Comedians we forgot...

[Profpointy]

Humphrey Littleton was superb... excellent delivery and perfect timing. I loved ISIHAC.
He's got the unofficial record for the filthiest joke ever told on Radio 4...
"The next game is Sound Charades. This is based on the erstwhile television favourite Give Us A Clue, where teams of players used to delight their audience by miming the titles of songs, films or plays against a strict time limit. The most highly skilled of all was Lionel Blair, but how the tears of frustration welled up in his eyes during their Italian tour, at not being allowed the use of his mouth to finish off Two Gentlemen Of Verona."

This one must have come a close second...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTx-PFJ6mds

And who can forget Lionel Blair pulling off Twelve Angry Men in under two minutes in front of a stunned audience.

I once nearly crashed the car listening to "clue" on the way home. Humph was relating how the lovely Samantha was dining with her gentleman friend, the butcher. Last week he cooked her beef in ale, and this week she's looking forward to his tongue in cider (you have to read it out). Did I really hear what I thought I heard, at tea time on radio 4 ?

A mate was lucky enough to go to one of the recordings and he related that Humph, by then quite elderly, did fluff his lines quite a bit, and there were various re-takes, but he never once fluffed the punch-line, so the "take" had the audience's first hearing of it.
Also at that recording my mate related that the audience was issued with kazoos but his didn't work, "no matter how hard he blew". He was a PhD engineer and former designer of space rocket control systems no less, so we didn't let him forget that one !

There's another story of the charm and good manners of the man where he was talking to a small boy when someone interrupted with some question or other, and he rebuffed the interrupter with "I'm speaking to this young gentleman" .

 

[srw]

It might be heresy to say so, but I think Dee is now better as chairman than Littleton ever was. It helps that the latest series only had one of the original quartet of panellists - the show is improved with a wider variety of voices.

And I think it's 11 pages and still no-one's mentioned Willie Rushton, who was the funniest of the original quartet on ISIHAC.

 

[smutchin]

And I think it's 11 pages and still no-one's mentioned Willie Rushton, who was the funniest of the original quartet on ISIHAC.

It's funny how a thread about comedians we've forgotten is entirely populated with mentions of comedians we've remembered.

 

[John the Monkey]

... His Leicester Square Theatre podcast is excellent.

Which reminds me, are you listening to any of the other British Comedy guide podcasts? I'm enjoying both Do The Right Thing and Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown.

(Apologies for the thread hijack).

 

[Lullabelle]

That's his choice, so what? And?

He had such a tough, restrictive and abusive childhood that I think he has always wanted to do and wear the opposite of what people think he should, you clearly being one of them.



That's how he speaks.



Yet again, and?

I know exactly what his response would be, and it would start in 'F' and end in 'f'!



I was going to say 'each to their own', but I am curious.

Pathetic?? Please explain?

Puerile and so on, maybe at times, but he never stays on a subject long enough and I would rather have him than someone who simply churns out a pre-prepared routine, especially when you hear them doing *exactly* the same jokes on more than one programme


Oh and he's 'forgotten' is he??
You don't come to Glasgow a lot, do you?? I mean, what a laughable statement (much more laughable than his trike)!

When he dies, Glasgow will practically give him a state funeral!

I enjoy watching him but I find his accent so strong that at times he is very hard to understand but it can't be an easy job standing up in front of a room full of strangers and trying to make them laugh.

 

[Lullabelle]

I went to a recording of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, in the days when Humphrey Littleton was the MC, and it was marvellous except for one thing - Jupitus was a panel member, and not funny. He just didn't seem to get it at all. Very disappointing.

We saw Phill last year, he was part of the February comedy festival and he was brilliant, very funny. Smart guy, singer, actor a good allrounder.

 

[Lullabelle]

Remember Bob Monkhouse had a chat show and he had loads of offbeat comedians on? That "Spook!" bloke was on, a really unique act:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxWHy4f9W30

I remember him but don't know his name. He came and went pretty quickly.

 

[stephec]

Are these two still going?

 

[smutchin]

Which reminds me, are you listening to any of the other British Comedy guide podcasts? I'm enjoying both Do The Right Thing and Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown.

Took a while to really 'get' Do The Right Thing but now I love it. I particularly enjoy Danielle Ward's ridiculously outlandish set-ups, and her extremely rude intros for Margaret Cabourn-Smith.

As for Pappy's, I've been a big fan of them since the days when they were Pappy's Fun Club and there were four of them. Matthew Crosby used to follow me on Twitter, but I'm not sure if he still does. Always listen to Flatshare Slamdown, though I think the format is starting to wear a bit thin now. Also listen to their Bangers & Mash too.

Favourite comedy podcast is not a BCG one - it's Josie Long's Lost Treasures of the Black Heart, which is highlights of her monthly comedy night at the Black Heart in Camden. Although it's not updated very often, and when a new episode comes out it's always backdated by at least a couple of years.

None of the above have ever been famous enough (yet) to have been forgotten, so they're strictly outside the scope of this thread. All brilliantly funny though. (As is Richard Herring, despite what some very wrong people might think.)

 

[rich p]

Are these two still going?

Sid Little, the funniest man since Mike Winters

 

[Dayvo]

Surprised no-one's mentioned Mel Smith.

As funny as discovering dog $hit on your shoe.

 

[stephec]

Sid Little, the funniest man since Mike Winters

He was supersonic.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

I remember him but don't know his name. He came and went pretty quickly.

I think I can see why he went quickly.

 

[pplpilot]

I remember him but don't know his name. He came and went pretty quickly.

Roy Jay, did the clubs etc in Spain. Went down hill hit the bottle and sadly died in 2006. Allegedly his body was unclaimed until a local business man paid for his funeral.

 

[John the Monkey]

Another one possibly of interest - comedy historian Robert Ross interviews "great practitioners of the art of comedy."
https://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/live_from_leicester_square/

Quite a range, from Barry Cryer and Bernard Cribbins to Danny Baker & Trevor and Simon.