TMTV: Part 2

[Touring Mars]

Welcome to TMTV! Every so often I'll post up a new set of themed videos, and look forward to having an open discussion about the issues raised in them. All comments and opinions are welcome. With any luck we might get some decent discussions going about these videos, but without having to wade through the piles of obscenities, insults and general brain-rotting inanity of the comments on the YouTube site itself.

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Part 2


Episode 4 Classic UK Comedy

Episode 5 Rock Operas

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[Touring Mars]

Episode 4

Classic UK Comedy
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Some of the most influential comedians to ever grace the screens of British television - here are but a few of my personal favourites, representing four very different and contrasting styles of comedy.

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The Two Ronnies



The Two Ronnies were probably the most popular and long-running sketch show in the UK, making a name for themselves with light-hearted, family oriented humour, laden with clever wordplay, puns, spoonerisms and amazing feats of verbal dexterity and masterful timing. This sketch is one of their finest - brilliantly clever and beautifully executed!


Spike Milligan



Spike was the troubled genius behind the Goon Show (with Peter Sellers and Sir Harry Secombe) and is remembered as the Godfather of alternative humour - arguably the single biggest influence on the members of Monty Python. His solo career/output was often bizarre and sometimes just downright not funny, but when he was good, he was really good...


Dave Allen



Irish comedian Dave Allen was very popular in the UK, and his routine paved the way for observational humour. Not so much a stand-up comedian as a sit-down comedian, his style was perfect TV cabaret material, but was easily a cut above the rest intellectually - and his unique style of biting yet non-offensive humour appealed to me from the first time I ever saw him.


Billy Connolly

(Warning: This clip contains strong language unsuitable for younger viewers... Clip)

The undisputed master of British stand-up comedy, Connolly was the first British comedian to playing gigs like a rock band to packed theatres. Not so quaint as even the more daring comedy acts on British TV in the 1970's, Connolly's style was (and still is) relentlessly funny...​

 

[CDailey]

I have Ripping Yarns on DVD, and it's well worth having - a couple of episodes you can switch off the canned laughter too, which I wish was on option on all BBC comedy DVD's from that era.

You've not seen "Life of Brian" yet? I think it's their magnum opus - I believe that even John Cleese considers it their finest hour - not least because it is brilliantly funny, but probably because it caused such a furore when it came out, and still gets some people riled to this day...

The Pythons argued that Brian was not the Messiah, just someone who was born in the same time and the same place as Jesus... and the film does actually show that Brian was born just round the corner from the real Messiah, right at the beginning of the film. The fact he is ultimately mistaken for the Messiah is not really his fault... the phrase "You are the Messiah, and I should know, I've followed a few!" sums it all up - the brilliance of the film is that it actually reflects reality alot more closely than the critics would like to think. Although spoken in jest, I believe what JC (John Cleese, not Jesus Christ) is saying is actually true... there really was "a few" Messiahs at the time...

I've actually never even heard of it until you mentioned it. I'll definetly have to check it out now though. 👍


edit: LMAO! The Two Ronnies video and the Billy Connolly video had me rolling!

 

[Touring Mars]

Wow, you haven't heard of The Life of Brian?? Well I take full credit for introducing you to one of the funniest films ever made

Oh, and I'm delighted you enjoyed The Two Ronnies sketch - although most of their stuff is pretty dated these days, some of their material really is timelessly brilliant, and I for one am still a big fan. This sketch is ace, and although they didn't write it themselves, they still pull it off with incredible finesse.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Wow, you haven't heard of The Life of Brian??

Yeah, you have to see that film. It's one of my favourites, just so damn funny. My friend and I did a few scenes from it for our drama class a few years back.

Also, Billy Connolly is fantastic. I've always enjoyed his comedy. Infact, his World Tour of New Zealand is on TV in an hour.

"What are you doing creeping around a cow shed at two o'clock in the morning? That doesn't sound very wise to me."​

 

[Touring Mars]

Episode 5

Rock Operas
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Some of the biggest bands in British rock (and pop) history ventured into the world of cinema, either by starring in their own movies - like The Beatles, or by supplying the soundtrack, Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, The Who etc. Here's a quick selection of some of my favourite moments from films where the music is the star of the show...

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Yellow Submarine by The Beatles



The film "Yellow Submarine" included music from three different Beatles albums. This track, Eleanor Rigby, is from the album "Revolver" (as is "Yellow Submarine"), but alot of the songs on this album are from Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. The film also contained a few tracks unique to the film, which would later appear on the soundtrack album...


The Wall by Pink Floyd



Bob Geldof (of the Boomtown Rats) plays the lead role in the movie of Pink Floyd's classic rock opera, The Wall.


Flash Gordon by Queen



A brilliant rock soundtrack that turns a pretty mediocre film into a pretty excellent film! This song is also one of first singles I ever owned, with "Football Fight" on the B-side!


Tommy by The Who



Elton John performs the most famous song, Pinball Wizard, from arguably the most famous rock opera of all time, Tommy. The Who also wrote another rock opera which later became a film, Quadrophenia - but sadly there are very few good music clips from the film left on YouTube these days...​

 

[Danoff]

Nice musical selections, but is it really necessary for Freddie's mic to look like that?

 

[Omnis]

Those videos have no sound and stop at 0:02 for some reason.

 

[Touring Mars]

I don't know why it's doing that, but it has been doing it to me for some time... they do work (I'm watching one of them right now), but it is annoyingly unpredicatble If you double click the vid, it should open up in YouTube proper, and it should play fine there. I think it is tempremental about embedded vids...

but is it really necessary for Freddie's mic to look like that?

You should see where the other one goes

 

[livemusic]

I have watched the wall a couple of times, have it on DVD.

I never knew about Tommy until last year when my dad told me about it and asked me to buy it on DVD for him. I still got to watch it though.

Oh, and I'm getting the same problem watching those videos.

 

[Touring Mars]

I dunno what's going on there... they work for me sometimes, but other times they get stuck at 0.02...

"Tommy" by The Who is a monumentally brilliant album which I cannot recommend highly enough. The film, on the other hand, is bizarre and pretty awful! I have it on DVD myself, and it's definitely an acquired taste Elton John's performance is the highlight, though...

"Quadrophenia" by The Who, however, is a fantastic movie, and a pretty great album as well... I recommend getting your hands on this before watching "Tommy" any day of the week...

 

[Omnis]

Doesn't even work on the standard Youtube site. I think it has something to do with the amount of embeds on the page.

 

[Touring Mars]

You're right 👍 As a result, I've had to split the thread up...

It seems that it depends not only on the number but the size of the videos on a particular page. I could get some of the videos to work by opening each single post via the Episode Index in Post #1 and then closing the original thread, but even that didn't work with the posts containing longer videos...

Also, if you click a YouTube vid in a forum, the URL contains a link back to the forum, and hence why the vids are not working "on the YouTube site" either... but if you remove the extra stuff in the URL and close the original thread (with all the vids posted), then the videos play normally...

In other words, there is a definite limit to the amount of videos you can have mbedded in a GTP page...