@@lexcpen2344 when most people use that line, 'if history has taught us anything...' they are usually about to share some kind of moral or wise lesson that we learned by studying events from history. For example, someone might say, 'if history has taught us anything, it's that bigotry and racism leads to hatred and violence' and they might make a reference to examples in history where this was observed. What Stephen Fry was doing here was something called 'subversion of expectations', which is basically another way of saying, 'giving the audience what they are not expecting.' He used a commonly known phrase as a lead in, so that people were expecting him to share some kind of lesson that we've learned from history, and then tricks us by making a pointless reference to an event in history that didn't necessarily teach us anything significant. It's hard to explain. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say.
@@Aquascape_Dreaming I think people outside of the UK just does not know about that Battle. So they assume it has some underlying meaning. Thanks for your detailed explanation.
@@cbkhanh I'm outside of the UK, and I know literally nothing about the battle of Agincourt, but I know how to identify a joke that uses subversion of expectation as a punchline. No offense intended, but I think you underestimate the perceptiveness of non-british people when it comes to British humour. But if you found my explanation helpful in any way, you're welcome.
He's the best at setting up complex lead-ins, and then subverting our expectations. Even though you know it's coming, it's still criminally hilarious 😂
Stephen says they need to be planted, "oh, late July"...the subtitles say mid-July. I need to know which it is, dammit ! These nine-lane motorways don't just build themselves, you know !
There’s a rather charming heartlessness to these snippets of English life, which seem more contemporary today, than they were when originally broadcast between 1989 and 1995.
Stephen Fry is something of a superhero. He can virtualise basically any persona, without having lived that kind of life. Only a person with super powers like his could do something so darn convincingly. If you haven't seen it yet, look up on dailymotion, 'stephen fry "the letter"'. It used to be on youtube but I think it was removed for some unknown reason. It's a skit that's basically parodying Bram Stokes's Dracula, but oh my goodness it's hilarious. 😂
1:58 - Wait a moment!!! Is that the gorgeous Georgina I see??? The irresistibly beautiful and famed cabaret performer from the First World War, adored by every red-blooded honest Tommy on the Western Front?!?!?
I'm sorry there's been a problem. She was so happy and went out into no man's land, and before I tried to warn her not to tread on a mine,... she trod on a mine.
Thanks. I was wondering if the lack of love was the reason I didn't get my nine-lane motorway running through my back garden. I think now I was too early.
4:45 was filmed I think on King Street in Hammersmith. The shopping centre scenes are also from King’s Mall. Took me a little while to figure it out but I thought they looked strangely familiar!
he could do an American one so well the producers of 'House, MD' didn't even realise they hired someone who couldn't be more English than Lt. The Hon. George Colthurst St Barleigh
You does a pretty good Geordie, and my Aussie pal says his Australian accent is ridiculously good. You can see it pretty frequently on here if you search for ‘Stephen Fry QI accents’.
@glazenbol "Neither a borrower, nor a lender be" is a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet. The vox-pop character's father (who apparently is not too bright) is basically telling him not to be an idiot.
That "country narrowing scheme" joke from the driver at 4:11 is really only a half joke if you think about it. (if you don't get what I mean, I mean that the widening of roads means the narrowing of public space for pedestrian space and thus public life). 10/10
The Sanctuary, in London, in front of Westminster Abbey and Dean's Yard (and in front of my old school, as it happens). I believe it is still legally the case that if you remain in the Sanctuary under the protection of the Church you cannot be arrested (though I would not recommend testing that).
I wonder whether these sketches came out a little bit too early for the British audience at the time ... they are as sharp as a tack, and rather racy, but maybe too acerbic for that time, however, today ...
@@digitalT83 I believe you are - perhaps not for the first time - in the minority. One also has to ask why you’re here wasting your time watching a video of comedians you clearly don’t like, and even bothering to comment instead of moving on to something you enjoy instead. A psychologist might call that masochism. 🤔
Oh, nostalgia for something that hasn't changed. You could set up those shots in exactly the same spots today and they'd look virtually identical, bar some more updated vehicles and shopfronts.
It's a satire of current affairs segments when people in the street would be asked about the issues of the day. I think it's from Latin for "talk of the people" or something.
That laugh by Fry at the start. When we were kids, my brother and I used to rewind the video over and over at that part crying with laughter.
Stephen Fry is my favourite person on the telly. I love everything about him.
Fry's mustached driver character doesn't even seem like an act, he's so good at it.
“If history has taught us one thing, it has taught us that the Battle of Agincourt was in 1415.”
sry but what doe this mean?
@@lexcpen2344 What he said
@@lexcpen2344 when most people use that line, 'if history has taught us anything...' they are usually about to share some kind of moral or wise lesson that we learned by studying events from history. For example, someone might say, 'if history has taught us anything, it's that bigotry and racism leads to hatred and violence' and they might make a reference to examples in history where this was observed.
What Stephen Fry was doing here was something called 'subversion of expectations', which is basically another way of saying, 'giving the audience what they are not expecting.'
He used a commonly known phrase as a lead in, so that people were expecting him to share some kind of lesson that we've learned from history, and then tricks us by making a pointless reference to an event in history that didn't necessarily teach us anything significant. It's hard to explain. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say.
@@Aquascape_Dreaming I think people outside of the UK just does not know about that Battle. So they assume it has some underlying meaning. Thanks for your detailed explanation.
@@cbkhanh I'm outside of the UK, and I know literally nothing about the battle of Agincourt, but I know how to identify a joke that uses subversion of expectation as a punchline. No offense intended, but I think you underestimate the perceptiveness of non-british people when it comes to British humour. But if you found my explanation helpful in any way, you're welcome.
0:08 Stephen's laugh saved my soul 😂
The marmalade sketch is brilliant!
The best!🤣
Arse the parlour maid?
@@Van_Der_Lay_Industries you want me to fart the hit parade?
Passssss the marmalade
The one that always gets me is "It's only then I realized she was far away."
And i literally expected it was coming, still laughed
@@nyChannel09 same here and I just watched it again and tried no laugh and I did. Something about the way he delivers the line.
1:44 Fry starts answering seriously then remembers hes doing a skit :P
He's the best at setting up complex lead-ins, and then subverting our expectations. Even though you know it's coming, it's still criminally hilarious 😂
I was gonna say, I'm pretty sure that's just Stephen's legitimate answer
Hugh Laurie is such a wonderful actor, so expressive
Those ladies of a certain age played by Fry... Absolutely filthy.
He makes a stunning woman, does Stephen.
Stephen says they need to be planted, "oh, late July"...the subtitles say mid-July.
I need to know which it is, dammit ! These nine-lane motorways don't just build themselves, you know !
Don't just grow* themselves, you mean.
That wheeze at the beginning gets things off to a hilarious start
There’s a rather charming heartlessness to these snippets of English life, which seem more contemporary today, than they were when originally broadcast between 1989 and 1995.
I really miss those guys British comedy at it’s best thank you guys for making our lives a little bit more enjoyable
This is 2018 and this show is getting funnier and funnier to watch. That's the real comedy, kids.
Andrei Sokolov I laughed more now than in the old days
While I don't like the patronizing Juvenoia, as a 21 year old born '99, this is very witty and funny, all of the Fry and Laurie stuff is.
July 2020 : extremely funny. One more viewing and I am ready for the mental health hospital 🤣👍🤝🇳🇱
I was just thinking that myself.
The policeman 😂 makes me die laughing everytime
"Road widening scheme?!" (DERISIVE LAUGHTER)
Stephen Fry is something of a superhero. He can virtualise basically any persona, without having lived that kind of life. Only a person with super powers like his could do something so darn convincingly.
If you haven't seen it yet, look up on dailymotion, 'stephen fry "the letter"'.
It used to be on youtube but I think it was removed for some unknown reason.
It's a skit that's basically parodying Bram Stokes's Dracula, but oh my goodness it's hilarious. 😂
“One of the great benefits of being an alcoholic.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣
The marmalade....I'm dead XD
treintaydiez - where are you gonna put em?
Vox pop was honestly the best part about this show 😂😂😂 this is not a slight on the sketches, but high praise for the vox pop. absolutely epic 😂😂
1:58 - Wait a moment!!! Is that the gorgeous Georgina I see??? The irresistibly beautiful and famed cabaret performer from the First World War, adored by every red-blooded honest Tommy on the Western Front?!?!?
I'm sorry there's been a problem. She was so happy and went out into no man's land, and before I tried to warn her not to tread on a mine,... she trod on a mine.
HOW HOW HOW?
@@KabirChattopadhyay1991 (EAR-SPLITTING SOBS OF ANGUISH)..... Ah well, can't be helped, can't be helped.
wheres the one where laurie goes "ya wanna know what they keep under these hats? eh?
*gasp* some bastard's nicked it!!"
wow that taxi driver line about Russia really swung around in the space of 30 years
23
still, wow
Mikkel Ulrich 23 is within the space of 30 years
@@DeathnoteBB Correct!
"swung around" like something changed in Russia lmao
At 0:19 a version of the small/far away joke that Father Ted is famous for. Originally broadcast in 1995, the year Father Ted started.
"You can take sex and violence off television, but where'ya gonna put 'em?"
Neither a borrower, nor a git be.
Words to live by, I suppose.
1:28 so good, classic House
0:03 It's late July, not mid July. Just in case anyone got confused.
Not only are the subtitles wrong, but they totally ruin the humour.
It's actually February right now
Thanks. I was wondering if the lack of love was the reason I didn't get my nine-lane motorway running through my back garden. I think now I was too early.
@@David-ud9ju well, they are helpful for foreign people... like me, from spain... at least i could laugh a bit
I so wish these two would get back together again. Stephen Fry is simply adorable.
Amazing, an awesome comedy pairing.
6:42 real talk
A great piece of work.
well, at least it wasnt lupus
It's never Lupus....
@@goingcritical7406 until it's lupus...
Man House sure can do a good British accent!
Apparently the actor spent a few months in England when he was a baby.
yeah, some British people are really good at that
@@ictmeoy1988 honestly I was expecting more likes on my comment, it was pretty funny if I say so myself.
better than that upstart idris elba
Someone rush a Sense of irony to ictm Eoy, urgently.
4:45 was filmed I think on King Street in Hammersmith. The shopping centre scenes are also from King’s Mall. Took me a little while to figure it out but I thought they looked strangely familiar!
They captured the absurdity of the common English peoples persona so eloquently and honestly. Then used it as comedic cannon fodder.
the elephant man joke was pretty nice :D
0:08 the KEKW laugh
4:23 Fry snaps
Huge is a MASTER of accents
How could this be so accurate🤣🤣🤣👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻👌🏻
The answer is the internet at 7:03
Bur where to put the marmelade ?
@@Plons0Nard well you've got the marmelade. it's not in the cupboard but you've got it.
6:12 is such meme material
I needed that.
Thank you so much for posting this. I have seen all their other shows but I don't think this was ever aired in Canada.
Nobody realises how much training goes into being an estate agent. Virtually none😂
This is just like the fast show, except 15 years earlier, and good.
Fry is so posh he can't pull off a working man's accent 😁
he could do an American one so well the producers of 'House, MD' didn't even realise they hired someone who couldn't be more English than Lt. The Hon. George Colthurst St Barleigh
Ygraine apparently you don’t know which is which
@@granville7 wrong guy
@@granville7 You’re talking about High Laurie. Not Stephen Fry.
You does a pretty good Geordie, and my Aussie pal says his Australian accent is ridiculously good. You can see it pretty frequently on here if you search for ‘Stephen Fry QI accents’.
@glazenbol "Neither a borrower, nor a lender be" is a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet. The vox-pop character's father (who apparently is not too bright) is basically telling him not to be an idiot.
Ah thanks !
Thank you so much!! I couldn't translate this one and was wondering what's the gag
[derisive laughter]
Patrick Ellis I see you everywhere
3:40 so ahead of its time!
3:42, wise words from the cabbie.
5:18 House is a great show...
Full body consult.
Who are these people and why are we interviewing them? 😂
That "country narrowing scheme" joke from the driver at 4:11 is really only a half joke if you think about it. (if you don't get what I mean, I mean that the widening of roads means the narrowing of public space for pedestrian space and thus public life).
10/10
Thats what he literally meant by country narrowing scheme...
Theres nothing else he implied by that
1:25 how does he keep a straight face???
Watch this one. Both of them can barely hold back their laughter,
ua-cam.com/video/0nTmSu6v0LA/v-deo.html
Note to subtitles, he said LATE July.
5:23 I miss Dr. House 😭
Fry: "In about late July"
Subtitles: "In about mid-July"
Hmm.
subtitle man obviously knows more about growing roads than stephen fry
Steven has nice hair
So young and so.. silly!
Fun fact: This was probably Stephen Fry's own London Taxi?
What is that square with that cool building where Stephen is standing?
The Sanctuary, in London, in front of Westminster Abbey and Dean's Yard (and in front of my old school, as it happens). I believe it is still legally the case that if you remain in the Sanctuary under the protection of the Church you cannot be arrested (though I would not recommend testing that).
I had many a great holiday at Westminster School, with PHAB
Killing it hhhh very funny guys
Reminds me of the grand illusions guy
Paaaass meeeee the sex and violence!
Subtitles kinda ruin the punchline :( But still awesome
It helps foreign people.
Where? Could you please point one out?
@@vivekbarchha you mean point out a subtitle? they're... like.. throughout the entire video.
Honestly didn’t notice it ‘til I read this comment.
Kyler Windhorst lol that's scary. You get behind the wheel with those eyes? 😂
Old boggy walks on Lammas Eve
"I suppose they'll be saying Hitler was a racist next"
Hugh's businessman character lol
I understand 5% of the jokes, but I still laugh 95% of the time
Yeah... me too... THE ENGLISH PEOPLE SPEAK SO FAST!!!!!!
Stamps!
late july seems a bit late to me. They would be best planted in late may.
i hope they've got 'ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer'
not in this one. shame
3:40 aged well
Dr House!
4:43 Dead xD
oh yeah yeah
I find this comedy to be somewhat humorous!
Is that Dr. House?
Hugh Laurie, yeah
He looks like doctor whoo
3:40 Fry has his finger on the pulse of current American politics somehow.
😊
I wonder whether these sketches came out a little bit too early for the British audience at the time ... they are as sharp as a tack, and rather racy, but maybe too acerbic for that time,
however, today ...
No it just wasnt funny
In some ways it's amazing how it's still relevant.
@@digitalT83 I believe you are - perhaps not for the first time - in the minority. One also has to ask why you’re here wasting your time watching a video of comedians you clearly don’t like, and even bothering to comment instead of moving on to something you enjoy instead. A psychologist might call that masochism. 🤔
Well I wouldn't suck it.
Haha, good stuff..
What is that one about a poor man who looks like an elephant? The ELephant man. Oh I know Collin Welland
The benefit of being an alcoholic....
How come you can't get The Red Hat of Pat Ferrick anymore?
Here in Amersham!
4:24 ^^
peopel dont see through things these days... :D
😂 😂😂
Fry should do these sketches again
Is Steven Fry the 5th Beatle?
I thought he was Oscar Wilde reincarnated.
Wow London looked a heck of a lot better then....(in the background)
Oh, nostalgia for something that hasn't changed. You could set up those shots in exactly the same spots today and they'd look virtually identical, bar some more updated vehicles and shopfronts.
I wonder if they've questioned their derision yet? hmm...
bit of water??
5:18
0:16
4:44
Why is it called vox pox?
It's a satire of current affairs segments when people in the street would be asked about the issues of the day. I think it's from Latin for "talk of the people" or something.
Latin: Vox Populi = Voice of the people