Benedict Cumberbatch reads George Bernard Shaw's hilariously grumpy letters

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  • Опубліковано 7 січ 2025

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  • @jcoghill2
    @jcoghill2 2 роки тому +375

    My favorite quote of Shaw "The problem with communication is the illusion it has taken place."

    • @marshwetland3808
      @marshwetland3808 Рік тому +1

      Profound! Marshall Rosenberg would have agreed!

    • @holliswilliams8426
      @holliswilliams8426 Рік тому +2

      haha

    • @jeanneratterman
      @jeanneratterman Рік тому +4

      Absolutely spot on accurate for too many instances of alleged conversations! 🥸👍😆

    • @TH-hy9kr
      @TH-hy9kr Рік тому +1

      I have that quote as a tagline on my Teams for work. Communication is often an illusion there. Lol

    • @SoaronhighlikeEagle
      @SoaronhighlikeEagle 8 місяців тому

      Just like this letter…

  • @CatsandJP
    @CatsandJP 2 роки тому +147

    Love that Mr Cumberbatch is reading letters with “ horrible, grumpy and violent” wording with a badge on his lapel that says “Choose Love”👍😂❤️…..🥂

  • @kenchristie9214
    @kenchristie9214 2 роки тому +343

    My favourite Shaw story is when he sent 2 tickets to Winston Churchill with a note that read "Have enclosed 2 tickets for the opening night of my new play. Bring a friend if you have one."
    Churchill returned the tickets with a note that read "Regretfully unable to attend opening night. Please send 2 tickets for second night, if you have one."

    • @holliswilliams8426
      @holliswilliams8426 Рік тому +7

      nice

    • @mensrea1251
      @mensrea1251 Рік тому +4

      Savage lol

    • @mgg5418
      @mgg5418 Рік тому +10

      Fun story, apocryphal unfortunately ;-)

    • @fredfish4316
      @fredfish4316 Рік тому +5

      To which he replied, " Sorry. Sold out".

    • @TheZigzagman
      @TheZigzagman 8 місяців тому

      Somebody asked Shaw if they could print that story once. He corrected the grammar in the letter and responded:
      "The above is not only a flat lie but a political libel which may possibly damage me. Publish it at your peril"

  • @garyb2392
    @garyb2392 Рік тому +22

    I know very very little about George Bernard Shaw, unfortunately for me, but Cumberbatch does such a good job of adding some color to those quotes that one gets a sense of what he’d be like.

  • @thecheese5016
    @thecheese5016 2 роки тому +183

    Benedict Cumberbatch makes him sound like a leprechaun gardener, but George Bernard Shaw's personality is irrepressible anyway.

  • @johannbogason1662
    @johannbogason1662 Рік тому +63

    There is a great compilation book of grumpy letters: "Dear sir, drop dead"
    Shortest grumpy letter was from Voltaire to Rousseau:
    "Dear sir, I sit here in the smallest room with your letter before me. Soon it will be behind me"
    GBS in it as well

  • @rev.rachel
    @rev.rachel Рік тому +19

    “In a violently controversial way!” 😂

  • @mariac4602
    @mariac4602 2 роки тому +49

    Watching BC laugh was half the fun!

  • @pohanahawaii
    @pohanahawaii Рік тому +63

    😹 If I didn't already ❤ George Bernard Shaw before for his wit and sarcasm, I do now for his compassion towards animals and vegetarianism! Thank you, Mr. Cumberbatch, your readings of letters are always tops!

    • @tonyp1376
      @tonyp1376 10 місяців тому

      Unfortunately he had no compassion for his fellow man..
      ua-cam.com/video/B-Ljkoh_vmE/v-deo.htmlsi=85kre5eK2zIx0uyk

  • @boredom120
    @boredom120 Рік тому +16

    I love that he's cracking up. 😂

  • @ginalipkin4849
    @ginalipkin4849 Рік тому +37

    Love the joy that Benedict brings with him when he reads these letters and I love his badge 'Choose Love' always relevant and present, thank you x

  • @andyclarke7265
    @andyclarke7265 2 роки тому +81

    Always a pleasure watching Mr Cumberbatch, using the voices of those whom of which he is reading.

  • @squarecpc2145
    @squarecpc2145 2 місяці тому +2

    “The way to have a happy life is to be too busy, doing what you like, all the time. Having no time left to you to consider if your happy or not.”
    - George Bernard Shaw, 1946 (A clip from a video talking about his 94th birthday, it was taken in 1946 in a interview, the video from 1950 was reflecting on it

  • @amemooress6291
    @amemooress6291 Рік тому +23

    I cannot handle this dude, especially being read by Benedict Cumberbatch 🤣 What a legend

  • @mariamartamarcolinocava1551
    @mariamartamarcolinocava1551 2 роки тому +23

    Your laughs are contagious Mr. Cumberbatch!! Very very good!!

  • @GallowglassVT
    @GallowglassVT Рік тому +5

    I knew there was a reason I loved his plays.

  • @janellebelle3477
    @janellebelle3477 2 роки тому +18

    This may be my favorite reading of all!

  • @VCT3333
    @VCT3333 Рік тому +12

    Some of these look like people sending him mail expecting these kinds of replies. Also, he was a long time vegetarian so his refusal of the dinner invitation is on point.
    Also, Bendydick Cummerbund does a good job with these.

  • @cynthiamillen3768
    @cynthiamillen3768 11 місяців тому +2

    Brilliant. And by the way, there are recordings of GBS and Cumberbatch imitates him very. Shaw had a high, sort of squeaky voice and had left Dublin many years before, so it's a very different accent.

  • @andreav83
    @andreav83 Рік тому +4

    This made my month. Possibly my year thus year.

  • @hugostiglitz6914
    @hugostiglitz6914 2 роки тому +8

    So philosophical joins the word penguin in words BC has trouble with!😂

  • @TheMrigy
    @TheMrigy 2 роки тому +3

    I love you so much Benedict.. I am a big fan of yours. I hope I will meet you someday since I live in London 🥰❤️😃

  • @vapenstil2831
    @vapenstil2831 2 роки тому +16

    absolutely love it.

  • @TheGritherr
    @TheGritherr Місяць тому

    This is gold any way you look at it.

  • @mgg5418
    @mgg5418 2 роки тому +27

    He sounds like he’s channeling Rex Harrison’s Henry Higgins 😂

  • @marshwetland3808
    @marshwetland3808 Рік тому +4

    Well, now I see the famous quote about the unreasonable man in a new light. 😅😂🤣

  • @perryhunt2909
    @perryhunt2909 Рік тому +4

    So funny! Great graham Norton impression 😃

  • @mooniejohnson
    @mooniejohnson 2 роки тому +13

    All of my emails henceforth will be in the style of the Notorious GBS.

    • @marshwetland3808
      @marshwetland3808 Рік тому +3

      His letter capture my first, second, and third thoughts on many things. It often takes time to find a civilized response.

  • @lavieestduresansconfiture4939
    @lavieestduresansconfiture4939 Рік тому +4

    Oh my god...tears in my eyes...😂

  • @therealxunil2
    @therealxunil2 Рік тому +5

    I think I may be the reincarnation of GBS. Minus the talent.

  • @dufus7396
    @dufus7396 Рік тому +1

    "Here before you stands a great man"

  • @MagnoliaBlackbeary
    @MagnoliaBlackbeary Рік тому +11

    I've never heard of George Bernard Shaw before but I love him now

    • @biancaenera2500
      @biancaenera2500 Рік тому +4

      The only man who received an Oscar and a Nobel prize for literature and you never heard of him. I am quite sure he never heard of you, too. 😉

    • @MagnoliaBlackbeary
      @MagnoliaBlackbeary Рік тому +4

      @@biancaenera2500 Well yeah, probably not, I'm not an international celebrity and expecting him to have heard of me, much like expecting anyone else to have, say, heard of every famous person ever, would be a pretty stupid thing to do, too. 😉

    • @biancaenera2500
      @biancaenera2500 Рік тому +2

      @@MagnoliaBlackbeary of course but in this case is something like to say I never heard of who Albert Einstein was... is a little bit weird 🤷‍♀️ 😂😘

    • @Philbert-s2c
      @Philbert-s2c Рік тому +2

      @@biancaenera2500 Well, he's long dead so I assume he hasn't heard of any of us.

    • @tracesprite6078
      @tracesprite6078 Рік тому +4

      The prefaces to his plays are little discussions in themselves and well worth reading.

  • @alidabaxter5849
    @alidabaxter5849 4 місяці тому

    There are some of these I wish I'd emailed to people!

  • @CatBuchanan
    @CatBuchanan Місяць тому

    LOVE GBS!

  • @paulacnote
    @paulacnote 2 роки тому

    Just wonderful

  • @lindarennie1708
    @lindarennie1708 Рік тому

    So good~

  • @AmandaInEly
    @AmandaInEly Рік тому +1

    Those are grand letters an perfectly read

  • @WillScarlet16
    @WillScarlet16 6 місяців тому +1

    I had no idea the word 'fogey' was that old;

  • @lisareed5669
    @lisareed5669 Рік тому +1

    That accent, though! Excellent.

  • @Loupa57
    @Loupa57 2 роки тому +7

    Definite “to be used”

  • @Myzelfa
    @Myzelfa Рік тому +3

    Why would a philosophical society ask a speaker to avoid controversial subjects? What then would be the point of the conference?

  • @paolagrando5079
    @paolagrando5079 2 роки тому +3

    "250,000 letters and postcards"?!?
    Crickey!

    • @hilariousname6826
      @hilariousname6826 2 роки тому +3

      Think of how many e-mails you've sent and posts you've made on-line .....

    • @holliswilliams8426
      @holliswilliams8426 Рік тому +1

      that was their version of sending emails or messages on social network websites, added to that he was a famous writer so you would expect even more

  • @smitasingh21
    @smitasingh21 2 роки тому +2

    Ben rocks as always...

  • @holliswilliams8426
    @holliswilliams8426 Рік тому +3

    he sounds like someone from east Ireland took a blow to the head, but still really good anyway

  • @miakulick
    @miakulick 2 роки тому +18

    🥰🥰🥰🤗🤗🤗🤗😍😍❤️❤️
    Accents may not be his strongest skill, but he is so charming and adorable, and a great actor, that that imperfection becomes not do important, imho🥰🥰🥰

  • @garryferrington811
    @garryferrington811 2 роки тому +10

    P.G. Wodehouse found GBS insufferably self-important. But he was certainly funny.

  • @austincook5475
    @austincook5475 Рік тому +4

    did everyone forget when he said "I object to all punishment whatsoever. I don't want to punish anybody, but there are an extraordinary number of people who I want to kill. Not in any unkind or personal spirit. But it must be evident to all of you, you must all know half a dozen people at least, who are no use in this world; who are more trouble than they are worth. And I think it would be a good thing to make everybody come before a properly appointed board just as he might come before the income tax commissioners and say every 5 years or every 7 years, just put them there, and say, sir or madam, now will you be kind enough to justify your existence? If you can’t justify your existence; if you’re not pulling your weight in the social boat; if you are not producing as much as you consume or perhaps a little more, then clearly we cannot use the big organization of our society for the purpose of keeping you alive, because your life does not benefit us, and it can’t be of very much use to yourself."

  • @SavannahSteel
    @SavannahSteel 9 місяців тому

    I feel this 😂

  • @hunterG60k
    @hunterG60k 2 роки тому +47

    Possibly the worst Dublin accent in history but still excellent :)

    • @mooniejohnson
      @mooniejohnson 2 роки тому +4

      I agree, but that makes the letters _even better_ in my opinion. ❤❤

    • @williamclifford4441
      @williamclifford4441 2 роки тому +13

      Thank you Laura, there are recordings of GBH and Benedict's squeakiness isn't too far off the mark! 🤣. Thank because it encouraged to dig around in GBH's life - he left Dublin when he was 20 never to return. His English home is very near where I live.

    • @MrBizteck
      @MrBizteck 2 роки тому

      That isnt Dublin by a long shot.

    • @holliswilliams8426
      @holliswilliams8426 Рік тому

      this sounds more like east Ireland to me

    • @stephaniecarrow4898
      @stephaniecarrow4898 Рік тому

      ​​@@williamclifford4441 Might the squeakiness be due to the recording? They weren't of the best quality in the early 20th century.

  • @lordvetinari1331
    @lordvetinari1331 9 місяців тому

    It puts me in mind of Bilbo Baggins if he had not had occasion to leave the Shire

  • @courtneyawalsh
    @courtneyawalsh 2 роки тому +20

    Would’ve gotten on well with Shaw. I’m not into blood sacrifice, either.

    • @lakeireland
      @lakeireland Рік тому +2

      Your Saturday nights must be boring. I perform one every time I shave my legs.

  • @salwaaj1356
    @salwaaj1356 Рік тому +2

    He's more grumpy than me and he keeps being invited by everyone. It just proves that genius excuses eccentricities. Eccentric without talent ? I don't recommand.

  • @ImogenC-rt3fm
    @ImogenC-rt3fm 8 місяців тому

    Hey Cucumber Patch: Legit question --How come Shaw's voice is an octave higher than your own? You're reputedly a Research Rat. Are there recordings of Shaw? ❤😊❤ Once upon a time, when I was less old than I am now, I briefly entertained the notion it was I who discovered you whilst chancing upon Sherlock.
    I have since recovered, menopause having been an unexpected yet later extolled boon.

  • @ywoulduchoosetousethis
    @ywoulduchoosetousethis Рік тому +1

    Some should read Alexander Pope's Epitaph to himself

  • @echognomecal6742
    @echognomecal6742 Рік тому +7

    Having heard these letters, I now aspire to be compared to Shaw in attitude & writing brevity, if nothing else. Ah, if only he'd had Twitter!
    (This comment may be the shortest thing I've ever written. Please follow link below for additional comments which will shed no light whatever while taking up your time as well as will to live.)
    link missing

  • @koubrazakaria4508
    @koubrazakaria4508 Рік тому

    ❤️‍🔥

  • @sportshighlightsok
    @sportshighlightsok 3 місяці тому

    He was amazing.. George Bernard Shaw principal in life ua-cam.com/users/shortsN-qk074JO6o?si=YeXz_vRRJ4uac8rY

  • @Chickenface12345
    @Chickenface12345 Рік тому

    ....pleasentER??!

  • @courtneyawalsh
    @courtneyawalsh 2 роки тому +1

    93/Thelema.

    • @peterlarkin762
      @peterlarkin762 Рік тому

      Crowley was an egotistic arse biscuit. Was Shaw into occultism?

  • @NyanyiC
    @NyanyiC Рік тому

    Nor you neither 😁

  • @WendySalima
    @WendySalima Рік тому

    These all sound like online reviews 😄

  • @cecilecochet6198
    @cecilecochet6198 2 роки тому +1

    😂😁😘😘

  • @kattoneycliffe6715
    @kattoneycliffe6715 2 роки тому

    more pleasant, not pleasanter.

    • @hilariousname6826
      @hilariousname6826 2 роки тому +9

      Oh, how I wish GBS were still alive, so you could tell him that in a letter.

  • @steeltrap3800
    @steeltrap3800 2 роки тому +10

    My favourite is to the Philosophical Society.
    In today's "They said something offensive; burn them at the stake!" world that one made me laugh in particular.

  • @nunyabidness674
    @nunyabidness674 Рік тому +1

    when the presenter can't keep a straight face through dialogue...
    And yes, I know Mr. Cumberbatch was trying very hard to not laugh

  • @matthewdarcy6859
    @matthewdarcy6859 2 роки тому +7

    that accent is frightful

    • @holliswilliams8426
      @holliswilliams8426 Рік тому

      sounds like someone from east Ireland that took a blow to the head

    • @matthewdarcy6859
      @matthewdarcy6859 Рік тому

      @@holliswilliams8426, I'm from the east- Dublin. It sounds more like an accent that never existed, that of a demented leprechaun dreamed up by a third rate Hollywood producer. Ghastly.

  • @holeshothunter5544
    @holeshothunter5544 Рік тому

    Shaw only wrote in 2 sentences at a time?

    • @marshwetland3808
      @marshwetland3808 Рік тому +2

      Brevity is the soul of wit. If he used 3 sentences it would be in classic joke format and he'd sound Jewish instead of Irish.

    • @holliswilliams8426
      @holliswilliams8426 Рік тому +1

      @@marshwetland3808 and if he used 4 he would sound French

    • @marshwetland3808
      @marshwetland3808 Рік тому

      @@holliswilliams8426 Not sure how that works, but... he didn't sound Irish Irish. lol

  • @user-g38fib48
    @user-g38fib48 22 дні тому

    He should have quoted Shaw when he talked about the great number of people he wanted to unalive, or when he wished someone would invent a gas that would do just that.
    The true Fabian side of Shaw, not the glossy little comedic side that is a public mask.

  • @AlexanderSchumacherP
    @AlexanderSchumacherP Рік тому

    🤍

  • @jbrubin8274
    @jbrubin8274 2 роки тому +11

    For my senior year thesis paper, Shaw as the author I’d chosen to cover.
    As I had known my instructor for years*, he began laughing far too loud.
    Exclaiming to all within listening range, “I knew it! You’ve never been able to miss an opportunity to stand up for what you believe in. (Thanks) And if at all possible this will woman be a dick about it.” (Not so thanks.)
    We both dissolved into 5 year olds giggling at the back of the class. 😂🤣🤷‍♀️
    *Our families were close for many years by then. In particular my mom and I were close with the mom and my friend, their only daughter. She was the first kid to join our newly formed support group, in truth she was our VP. We didn’t even need to ask.
    However this was in middle school, someone had to go first. Without that first kid stepping forward, our brand new support group for kids of all ages, we didn’t have a chance. Especially as this idea and the summer spent forming it came from two kids, (13&10).
    The town came in hard for us too. (Gotta love a small community.)
    Example- From day one the Dominoes owner covered every meeting, for over a decade until he retired and sold his franchise. Sooo many ‘Noids’. 💯🙏😂
    Once the story hit the papers, we had business owners and the guys up the street who can all be helpful and loads of fun. While the original creators, myself and my neighbor, have stepped away I’m proud to say it exists to this day. The original date is incorrect but it is the first of it’s kind in the country. Over the years this group therapy has spawned off similar groups based off the original group’s basic tenets. I’ll happily not correct the group given the work it continues to do.
    The group was formed to address the needs of the ‘normal’ kid (s) in the family that also had a child with special needs. Too often overlooked, yet nobody’s fault, including the parents. Who were given a free night of babysitting once a month for the child with special needs. If you are a parent of one you know just how hard it is to find a babysitter. Let alone three of us had Red Cross Certification. Those nights were also set up for the kid(s) to have a special evening once a month.
    To help the kids and the family ease their weeks by providing a place for the children could talk. Insisting that the parents left a certain points, a extra breathing room for the parents.
    We saw a need that hadn’t been met before.
    That’s where we stepped in.

  • @seanohaimheirgin1047
    @seanohaimheirgin1047 2 роки тому +5

    Good Lord, what sort of an accent is that?

    • @beeble2003
      @beeble2003 2 роки тому +6

      Leprechaun.

    • @marshwetland3808
      @marshwetland3808 Рік тому +1

      @@beeble2003 😂😂 💀

    • @holliswilliams8426
      @holliswilliams8426 Рік тому +4

      kind of sounded to me like someone from County Wicklow that took a blow to the head

    • @TH-hy9kr
      @TH-hy9kr Рік тому

      ​@@beeble2003 ha-sha-sha-sha-sha-sha 🍀🌈

    • @comealongcomealong4480
      @comealongcomealong4480 Рік тому

      @@holliswilliams8426 Had a good belly laugh 8 months after your post. (I'm guessing that we have GBS's voice on record - radio, film etc?)

  • @davidhull1481
    @davidhull1481 2 роки тому +4

    Benadryl Bumbershoot strikes again,

    • @stephaniecarrow4898
      @stephaniecarrow4898 Рік тому +1

      I want to see a children's book featuring a character by that name! 😄
      p.s. That could be the title, right there. 😄

    • @davidhull1481
      @davidhull1481 Рік тому

      @@stephaniecarrow4898 Thanks!

  • @ciaranmcnulty8675
    @ciaranmcnulty8675 Рік тому +1

    Shocking accent. Not even insulted, as an Irishman. Just embarrassed for Cumberbatch, as a human.

  • @linnea508
    @linnea508 2 роки тому

    omg hi husband

  • @markog1999
    @markog1999 2 роки тому +12

    Bennedict I love you but this accent was a disaster

    • @lyarnes
      @lyarnes 2 роки тому +1

      LOL! As much as I adore our Ben I have to agree. Perhaps he should invest in some linguistic and accent tutors inbetween roles.

  • @mulemule
    @mulemule 2 роки тому +3

    I wish he'd simply read it in his own mellifluous voice (instead of making us endure workshopping yet another dialect).

  • @scottyk200
    @scottyk200 2 місяці тому

    No need for the accent.