He didn't fulfill his full potential. People always say that about him. He DID. He practically invented modern comedy, he still inspires awe and fear in todays comedians, he was voted funniest man ever, by comedians, in a poll. What the fuck else can you ask for in a man?
A real pleasure to watch this and remember probably (actually, no "probably" about it) the most brilliant wit of our time. Having read "Something Like Fire" it's also good to have a first glimpse of Lin Cook, who knew the value of the man she loved. And the taboos trampled underfoot. Some of his stuff in Derek & Clive is so off the wall: "Is a winky ... ???" thrown out to Dudley to deal with somehow ... ("Well, mainly it's on the wanky side..)
I know I am going to get howled down for this but I think Dudley was virtually as good as Peter and they were both the best ever. At least in the performance but maybe Peter dreamt up most of the stuff! But Dudley maybe as the foil most of the time was just brilliant and his improvisations were nearly as good! Just because he wasn't quite as mad does not mean he was any less!
And another thing was Pete as good without Dud??? - i think they did their best work together and a lot of people only want to talk about Pete and forget Dud!!
Dudley was terrific, no doubt, and that's before you talk his musical ability. A fine comic actor; a fine actor, period. Cook was not. But Cook was just a supernova of comedic power.
I'm against dud bcs he stole Peters glory. When people talk about the films peter wrote they always say oh yeah the one with dudley moore in it and forget that he wrote none of it. But still. Love them both.
In my eyes Peter Cook is THE COMEDY GOD - there has been no one as funny or inventive as him - However its all very well having a go at Jonathan Miller for having a go at Peter, but Jonathan Miller was there in the flesh - and like a lot of greatly talented people like Peter they often had their dark sides.
Yes, creativity and comedy run out, and so does much of life's great energies, and enthusiasms. Look at surgeons and airline pilots and anyone who's put the best of themselves into a career. It runs out and then, if one is careful and in some cases lucky, one can find meaning in the smaller things. You must, in many ways shorten your stride. A sunset, a sunrise, gardening, and so forth have got to hold meaning for you. You must find this fact out before it's all over, else you will be miserable at the end. Go fishing, seriously,,,,do it, and go site seeing, and try your hand at painting and poetry, and think not one little bit about getting published or a gallery. Just enjoy the work for what it is.
I would disagree with you that they run out. When I think of many of my favourite writers, they took their pens very much to the grave. Bellow, Joyce, Proust etc they all kept it up until the end. Because to them, writing was life. The ink ran as though it were blood. And one cannot read Finnegans Wake, In Search Of Lost Time or Ravelstein and say creativity was not present. As for comedy, I think you need only hear the touching stories of people's deathbed experiences with those they love. Experiences which are made up of very sweet, heartwarming, sincere, reflective and humorous exchanges. And comedy, as many comedians have said comes from a place of tragedy. That it is only through coping, reflecting, and capturing the negative that comedy can truly be extracted. That positive attributes aren't funny. We never laugh primarily at the good things in the world. So in that sense, I don't think it ever leaves us. Clive James once said "Humour is just common sense moving at a different speed; humour is common sense dancing."
Absolutely wrong! Peter Cook's problem wasn't drink, it was medium. Forced to play to middling forms - talk-shows and whatnot - his genius hungered, as anything starved of better food should hunger. The best thing about Peter Cook was his absence of hunger for middling forms. I am very glad he was a drunk, for otherwise he might have apologized.
They all cared so much for Peter. He was such a hero to many people.
He didn't fulfill his full potential. People always say that about him.
He DID. He practically invented modern comedy, he still inspires awe and fear in todays comedians, he was voted funniest man ever, by comedians, in a poll. What the fuck else can you ask for in a man?
A real pleasure to watch this and remember probably (actually, no "probably" about it) the most brilliant wit of our time. Having read "Something Like Fire" it's also good to have a first glimpse of Lin Cook, who knew the value of the man she loved.
And the taboos trampled underfoot. Some of his stuff in Derek & Clive is so off the wall: "Is a winky ... ???" thrown out to Dudley to deal with somehow ... ("Well, mainly it's on the wanky side..)
I know I am going to get howled down for this but I think Dudley was virtually as good as Peter and they were both the best ever. At least in the performance but maybe Peter dreamt up most of the stuff! But Dudley maybe as the foil most of the time was just brilliant and his improvisations were nearly as good! Just because he wasn't quite as mad does not mean he was any less!
And another thing was Pete as good without Dud??? - i think they did their best work together and a lot of people only want to talk about Pete and forget Dud!!
Dudley was terrific, no doubt, and that's before you talk his musical ability. A fine comic actor; a fine actor, period. Cook was not. But Cook was just a supernova of comedic power.
@@tarnopol and a narcissistic bully
I'm against dud bcs he stole Peters glory. When people talk about the films peter wrote they always say oh yeah the one with dudley moore in it and forget that he wrote none of it. But still. Love them both.
In my eyes Peter Cook is THE COMEDY GOD - there has been no one as funny or inventive as him - However its all very well having a go at Jonathan Miller for having a go at Peter, but Jonathan Miller was there in the flesh - and like a lot of greatly talented people like Peter they often had their dark sides.
RIP to the God of comedy.
Jonathan miller is totally wrong. His 50 minutes with Chris Morris show his genius was undiminished right to the end. You're talking shot Miller
great
also a quick glimpse of Clive James.
Where are parts 1 and 5?
I like Rold Dal skitch.
"Because he was a journalist." The hero will always be the one without a hero.
Yes, creativity and comedy run out, and so does much of life's great energies, and enthusiasms. Look at surgeons and airline pilots and anyone who's put the best of themselves into a career. It runs out and then, if one is careful and in some cases lucky, one can find meaning in the smaller things.
You must, in many ways shorten your stride. A sunset, a sunrise, gardening, and so forth have got to hold meaning for you. You must find this fact out before it's all over, else you will be miserable at the end.
Go fishing, seriously,,,,do it, and go site seeing, and try your hand at painting and poetry, and think not one little bit about getting published or a gallery. Just enjoy the work for what it is.
I would disagree with you that they run out. When I think of many of my favourite writers, they took their pens very much to the grave. Bellow, Joyce, Proust etc they all kept it up until the end.
Because to them, writing was life. The ink ran as though it were blood. And one cannot read Finnegans Wake, In Search Of Lost Time or Ravelstein and say creativity was not present.
As for comedy, I think you need only hear the touching stories of people's deathbed experiences with those they love. Experiences which are made up of very sweet, heartwarming, sincere, reflective and humorous exchanges.
And comedy, as many comedians have said comes from a place of tragedy. That it is only through coping, reflecting, and capturing the negative that comedy can truly be extracted. That positive attributes aren't funny. We never laugh primarily at the good things in the world. So in that sense, I don't think it ever leaves us.
Clive James once said "Humour is just common sense moving at a different speed; humour is common sense dancing."
"Because he was a journalist." Worth it to hear Eric Idle's weak impersonation of Alan Bennett.
Absolutely wrong! Peter Cook's problem wasn't drink, it was medium. Forced to play to middling forms - talk-shows and whatnot - his genius hungered, as anything starved of better food should hunger. The best thing about Peter Cook was his absence of hunger for middling forms. I am very glad he was a drunk, for otherwise he might have apologized.
No, well he was a horrendous drunk. That is, he drank himself stupid every day