Accents In Comedy

Accents are probably among the easiest things to make fun of especially since the English language is so very rich in them. Interestingly, the regional variation of accents is larger in the UK than in the US, take the Scottish accent for example and compare it to accents from England. A lovely parody of this accent was posted under Smith And Jones (Lighthouse sketch). Other than these, the social background may also have a significant role. The Cockney accent spoken by the working classes especially in the East End of London is also a frequent target for parody. The above little parody matches the Cockney accent mocking that of Janet Street Porter versus the Scottish accent of Billy Connolly. Interestingly, Connolly here is being interviewed by his later wife, Pamela Stephenson. And finally, the Yorkshire accent and mentality should also be mentioned here due to its not uncommon appearance in comedy. The sketch below from the comedy duo Hale and Pace (the former was born in Yorkshire) is a good example.

Star Trek Parody

A funny Star Trek parody from Carol Burnett. The crew passes through a mysterious cloud that changes sexes on the spaceship. Burnett is a marvellous Captain Kirk fake, with all the exaggerated mannerisms of William Shatner...

Private Emotion

I like this clip and song. I like the reverse sequence, and the symbolic ice and fire about that private emotion the song is about. It scans every intensity between the two extremes... As the ice melts there comes the flood of emotions... and now think that all this is backwards. I can feel the cold and the heat, the tension between the motionless and the dynamic... for me, one of the best from Ricky Martin.

Kenneth Williams

Kenneth Williams is one of the classic and most energetic figures of British comedy. His camp acting, his witty and rapid conversation style and arguments, ad-libs and characteristic nasal voice are perhaps most well-known from the Carry On series, in which he was a regular. In the beginning of his carrier he had serious roles in theatre, but later he totally shifted to comedy, a condition which he was not at all satisfied with. Other than his acting carrier, Williams also wrote books of various anecdotes and verbal put-downs, he was a very successful raconteur and frequent talk show guest and even host. In his private life, Williams had few close relationships, he was associated with playwright Joe Orton, who was later killed by his lover. He became more and more bitter in his later years, and died of overdose. His diaries released after his death became a best seller, commenting on many famous people Williams had met in his life. The first short clip is from "Carry On Cleo" (1964), where Julius Caesar played by Williams finds himself betrayed by his bodyguard. The "Infamy" line is voted the best comedy one-liner by a thousand comedians in 2007. Another very funny line of his is from a talk show, in which he discusses the specialisation of modern medicine. The third scene is from "Carry On Sergeant" (1958). I love the way how he outwits the officer by not falling in with his game in which he robbed the confidence of everyone before Williams' character. And finally a chat show appearance from Parkinson, in which he talks about his book, and relates some of the anecdotes in it, among others about Maggie Smith and Dame Edith Evans. I especially love the way he impersonates the latter...

Are You Being Served?

This is a very popular sitcom from the 70s. A parody of the British class system, it takes place in a department store, where everybody is hierarchically related to the other, from the company owner through the manager, the floor walker and seniors all the way to junior staff, and everybody is guarding what he/she thinks is a privilege due to their standing, be it ever so ridiculously minor a detail. In this episode that I am posting, the staff has to act in a commercial so that the stingy management could save money on hiring the more expensive professionals. In the second part of the episode, "It Pays To Advertise", every staff member has an opportunity to show their talents in roles they think they ought to play well, to in fact realise that their trust in their own performance was not completely well-founded... The moment when lovable old bartender Henry's courtesy is forcibly reduced to a more than lovable laugh, I have myself been overcome by hysteric laughter... Lovable old bartender Henry's (Arthur Brough) last appearance before his death not much later.

Bunny

Bunny - Blue Sky Chris Wedge (1998) Oscar Short... von andybe29

Bunny is a nice little short from Chris Wedge, from 1998. A bunny is disturbed by a huge moth, who never seems to give up to get closer to light. Eventually, it will bring her close to it as well... lovely...

Cavallette - Grasshoppers

Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto is well-known for his satiric cartoons. One of his most famous works is "Allegro non troppo" (1976), which is a parody of Disney's Fantasia. Cavallette (1990), the short I am posting here, is another memorable one of his works, it sums up thousands of years of human history in a few minutes. History is full of conflicts, but the aftermath is always overgrown by grass in the end, and in the grass you will always find grasshoppers doing what they are doing...