Four Yorkshiremen sketch
The "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch is a parody of nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. Four Yorkshiremen reminisce about their upbringing, and as the conversation progresses, they try to outdo one another, their accounts of deprived childhoods becoming increasingly absurd.
The sketch was originally written and performed for the 1967 British television comedy series At Last the 1948 Show by the show's four writer-performers: Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Marty Feldman.[1] Barry Cryer is the wine waiter in the original performance and may have contributed to the writing.[2][3] The original performance of the sketch by the four creators is one of the surviving sketches from the programme and can be seen on the At Last the 1948 Show DVD.
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[edit] Performances
[edit] By Monty Python members
The "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch has been performed by Monty Python during their live shows, Live at Drury Lane (1974, no video recording available) and Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982), each performance varying slightly in its content. The performers in each case were Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin (Palin was the only member of the group actually from Yorkshire). It was also performed by Cleese, Jones, Palin and Rowan Atkinson for The Secret Policeman's Ball, the 1979 Amnesty International benefit gala.
[edit] Others
The sketch was revived for the 2001 Amnesty show We Know Where You Live – performed by Harry Enfield, Alan Rickman, Eddie Izzard and Vic Reeves. In 1989 the script was published in the charity fundraiser The Utterly, Utterly Amusing and Pretty Damn Definitive Comic Relief Revue Book under the title "The Good Old Days", with the characters named as Joshua, Obadiah, Josiah and Ezekiel.
[edit] References
- ^ Morris Bright; Robert Ross (2001). Fawlty Towers: fully booked. BBC. p. 60. ISBN 9780563534396. http://books.google.com/books?id=AH-FAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- ^ Radio interview with Tim Brooke-Taylor — includes comments about the "Four Yorkshiremen sketch"
- ^ The story of Britain's favourite sitcom "Fawlty Towers", by Graham McCann, published by Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, England, U.K., in 2007 ISBN 978 0 340 898116 (hardback) — ISBN 978 0 340 898123 (paperback)
[edit] External links
- "Four Yorkshiremen" originally performed in At Last the 1948 Show on YouTube
- "Four Yorkshiremen" performed live at Hollywood Bowl on YouTube
- "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch - transcript from the album Monty Python Live at Drury Lane, 1974
- "Four Yorkshiremen" performed live by Eddie Izzard, Harry Enfield, Alan Rickman, and Vic Reeves, at We Know Where You Live (2001) on YouTube
