And it's good night from him...
Just about to dash out to meet some chums for dinner but I had to say how sad I was to hear of Ronnier Barker passing away today. Watching the show he and Ronnie Corbett did recently where they anchored some of their best classic material was a sheer delight - how terrific was it to watch their mini-serial The Phantom Raspberry Blower of Old London Town agian after all these years? I remember watching that with my parents when I was a schoolkid (yes, we did have TV then you cheeky buggers!). The fact that one was co-written by another of my favourites - and another British comedy hero - Spike Milligan, made it all the better for me.
It is too easy for folk to take potshots at old comedy shows and dismiss them. I remember watching the new 'alternative' comedians who came in behind the likes of the Two Ronnies in the 80s. Some I liked, some were fresh and new and some, let's be honest, were just talentless tossers who thought saying anything about Thatcher was funny (so why bother working on an actual joke?).
But even the then-new comedy shows from that period that I liked, like the Young Ones, just isn't as funny as the Two Ronnies or Porridge. Like Morecambe and Wise it is easy to sneer but secretly many of us still laugh at many of their sketches. Laughter is as vital a component of our lives as love, air and water. Its not bad way to be remembered though, is it? Ronnie Barker - he made a lot of us laugh. That's a nice thing for folk to say after you're gone.
I absolutely agree with you. Ronnie Barker was a giant, and I, for one, loved the Two Ronnies. After the "alternative comedians" came along, there was an unfortunate tendency to act like everything that had gone before was old-fashioned, bigoted rubbish, when, clearly, only some of it was.
ReplyDeletePorridge is classic comic theatre that deserves to be talked about in the hushed tones usually reserved for the likes of Beckett. Ronnie Barker made people laugh, and he did it with charm and aplomb.
PS: On the subject of tossers ranting about Thatcher - am I alone in being made to feel rather queasy by the spectacle of Ben Elton sucking up to the establishment? Sir Ben, anyone? Yuck.
I loved Ronnie Barker, and particularly enjoyed The worm that turned - which I actually read as a very funny satire on patriarchy.
ReplyDeleteHasn't Ben Elton noticed that Tony Blair is actually a Tory pretending to be Labour? What I want to know is, what is going on with David Cameron, who is clearly an Old Labour mole...
Has anyone else noticed how the word verification feature on Blogger could double up as a name generator for science fiction characters? For example, in order to post this, I have to type "Glivyliw" - perhaps some sort of Welsh alien?