"The word 'library' derives from the Latin 'librus' meaning 'shhhh'" (Tom Baker, Little Britain season 1)

(For the record, Prof. Auer showed us this video as part of the Introduction to Old and Middle English course in Utrecht.)

Village idiots

"(…) working on special training equipment designed to keep him silly."

Borat learns to taste wine

Flying lesson

Another parrot sketch

Here's a parrot sketch featuring Rowan Atkinson, from the Not the Nine O'Clock News show:



Note that the headmaster is played by Mel Smith, who, incidentally, directed Bean.

Little Britain USA

As you may already know I like Little Britain, a Britcom making fun of all social groups in Britain through characters played by Matt Lucas and David Walliams. A spin-off of the series, set this time in the USA, has been made: Little Britain USA. Check out the US trailer:



And the British trailer, featuring Tom Baker's voice:



As we can see, some of our best loved characters return, like Vicky "the Chav" Pollard:



Daffyd Thomas (aka "the only gay in the village"):



Andy and Lou!

"Nah, I bet people piss in it!"

New characters are also introduced, such as Mark and Tom, the gym buddies…



Bing Gordon, a self-important astronaut who "walked on the Moon":



Another absurdist character, Phyllis and Mr. Doggy:

iCock nano

What happens when Bill Gates from Microsoft meets Steve Jobs from Apple, Inc.?



"You want to see my Dick?"
"Ah yeah, sure…"
"Here."
"Yeah, that's tiny also!"
"Yeah, I was born like that!"

--> Genius

(This sketch comes from the Harry and Paul show.)


On Windows Vista you can sometimes see crazy notifications pop up…

“At least I don't have to press the "START" Button to SHUT MY COMPUTER DOWN any more. That didn't make any sense.”

~ Oscar Wilde on Vista

“You do know that this is still called the "START" button, right?”

~ Me on Oscar Wilde's quote

I prefer Rutte 98, if you want my opinion…

An afternoon at the museum

"Apart from mocking the elderly, there's no finer way to spend an afternoon than in an art gallery…"

"Yeah I know! Stop repeating everything I say!"

The Germans

Due to a "delightful" PowerPoint presentation on the linguistic landscape of Eupen and Malmedy that we have to make by Thursday, I totally run out of time, so I fear I can just show you this brilliant episode that concluded the first series of Fawlty Towers with John Cleese:

Part 1:



Part 2:



Part 3:



Part 4:

Plan langues (3)

Just a sketch by the The Monty Python (in Monty Python's Flying Circus) that I find really funny:



"Was ist das Wort für Mittelschmerz?"

"He shouldn't be saying that: we haven't done comparatives yet!"

Extra fun

Ricky Gervais and his fellow comedians from Extras made a Christmas special episode. Guest stars include: Clive Owen, David Tennant, Lionel Blair, Lisa Scott-Lee, Hale and Pace, Gordon Ramsay, George Michael and Barry from EastEnders. (Source: Wikipedia.)



Apparently, this episode was designed to be the conclusion of the series, just like what they did with The Office.

Talking about George Michael, he also made an appearance in an extra Little Britain episode to raise money for Comic Relief:

Graham Chapman's obituary by John Cleese

Here's John Cleese's speech at the funeral of his fellow Graham Chapman. Both comedians were part of the Monty Python group.



What a nerve!

If you want to have a good laugh today, watch this sketch:



This was part of a "how to irritate people" circle.

F-word

A short compilation of the few moments when Father Jack talks in Father Ted:



Once, Ted managed to oblige Father Jack to answer any questions asked by the bishop by saying "That should be an ecumenical matter!":



Once, he also got sober:




Gobshite!

Christmas Week: "Little Britain"

I know that the Little Britain series had a special two-parts episode made for Christmas, called Little Britain Abroad, with characters traveling to exotic places, such as the Belgian Ardennes (a couple spending their honeymoon in a caravan) or Spain or Disneyworld (Lou and Andy were to go there, but their plane crashed on a desert island…). Unfortunately, the censors of YouTube apparently didn't like the fact that people shared funny stuff, and the episode is now only available through several fragments. The good news is that my account hasn't been suspended (yet!) and I have a scene that has something to do with Christmas. Enjoy!



I look a pillock!

Christmas Week: Mr Bean

This is probably one of my favourite scenes from the whole Mr Bean series with Rowan Atkinson. In this episode Mr Beans goes to Harrods to buy some Christmas stuff. And look what happens when he spots a nativity scene…



Exterminate! Exterminate!

I especially liked the shepherd knocking on the truck as a sign that the driver can go.

Lost in a jungle of… bras

Here's another scene from A Christmassy Ted, the Christmas special episode of Father Ted I was telling you about a couple of days ago. In this video, Father Ted and Dougal get lost in the lingerie section of a supermarket…



Wasn't that funny? I like the The Things They Carried-like, Vietnamish atmosphere…

Note that we saw Kevin McKidd as Father Deegan (a young priest): that was quite a long time before he stars in Rome as Lucius Vorenus.

One, Two, Tree

Here's the introduction of the Christmas special episode (my personal favourite) of the brilliant Britcom Father Ted, with the late Dermot Morgan as Father Ted Crilly. This extract also features Ardal O'Hanlon as Father Dougal McGuire and Frank Kelly as Father Jack Hackett (the grumpy old man).

Father Jack: "A pair of fecking women's knickers!!!!"

Chessington

Why haven't shown you yet the most-seen of my videos on YouTube? Probably because I never thought of it. So there it is: it's a skecth from the second series of Little Britain, with David Walliams (here as Lou) and Matt Lucas (here as Andy).

In Herby, Andy Pipkin is enjoying is annual bath…

I thought you hated France! I thought you said the French could never been forgiven for surrendering to the German war machine, and collaborating with the occupier by setting up the Vichy Government...

If you have enjoyed this evening's programme, you might like to travel back in time half an hour and watch it again.

--> Brilliant quote! I wish I could do that sometimes!

Andy wanted to go to Chessington World of Adventure (if you didn't understand what Lou mumbles…).

And, believe it or not, the crew actually went to Paris to shoot that scene!!

"Chubby little looser, pathetic little fat man"

David Bowie makes fun of Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) in an episode of the second season of Extras, a Britcom (or "shitcom", as they called it in one episode) I really enjoyed watching this summer:

Manny's great deeds

Remember I told you once about that wonderful series called Black Books, starring Bill Bailey? I found a really good fragment from season 1. In this one, Manny is stuck in the book shop…



And this one when he finds out he can play the piano…



I can play!!