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Very British
British humor is said to be a particularly dry form of humor. It’s full of self-irony, sometimes pitch black, often silly and the beauty of this form of humor is, that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I love that. Even though the British certainly didn’t invent this kind of humor (although they like to claim that they did), they made this kind of humor famous and built a monument to themselves along with it. Very British indeed. And what is almost more british than british humor? The british musicians. For example these four guys here:
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42 Replies
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George Harrison the quiet Beatle, George Harrison the introverted Beatle. That’s how he was described in the press for a long time. However, one side of him was rarely mentioned: George the humorous Beatle (perhaps because the role of the joker was already occupied by Ringo). Well, all fab four had a special sense of humor, but it was George who had a remarkable love affair with the comedian group Monty Python, probably the uncrowned kings of British humor:
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Paul McCartney also showed his wonderful humorous side again and again, as in this entertaining adaptation of his song Ballroom Dancing. Especially the song line “…and we used to fight like cats and dogs…“ was staged very vividly:
PS: What are your favorite funny moments with your favorite musicians?
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Hi Juergen, et al,
I hope i have the URL correct. Elvis Costello on Sesame Street
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=elvis+costello+sesame+street&iax=videos&ia=videos&iai=
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Hi Tom,
very nice to hear from you again. I hope you are doing well. Maybe you meant this scene?! Thank you. Good choice, very entertaining.
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Welcome back Tom!!
We missed you.
Diana
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This is probably my favorite comic moment from Help:
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And my favorite spoken scene from A Hard Day’s Night:
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I came across this around ten years ago, and I still think I dreamed it. Not technically comedy, but Paul can make just about anything funny:
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Hi David,
yes in the movies „Help“ and also in „A Hard Day’s Night“ there are many unforgettable scenes. I particularly like the part when the four of them want to record a piece of music in the studio and the wooden floor around Ringo is sawn out. It reminds me of various cartoons. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the scene on youtube.
You’re right: Paul McCartney has a very entertaining and charming way of presenting things. Maybe he should have produced his own cooking show. Here is his recipe for a cocktail:
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I know, I posted this one before. Pretty much exactly a year ago. It’s such a funny and nice one, you can watch it more often. I think Ringo really has what it takes to be an actor. Maybe because he really just needs to be himself.
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John Lennon had a very direct, perhaps sometimes cynical sense of humour. Charming and at the same time irreverent: here is one of his unforgettable sayings:
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A classic example of comic misdirection:
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Thanks David, now I’m hungry… ????
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Perhaps it was the close and good working relationship with George Harrison that prompted Monty Python (specifically Eric Idle) to breathe life into The Rutles. A parody of The Beatles and Beatlemania. George Harrison liked it. The other 3 Beatles supposedly too… . If you take a closer look at the Rutles’ songs, you quickly realize that it’s not just a simple persiflage, but in my opinion a homage to the Fab Four and the moving music times of the 60s. A musical bow. To dismantle the songs so lovingly, to steal entire musical passages and rearrange them: that takes a lot of love.
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I’ve always been a big fan of British humor. Monty Python, Rowan Atkinson, The Young Ones, Benny Hill, Billy Connolly, Etc.
And some of us know how hilarious some of Monty Python’s songs can be! I’ll let you readers go search those out! LOL!
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Hi Thomas, we do our best: how about this one?
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My first introduction to the Beatles’ backstory was the 1982 documentary The Compleat Beatles. All You Need Is Cash (the Rutles mockumentary) was done in a very similar style, so I was quite surprised to learn that it was made several years earlier!
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Hi David,
unfortunately I haven’t seen the movies “The Rutles – All You Need Is Cash” and its sequel “The Rutles 2 – Can’t Buy Me Lunch” in their entirety yet, only in excerpts. But what I know so far, I like very much.
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Yeah, All You Need Is Cash is great! Actually, I’m not familiar with Can’t Buy Me Lunch; I’ll have to check that one out.
I just looked up The Compleat Beatles on YouTube, and could only find short excerpts. It was on cable TV all the time in the mid-80’s so I was rather surprised. Now I’ve just found out that Paul bought the rights to the documentary during the making of Anthology, and has been sitting on it ever since, so it’s never been released on DVD. Kinda sad, because it’s very well made, and a much more reasonable length (two hours) for introducing the Beatles to new fans.
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What was very special about the Beatles in addition to their music and song writing talent is the fact they were witty, funny and lovable in real life. They had a charisma that no other groups could match. They were natural actors too. Very much like Mona and Lisa.
These series of interviews crack me the, their sense of humour, and even when some harsh criticism is made of them or their music, they take it with stride deflect with their humour making the criticism powerless.
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Hi Jung,
thanks for this post. I don’t envy the Beatles for their interviews. Their is a saying: there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers. When I look at these interviews, all I can say is: that’s not true. Yes, the humor and the serenity in the interviews is enviable. I liked the Beatle named Eric best.
On April 28, 1964, the fab four taped a television special at Wembley Park Studios in London. The show was called „Around the Beatles“, and it followed hard on the heels of the Beatles’ legendary first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show less than three months earlier. This time, though, the group’s appearance did not begin with a rock and roll song, but rather with the performance of something quite different: the “Pyramus and Thisbe” episode from „A Midsummer Night’s Dream“.
“O brave new world, that has such people in’t!”
-W.S.-
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Jurgen, the thing that stands out when watching these funny Beatles skits is, that the fab 4 are really enjoying themselves, and that genuine fun and humour rubs off on the audience, and it becomes so enjoyable to watch. They are so full of amazing talent to be able to touch people not only through their music but their humour and grooviness is contagious. Seeing John in that outfit at the end cracks me up.
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The desire to be a pirate for once in their lives seems to be above average among British musicians. This must have something to do with the fact that they were born on an island. George Harrison proved it with his pirate sketch. Keith Richard even embarked on a successful acting career, portraying the pirate captain Edward Teague in the movie „Pirates of the Caribbean“, who once roamed the waters around Madagascar. And when Keith Richards got tired of the pirate life, he was immediately followed by another prominent pirate who can probably handle an electric guitar far better than a cutlass:
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Juergen, I had no idea that Paul was in that movie! Of course I never saw the movie, but usually when Paul does something like that I find out about it somehow.
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Hi David,
I will now get „All You Need Is Cash“ as a complete movie. Unfortunately, I’m quite late with this idea and the DVD is difficult to get. For example, as imports from the US, UK and France. The latter will probably be the one, as it’s quite cheap. Yeeeah, I always wanted to watch an English language movie with a French subtitle…
I was also surprised to see Paul McCartney in the pirate role. It’s a pity that he only plays in this single short scene. Of course, his appearance in the movie was panned by the critics. Paul McCartney looks like a carnival figure, they mentioned. Yes, but that’s what the whole movie looks like. It’ okay. What did the film critics expect? I like it.
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