Ronnie Barker later in the show says he did not like the ending (billhooks = b llocks}. He then thought of a different ending where a lady came out and asked him what size 'knockers' he wanted.
People in certain areas of the UK reverse their H sounds - they'll add it to words that don't start with O - like operating will come out h'operating. And then they'll skip it entirely with words that DO start with H - like fork handles, as seen here, he pronounces fork 'andles, sounding like four candles, thus the confusion. The sketch is genius in it's concept and execution. Not knowing the accents and the peculiarities of the speech in the region is likely to cause confusion - I've seen Americans react to this and be utterly confused. The worst seems to be on the last item - billhooks. It's clear the customer has had issues spelling it and the irritated shopkeeper has taken his handwriting to mean that he's instead written the word bollocks, which explains his frustrated exit.
Obviously belly laughter doesn't travel from the uk,trust me this was funny in the uk back in the day.some get it some don't. It really wasn't about the accent or cockney rhyming slang just misunderstanding of words said lazily perhaps that had numerous same meanings.
Two Ronnie's crossed lines,mastermind sketch, crossed word sketch, they also did some funny parody of American country &western.
Ronnie Barker later in the show says he did not like the ending (billhooks = b llocks}. He then thought of a different ending where a lady came out and asked him what size 'knockers' he wanted.
If you kept the video rolling (might be on a different clip), the 2 guys explain the last joke, and the alternate ending.
I'm in the UK. There's a shop exactly like that in my village - even now
Have you done the Mastermind sketch with the Two Ronnies
As one of them pointed out - they get a punch-line with every question / answer combo.
and you could compare it with the Morecambe and Wise version.
People in certain areas of the UK reverse their H sounds - they'll add it to words that don't start with O - like operating will come out h'operating. And then they'll skip it entirely with words that DO start with H - like fork handles, as seen here, he pronounces fork 'andles, sounding like four candles, thus the confusion. The sketch is genius in it's concept and execution. Not knowing the accents and the peculiarities of the speech in the region is likely to cause confusion - I've seen Americans react to this and be utterly confused.
The worst seems to be on the last item - billhooks. It's clear the customer has had issues spelling it and the irritated shopkeeper has taken his handwriting to mean that he's instead written the word bollocks, which explains his frustrated exit.
A+ video!
Funny and intriguing skit!
A very British type of humour..difficult to appreciate if you dont understand the nuances
Obviously belly laughter doesn't travel from the uk,trust me this was funny in the uk back in the day.some get it some don't. It really wasn't about the accent or cockney rhyming slang just misunderstanding of words said lazily perhaps that had numerous same meanings.
Crosswd lines is 1 you should check ot from these guys