they weren’t extras. T
The guards were some of the few characters who were not played by the central Monty Python cast members. The laughter was not scripted and led to a good portion of that scene being improvised.
“It's been widely reported that for that particular scene the extras playing the centurions were not aware of the script and were simply told to stand there and not laugh”. wide reports were wrong. As they had to be as filming does not work like that except in entirely improvised stuff and even then you have a few runs at it. All the best.
Are you saying Palin lied in his diary? Because that's where the reports originated from. It was published. By Palin himself.
I am done with you now.
Jimeney Carr looks even more like a mannequin than he usually does in that airbrushed photo montage