0:00:21 > 0:00:26Coming up, Britain's best-loved comedians reveal who gets their chuckle muscles working overtime.
0:00:26 > 0:00:28No, "fork 'andles".
0:00:28 > 0:00:32The Two Ronnies were the greatest British double act ever.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38He is brilliant. That is fantastic. Just gets it just right, don't he?
0:00:38 > 0:00:42No fuss, no frills approach to comedy. Just gets on with it!
0:00:42 > 0:00:45I've never seen electricity. That's why I don't pay for it.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49From stand-up routines to sketches and classic sitcoms...
0:00:49 > 0:00:52Well, huzzah and hurrah!
0:00:52 > 0:00:55..they're letting us in on their all-time favourite jokes
0:00:55 > 0:00:59and their love, envy and sheer admiration for the star performers behind them.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02A stand-up purist, I love it. I love it.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04You're having me on, aren't you?
0:01:04 > 0:01:08That can be shown again and again for the next 20, 30 years, and it's still funny.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13That's how you know you're a star, and he was one that night.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15So dust off your laughing gear,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18and buckle up for a raucous ride into the land of comedy.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21You are having me on! You are definitely having me on!
0:01:26 > 0:01:32The Two Ronnies, in my opinion, are the greatest British double act ever.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39Now the late news. Senator Grunsden, a candidate for the United States presidency,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43complained that just because he likes to go down to his Carolina poultry farm,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45help with the harvest and preserve his beetroots,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49that doesn't make him a cotton-picking, chicken-plucking, pickle dip.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54They complemented each other so well,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Corbett and Barker, wonderfully well.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59When they were together it was just magic.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01It wasn't just because they were both
0:02:01 > 0:02:04consummate professionals, brilliant performers,
0:02:04 > 0:02:06but also the material - it was so good.
0:02:11 > 0:02:12The Two Ronnies' sketch show
0:02:12 > 0:02:16was one of the longest-running entertainment shows on the BBC,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20with 22 million viewers tuning in each week.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22My favourite sketch
0:02:22 > 0:02:25has to be the Two Ronnies, the Four Candles sketch.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31The Four Candles sketch first aired in 1976
0:02:31 > 0:02:34and is widely thought of as their masterpiece.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Four candles.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Four candles?
0:02:38 > 0:02:43When you think of the Two Ronnies a lot of people will probably say that sketch first - Four Candles.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Oh well, I mean that's just a classic. It is a classic.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50Here you are, four candles.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52No, "fork 'andles".
0:02:52 > 0:02:54Well, there you are, four candles.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57No, "fork 'andles".
0:02:57 > 0:02:59Handles for forks.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05When I watched it as a kid with my family,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07everybody - mum, dad, aunties, uncles -
0:03:07 > 0:03:09they're laughing their heads off.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14And it's a very clever play on words, but they cram so much comedy into it.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17It just makes you roar with laughter.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- Got any plugs?- Plugs?- Yeah.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23- What kind of plugs? - Rubber one. Bathroom.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39What size?
0:03:39 > 0:03:4013 amp.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50Ronnie Barker doesn't do much speaking at all in that sketch.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54And Ronnie Corbett drives the sketch.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57- Got any 'oes?- 'Oes?- 'Oes.
0:03:59 > 0:04:05When you watch that sketch, watch Ronnie Corbett's reactions, which were beautiful.
0:04:08 > 0:04:09No, 'ose.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12'Ose!
0:04:13 > 0:04:18- I thought you meant hoes! - 'Ose.- 'Ose!
0:04:18 > 0:04:22They made the next pun, the next gag, even greater.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24He did the groundwork.
0:04:27 > 0:04:28No, O's.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37'ose...? Oh, you mean pantyhose! Pantyhose!
0:04:37 > 0:04:41No, no, O's. O's. O's for the gate.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44"Mon repose" - O's.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47- Letter O's!- Letter O's!
0:04:52 > 0:04:54I thought you meant...
0:04:55 > 0:04:58I mean, it's very funny where he's getting fed up,
0:04:58 > 0:05:01you know, thinks he's getting him at it.
0:05:02 > 0:05:03All right?
0:05:03 > 0:05:07JON CULSHAW: Your sympathy for the Ronnie Corbett shopkeeper character,
0:05:07 > 0:05:11who has to keep going further into the shop and get ladders,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and just go to more effort, and climb to the top of the shelf to get the things.
0:05:17 > 0:05:18Yeah, next.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20Got any P's?
0:05:23 > 0:05:26Gawd's sake, why didn't you bleedin' tell me that when I'm up there?
0:05:26 > 0:05:29I'm up the stairs already...
0:05:29 > 0:05:31I'm up and down the shop all the time!
0:05:33 > 0:05:36I'm up and down...
0:05:36 > 0:05:40JON RICHARDSON: Ronnie Corbett's little withering looks to camera -
0:05:40 > 0:05:42he sort of goes through
0:05:42 > 0:05:45being annoyed and then feeling victimised,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47and then just frustrated, and then hating him,
0:05:47 > 0:05:49climbing the ladder and having to go back up.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54And there's so much going on beyond the great jokes and the wordplay.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58It's a really perfect piece of writing and performance.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01How many do you want?
0:06:01 > 0:06:03No, tins of peas.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11Three tins of peas.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20You're having me on, aren't you? You're having me on! Eh?
0:06:22 > 0:06:26Such is the success of the Four Candles sketch,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29that the original script hand-written by Ronnie Barker
0:06:29 > 0:06:32surfaced on the Antiques Roadshow back in 2006.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36It just is one of the funniest things I've ever seen,
0:06:36 > 0:06:40and I think it is probably one of the most famous English comedy sketches.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44It later sold at auction for a whopping 48 grand!
0:06:44 > 0:06:48£48,500 of the Queen's English pounds.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50I would love to have that.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54I mean, it really is a piece of comedy history.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57- There we are. Right. - Pumps.- Pumps.
0:06:57 > 0:06:58Hand pumps, foot pumps, come on.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01- Foot pumps. - Foot pumps. Foot pumps.
0:07:01 > 0:07:05JON CULSHAW: You can watch that sketch a thousand times,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08and you'll only get more fond of it.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09Here we are.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12No, pumps for your feet.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Brown pumps, size nine.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- You are having me on! You are definitely having me on! - No, I'm not.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20- I'm not.- You are!
0:07:20 > 0:07:24PADDY McGUINNESS: It stands the test of time. It can be shown again and again
0:07:24 > 0:07:26for the next 20 or 30 years, and it's still funny.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30- Washers.- What - windscreen washers, car washers,
0:07:30 > 0:07:35dishwashers, floor washers, back scrubbers, lavatory cleaners, floor washers?!
0:07:35 > 0:07:37It's just lovely to watch. Always makes me laugh my head off.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Four Candles is definitely the one for me.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44Mr Jones? You serve this customer, please. I've just about had enough!
0:07:44 > 0:07:47Look what he's got on there, look what he's got on there!
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Right - how many would you like, one or two?
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Probably one of the all-time greats of the Royal Variety Show
0:08:10 > 0:08:13was Freddie Starr.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15He's very young, he's very good, he's very talented.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Say hello to Freddie Starr!
0:08:19 > 0:08:22ENTRANCE MUSIC AND APPLAUSE
0:08:22 > 0:08:26I mean, I can't ever remember laughing as much at someone
0:08:26 > 0:08:29as I did at Freddie Starr.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31MUSIC: Intro to "It's Not Unusual"
0:08:38 > 0:08:42# It's not unusual to be loved by anyone... #
0:08:42 > 0:08:46Freddie Starr just absolutely just explodes onto the stage
0:08:46 > 0:08:49with this brilliant, brilliant, brilliant physical comedy.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51It's like watching him on fast forward
0:08:51 > 0:08:55and it's astonishing, just out of nowhere.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58# Ahh... #
0:09:02 > 0:09:04# If anything, if anything... #
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Mad-cat comedian and impressionist Freddie Starr
0:09:06 > 0:09:11got his first big break in 1970, when he was invited to appear
0:09:11 > 0:09:15on the highly prestigious Royal Variety Performance.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Second verse.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21- LENNY HENRY:- Freddie Starr's performance was ground-breaking
0:09:21 > 0:09:24cos he was a young club comedian no-one had really seen
0:09:24 > 0:09:26but he came on and surprised everybody.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30He did every pop star he knew and he was outrageous.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Mr Billy Fury.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Very clever. Very clever act, you know.
0:09:42 > 0:09:48I've never seen anybody change shape, faces, voice,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51just like that.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Of course, the whole place just fell about.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02# At sweet 16 she goes just to see the boys
0:10:02 > 0:10:06# She's ha ha ha ha ha... #
0:10:06 > 0:10:10The young, up and coming comic took the Palladium by storm
0:10:10 > 0:10:14but it was his famous impression of a certain pouty iconic pop star
0:10:14 > 0:10:16that truly clinched the deal.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20Ladies and gentlemen, Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27I will never, ever forget his impression of Mick Jagger.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33Oh, yeah. Yeah, he is brilliant!
0:10:33 > 0:10:35That is fantastic!
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Just gets it just right, doesn't he?
0:10:38 > 0:10:41It was an incredible thing - he suddenly did things
0:10:41 > 0:10:45with his lips and became Mick Jagger and sort of did the whole strutting,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47you know, that sort of dance that Jagger does.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:10:59 > 0:11:01# I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna be
0:11:01 > 0:11:04# You're gonna give your love to me... #
0:11:05 > 0:11:08His use of his body - I mean those legs, it's an image
0:11:08 > 0:11:11that I will always have with me, Freddie Starr's legs,
0:11:11 > 0:11:13and what he was able to do with them.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15# I know exactly how I'm gonna feel. #
0:11:15 > 0:11:18Following this legendary performance, Freddie's star rose,
0:11:18 > 0:11:22making him a TV regular throughout the '70s and '80s,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26wowing audiences with his outrageous brand of comedy.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28Freddie Starr, when I was a kid,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32whenever he came on telly, everything would stop in our house.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35You know, me mum would sit down, whoever was in, your friends,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38they'd sit down and you'd be kind of mesmerised by him.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40MUSIC PLAYS
0:11:42 > 0:11:44As an audience,
0:11:44 > 0:11:47we like chaos and we like things going wrong -
0:11:47 > 0:11:49that's why those blooper shows do so well.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Everything he did was a blooper, you know,
0:11:51 > 0:11:54and that's why everyone loved him.
0:11:54 > 0:11:57It was very visual, Freddie's comedy,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00but when you're a kid that's the kind of thing that you like.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02AUDIENCE SCREAMS
0:12:02 > 0:12:07You know, you don't really think about what he's saying and what the gags are -
0:12:07 > 0:12:09it's just very, very visually funny.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12I remember in the '70s, I found him hilarious.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16SCREAMING AND LAUGHTER
0:12:16 > 0:12:19I can remember Freddie Starr doing his Hitler impression
0:12:19 > 0:12:24in turn-down Wellington boots, a pair of shorts on
0:12:24 > 0:12:28with swastikas, big white baggy shorts with swastikas on,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30doing comic Sieg Heiling,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32and nobody thought there was anything wrong with that.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35It would cause incident and break up the European Union now.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44Freddie Starr is a naturally funny man and he proved it on that Royal Command Performance
0:12:44 > 0:12:46when he not only stopped the show -
0:12:46 > 0:12:51he drew riotous applause, which brought him back on to take a call.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57His act was carefully honed down to a mere three minutes for the show,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01but such was the audience response that he became
0:13:01 > 0:13:06the first performer in 47 years to be allowed an encore.
0:13:06 > 0:13:09That's how you know you're a star and he was one that night.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25Tony Hancock is pretty much the prototypical sitcom lead man -
0:13:25 > 0:13:30a guy with ambitions that he can't succeed in. He's pompous,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32he likes the sound of his own voice.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35If you want to know where it all comes from in English sitcom,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38go and look at him and you'll see it everywhere else.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40Oh my word, swipe me, ooh!
0:13:40 > 0:13:43Perhaps the first-ever true sitcom,
0:13:43 > 0:13:48Hancock's Half Hour crossed over from the radio to television in 1956
0:13:48 > 0:13:51and was a dramatic departure from the variety shows of the time.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54It starred comedy actor Tony Hancock,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57playing an exaggerated version of himself.
0:13:57 > 0:13:58He was really ahead of his time
0:13:58 > 0:14:01because the show is about Tony Hancock.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03He wasn't playing anyone other than himself
0:14:03 > 0:14:05and that's quite an innovative thing, I thought.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09You can't do that! A man in your position has to keep up appearances!
0:14:09 > 0:14:11You can't let the public see you queuing up with a tray!
0:14:11 > 0:14:14What about the business lunches and producers?
0:14:14 > 0:14:17I would beg my parents to stay up to watch his show.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20I could get his downbeat humour, I just loved the way
0:14:20 > 0:14:22he was always cross and bad-tempered.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25All those that are empty are off! There's mince and baked beans.
0:14:27 > 0:14:28I don't want that!
0:14:28 > 0:14:30Did you handle it?
0:14:30 > 0:14:32The last thing I'd handle is mince and beans!
0:14:32 > 0:14:33What's wrong with it?
0:14:33 > 0:14:36I just don't like mince and beans, that's all!
0:14:36 > 0:14:40And he turned it into an art form and I just love that about him.
0:14:40 > 0:14:41And he was a brilliant actor.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Good grief, this is sheer extortion.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46Four and fivepence, please, or change your food.
0:14:46 > 0:14:47Oh, very well, then.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55What makes Tony Hancock funny? Just his face
0:14:55 > 0:14:58and his turned-down shoulders,
0:14:58 > 0:15:02but his enthusiasm to pull himself up.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04He was brilliant, absolutely brilliant.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06What other delicacies are you keeping hidden?
0:15:06 > 0:15:09LAUGHTER
0:15:09 > 0:15:13I think he was a genius - absolute comic genius.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16And there was one particular episode that I absolutely fell in love with
0:15:16 > 0:15:18and it's called The Economy Drive.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23You great oaf! I thought I told you to cancel the milk.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Oh, shut up moaning! Open the door.
0:15:26 > 0:15:27400 bottles of milk - look at it all!
0:15:27 > 0:15:30What am I going to do with 400 bottles of milk?
0:15:30 > 0:15:33He lives with Sid James in this episode and they come back from holiday.
0:15:33 > 0:15:39First of all, there are 5,000 pints of milk outside the front door.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41That got him going.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Why didn't you just put a notice up?
0:15:43 > 0:15:46"Gone away for three months, come on in and help yourselves!"
0:15:46 > 0:15:48What a buffoon you are!
0:15:48 > 0:15:50Think I'm made of money? Come on out of the way!
0:15:51 > 0:15:55And then when he got inside, all the lights have been left on,
0:15:55 > 0:15:57the TV has been left on.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01Do you think I'm made of money? This waste has got to stop, Sid.
0:16:01 > 0:16:02'Good evening.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06'Welcome to another evening of television!'
0:16:10 > 0:16:13And so he decides to go on an economy drive
0:16:13 > 0:16:17and so the cut-backs, you cut,
0:16:17 > 0:16:21then you see Sid James is wrapped in a rug cos it's so cold
0:16:21 > 0:16:24and in the grate in the fire,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28there's one lump of coal burning, which he tries to keep going.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30At one stage, he reaches to put another lump of coal on.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Put it back!
0:16:36 > 0:16:37It's freezing in here!
0:16:37 > 0:16:38Put it back!
0:16:38 > 0:16:42One lump an hour - we've had our ration for tonight!
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Going to bed in about 15 minutes - save the lights.
0:16:45 > 0:16:46It's only seven o'clock!
0:16:46 > 0:16:51Well, if you think I'm sitting here all night with that thing blazing away, you're mistaken!
0:16:51 > 0:16:5340 watts, that is!
0:16:53 > 0:16:56The thing that got me was he's rolling up a cigarette,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00which he's never done before, but he explains how he can buy
0:17:00 > 0:17:03a whole lot of tobacco and filters for one and seven or something.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07A-ha, 400 for one and nine, boy!
0:17:10 > 0:17:12He manages eventually to roll one
0:17:12 > 0:17:16and he lights it and because it's only got one strand of tobacco,
0:17:16 > 0:17:20it immediately burns straight to his fingers and that's the end of it.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Mind, you get through a lot of them.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38It's the most bizarre cigarette you've seen smoked in your life.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41"Don't do this, don't do that!" I can't stand it much longer!
0:17:41 > 0:17:46I can't go on living like this much longer - it's driving me mad, mad!
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Don't walk up and down, it wears the carpet out.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Just a phenomenally funny joke, really,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56and that's my favourite comic moment of all time.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59And they don't make them like that any more.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11One of my favourite comedians has to be Steven Wright,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14the American stand-up who's been around since the '80s.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17The best comedian in America, a fine man. We've enjoyed him all day.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Please put your hands together in the studio, for Steven Wright!
0:18:20 > 0:18:25He's a brilliant stand-up, wonderful joke writer and unique thinker.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29Last time I tried to commit suicide was about an hour ago.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32I was down the street on the roof of this very tall building.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37I leapt off the edge and I accidentally did a triple back flip, landing standing on my feet.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42Nobody saw this but two little kittens, one of them said, "See, that's how you do that."
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Multi-talented film-maker, actor, writer and comedian,
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Steven Wright has had a stand-up career spanning over 30 years.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55He hit the big time in 1982
0:18:55 > 0:18:59when he was discovered by a producer of The Tonight Show.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Often described as the comedian's comedian,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06he's famed for his lethargic delivery and philosophical one-liners.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09I think he's the best joke writer there is.
0:19:09 > 0:19:12No fuss, no frills approach to comedy. Gets on with it.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Friday, I was in a book store and started talking to this very French-looking girl.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20She was a bilingual illiterate. She couldn't read in two different languages.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Steven Wright is a stand-up purist,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24one-liner merchant.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27I love it, I love it.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31I've never seen electricity. That's why I don't pay for it.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35A lot of his jokes were like him dropping tiny little word bombs
0:19:35 > 0:19:37into people's heads
0:19:37 > 0:19:40and then waiting for them to think about it for a couple of seconds
0:19:40 > 0:19:43and then thinking, "Yeah, that's an amazing image."
0:19:43 > 0:19:46I went fishing with Salvador Dali.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48He was using a dotted line.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53He caught every other fish.
0:19:54 > 0:19:55In the late '80s,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Wright appeared on the iconic stand-up show Saturday Live,
0:19:58 > 0:20:03where his distinctive style went down a storm with British audiences.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08Steven Wright kind of tapped in to the whole weird darkness
0:20:08 > 0:20:10of a lot of British comedy
0:20:10 > 0:20:17and I think that's why people over here took him to their hearts.
0:20:17 > 0:20:19The opening joke, I think, is a brilliant joke.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Last night I had a dream
0:20:21 > 0:20:24that all the babies prevented by the pill showed up.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31They were mad.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34It's not structured like a normal joke.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37It's just trying to create an image in people's heads.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39It's just a way of thinking.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42It's a very, very unusual, provocative way of thinking.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45I got up the other day and everything in my apartment had been stolen
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and replaced with an exact replica.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52I think it's very hard to do well, that style of humour.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55I mean, the masters of it do it superbly.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00What's absolutely essential is that the quality of the jokes
0:21:00 > 0:21:04is brilliant, because if they're not then you lose people immediately.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Stones, I love the Stones. I can't believe they're still
0:21:07 > 0:21:10doing it after all these years. I watch them whenever I can...
0:21:10 > 0:21:11Fred and Barney.
0:21:13 > 0:21:20He's not abrasive. He's very sort of relaxed and slightly shambolic
0:21:20 > 0:21:25and really has the knack of making it sound like
0:21:25 > 0:21:28these things have just popped into his head,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31which is a really difficult thing to do.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Today I was...
0:21:35 > 0:21:36No, that wasn't me.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43There's another beautiful joke
0:21:43 > 0:21:47which is about a woman asking him how he's feeling
0:21:47 > 0:21:50and he says, "You know when your chair's leaning back?"
0:21:50 > 0:21:54I said, "You know when you're sitting on a chair and you lean back, and then you lean too far
0:21:54 > 0:21:58"and you almost fall, but just at the last second you catch yourself?
0:21:58 > 0:22:01"I feel like that all the time."
0:22:01 > 0:22:03It's a wonderful observation.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06I was walking down the street and I saw a man who had wooden legs
0:22:06 > 0:22:08and real feet.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11He is a master at creating imagery.
0:22:11 > 0:22:15In stand-up, you want to be able to create images.
0:22:15 > 0:22:21One of my favourite Steven Wright jokes is when he says, "I was a Caesarean baby."
0:22:21 > 0:22:23I was Caesarean born.
0:22:23 > 0:22:24Can't really tell.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29Although whenever I leave the house, I go out through the window.
0:22:29 > 0:22:35He creates an image of this guy who's a Caesarean baby, who just can't resist the window.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I put a new engine in my car, but I didn't take the other one out.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Now I can go 500 miles an hour.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44I took the headlights off and I put strobe lights on.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48So when I drive at night, it looks like I'm the only one that's moving.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55But he's a very, very funny man. I suggest you check him out.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06One of my most favourite comedy moments was in the last episode of Blackadder.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08PHONE RINGS
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Hello, the Somme public baths.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15No running, shouting or piddling in the shallow end.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19The whole of the last episode of Blackadder was actually terribly,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22terribly moving and very sad and...
0:23:22 > 0:23:25kind of very darkly funny.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28Gentlemen, our long wait is nearly at an end.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Tomorrow morning, General Insanity Melchett
0:23:31 > 0:23:34invites you to a mass slaughter. We're going over the top.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36Well, huzzah and hurrah!
0:23:38 > 0:23:41After four series and 25 episodes,
0:23:41 > 0:23:46Blackadder and his chums graced our screens for one final time.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Blackadder Goes Forth
0:23:48 > 0:23:51has the dark setting of the trenches of World War I.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54- AL MURRAY:- That fourth series is awesome.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59I think it probably seemed controversial to do a sitcom set in the First World War in the trenches.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02We've been sitting here since Christmas 1914,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05during which millions of men have died and we've advanced no further
0:24:05 > 0:24:08than an asthmatic ant with some heavy shopping.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12I mean, it's beautifully placed, that whole series.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14It's really neatly done and they walk a fine line.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16It was quite clever.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I just think it was comedy that made you think, really.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22It's ice cream in Berlin in 15 days.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25Or ice cold in no man's land in 15 seconds.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29Now the time has come to get out of this madness once and for all.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32It was a rare thing - you don't get that in comedy.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35You don't get anything that poignant and that powerful,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38but Blackadder did it. I mean, the writing was just amazing.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41- Permission to ask a question, sir? - Permission granted, Baldrick.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44As long it isn't the one about where babies come from.
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Writers Ben Elton and Richard Curtis penned an all-time classic scene
0:24:48 > 0:24:54where the hapless Baldrick unforgettably highlights the futility of war.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58You have Baldrick as the sort of representative
0:24:58 > 0:25:01of the ignorant people, God bless him,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05who's the one kind of asking the big questions
0:25:05 > 0:25:08that a lot of us don't really understand.
0:25:08 > 0:25:13The thing is, the way I see it, these days there's a war on, right?
0:25:13 > 0:25:16And ages ago, there wasn't a war on, right?
0:25:16 > 0:25:21So there must have been a moment when there not being a war on went away...
0:25:21 > 0:25:25- SHAPPI KHORSANDI:- I remember watching it at the time, and just being really glad
0:25:25 > 0:25:29that it's a comedy sketch with real intelligence behind it
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and real pathos for the characters.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35That's a great scene cos they're just talking - nothing happens.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37They sit there and discuss a thing in a funny way.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41So, what I want to know is...
0:25:41 > 0:25:44how did we get from the one case of affairs
0:25:44 > 0:25:47to the other case of affairs?
0:25:47 > 0:25:50Do you mean, how did the war start?
0:25:51 > 0:25:52Yeah.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57So they're sat and they're having this deep and meaningful about why war happens
0:25:57 > 0:25:59and the entire time Edmond Blackadder
0:25:59 > 0:26:03has got a pair of underpants on his head and he's trying to look mad,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07cos he's heard that if you look mad, then you won't have to go into war.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09The war started because of the vile Hun
0:26:09 > 0:26:12and his villainous empire building.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20while the German empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganyika.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26Baldrick comes into his own cos he says it's about someone shot
0:26:26 > 0:26:29an ostrich called Archie Duke.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31And you know he's got it yet again messed up,
0:26:31 > 0:26:34he's got all his wires crossed.
0:26:34 > 0:26:40I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich cos he was hungry.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47I think you mean it started when the Arch Duke of Austro-Hungary got shot.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50No, there was definitely an ostrich involved.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54Well, possibly, but the real reason for the whole thing
0:26:54 > 0:26:57was that it was just too much effort not to have a war.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00By gum, this is interesting. I always loved history.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Battle of Hastings, Henry VIII and his six knives, all that.
0:27:04 > 0:27:05'It's quite touching,'
0:27:05 > 0:27:09the patience with which
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Blackadder deals with these two at the very end,
0:27:12 > 0:27:16trying to explain to them that they thought that the method for peace
0:27:16 > 0:27:19was two superpowers to be armed to the hilt.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent war in Europe,
0:27:22 > 0:27:26two superblocs developed. Us, the French and the Russians on one side,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32The idea was to have two vast opposing armies,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36each acting as the other's deterrent, that way there could never be a war.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39But this is a sort of a war, isn't it, sir?
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Yes, that's right. You see, there was a tiny flaw in the plan.
0:27:43 > 0:27:44What was that, sir?
0:27:44 > 0:27:47It was bollocks.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52"What's that, sir?" "Cos it's bollocks."
0:27:52 > 0:27:56So the poor old ostrich died for nothing.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01I think they were spot on about the futility of it
0:28:01 > 0:28:03and the pointlessness of it all.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Mad as a bicycle.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08'It doesn't matter why it started, it's just happened.'
0:28:08 > 0:28:12They make a neat point with it and Baldrick still doesn't understand,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16so you've pretty much got the whole situation of the programme encapsulated in that scene.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19No, there was definitely an ostrich involved, sir.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23For comedy to affect you like that...
0:28:23 > 0:28:26I mean, cos obviously the last scene where they go over the top
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and it all goes black and white was...
0:28:29 > 0:28:31God, I still remember that
0:28:31 > 0:28:35and it was like a punch in the stomach. It was like, "Oh, they're dead."
0:28:35 > 0:28:39I feel a real statement's made
0:28:39 > 0:28:44and it does go down in my personal library of all-time favourites.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:29:06 > 0:29:09E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk