The Best Sketch Ever
In the grey, conspicuous-consumption-ridden Eighties, there didn't seem to me to be many shining lights, but one of the few bright ones was Kenny Everett.
Born Maurice Cole - a name which suited him not at all - in 1944, he'd be sixty-three now, which I find hard to take in as I'll always think of him as a skinny, athletic young man full of inspired, off-the-wall ideas. Sadly, he died of AIDS, age fifty.
For years I remembered a sketch with Kenny Everett and the wonderful Billy Connolly as the funniest sketch I have ever seen on television. When I saw it for the first time its simple absurdity appealed to me so much that I laughed until I had to be rescued from complete hysteria with a cup of sweet tea. I have remembered the sketch ever since but never been able to find it.
I saw a television programme about Kenny Everett recently and, of course, Billy Connolly was interviewed.
"There was a sketch which haunts me," he said - - and suddenly, there it was. And here it is: or at least the script of it, though the genius of the two men involved was what lifted it to Heaven, of course.
Kenny Everett is in a white suburban hallway of a house. He turns to go into one of the rooms when the doorbell rings, rather loud and long: BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Kenny Everett opens the door. Outside is Billy Connolly. It is dark outside.
Billy Connolly: Yes?
Kenny Everett: What do you mean, yes?
Billy Connolly: Well, what do you want?
Kenny Everett: What do you mean, what do I want? What do you want?
Billy Connolly: I don't want anything. It's you who opened the door.
Kenny Everett: I know that. But what are you doing there?
Billy Connolly: (crossly) Listen, pal, what do you want? I haven't got all day.
Kenny Everett: I don't want anything.
Billy Connolly: Well why don't you clear off then before I call a constable? Go on, on your bike!
(Kenny Everett, looking puzzled, goes in and shuts the front door behind him. He thinks for a second, then thoughtfully opens it again. Billy Connolly is still there.)
Billy Connolly: (losing all patience) Yes?
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I feel rather proud that this sketch, which has haunted me for so many years, has haunted the great Billy Connolly too.
Born Maurice Cole - a name which suited him not at all - in 1944, he'd be sixty-three now, which I find hard to take in as I'll always think of him as a skinny, athletic young man full of inspired, off-the-wall ideas. Sadly, he died of AIDS, age fifty.
For years I remembered a sketch with Kenny Everett and the wonderful Billy Connolly as the funniest sketch I have ever seen on television. When I saw it for the first time its simple absurdity appealed to me so much that I laughed until I had to be rescued from complete hysteria with a cup of sweet tea. I have remembered the sketch ever since but never been able to find it.
I saw a television programme about Kenny Everett recently and, of course, Billy Connolly was interviewed.
"There was a sketch which haunts me," he said - - and suddenly, there it was. And here it is: or at least the script of it, though the genius of the two men involved was what lifted it to Heaven, of course.
Kenny Everett is in a white suburban hallway of a house. He turns to go into one of the rooms when the doorbell rings, rather loud and long: BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Kenny Everett opens the door. Outside is Billy Connolly. It is dark outside.
Billy Connolly: Yes?
Kenny Everett: What do you mean, yes?
Billy Connolly: Well, what do you want?
Kenny Everett: What do you mean, what do I want? What do you want?
Billy Connolly: I don't want anything. It's you who opened the door.
Kenny Everett: I know that. But what are you doing there?
Billy Connolly: (crossly) Listen, pal, what do you want? I haven't got all day.
Kenny Everett: I don't want anything.
Billy Connolly: Well why don't you clear off then before I call a constable? Go on, on your bike!
(Kenny Everett, looking puzzled, goes in and shuts the front door behind him. He thinks for a second, then thoughtfully opens it again. Billy Connolly is still there.)
Billy Connolly: (losing all patience) Yes?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I feel rather proud that this sketch, which has haunted me for so many years, has haunted the great Billy Connolly too.
posted by Daphne at 4:30 pm
2 Comments:
Everett is a sadly missed genius - his self created jingles on his various radio shows were brilliant and he made the transition to television seem easy.
Connolly, on the other hand, never seemed himself on any sketch show when his natural zany wildness had to be contained within the confines of a script. His tea party sketches with Everett were cases in point. He seemed totally out of his comfort zone - maybe being dressed as a woman didn't help !
That's what made his acting in Mrs. Brown such a revelation.
As for my fav Everett sketch, it has to be his 'Bee Gees Kit' sketch which IS on YouTube. It had the lot; brilliant premise, awesome visual effects (for the time) and of course, stunning audio mixing.
Ianhcnd
Thanks, Ian - absolutely!
Yes, the Bee Gees sketch was on the programme too - it certainly was brilliant.
Totally agree about Mrs Brown - to see such a controlled, superb acting performance from Billy Connolly was, as you say, a revelation.
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