A Bit of Fry & Laurie Concerning Language

chaos?

@@ivok9846 Yeah. Not just apparent chaos to the viewer, but Stephen Fry is bound to be ad-libbing some of it, he can't help himself going off script. I'm sure the important beats are rehearsed but he's also bound to be throwing a few curve-balls at Laurie if only for the fun of it.

@@Ylyrra i think you a) didn't get most of it b) presume it's mostly improv because of a) now, why do you think it's ad-lib? have you devoted much thought to language and didn't found anything he said remindful of basics of linguistics?

@@ivok9846 Interesting presumption about my intelligence and level of understanding. Or alternatively my reasoning could simply have been because of exactly the reasons I gave. Stephen Fry is notorious for ad-libbing, and also notorious for having fun with co-performers by keeping them on their toes if he thinks they'll rise to the occasion. He and many of the other of the mid-80s British comedians grew up on the improv circuit as much as on rehearsed skits. I find it UNLIKELY that he wasn't doing that at least some of the time with his longest collaborator and friend, just based on their personalities and how they've always interacted when interviewed together. But obviously I'm just too thick to "get it" must be the only explanation.

@@Ylyrra did you answer my question, which parts are chaos, gibberish, improv? instead of that, your op concentrates on fry's non existent replies... give me 20sec excerpt which is utter foolishness, if you would. or 10. thanks btw. my standpoint on improv in comedy is simillar to that of John Cleese, ie that thing doesn't really exist.

Correctly correctington!!

You may.. continue

Extrinsically, Extrinsically!

Makes me think about "Blazing Saddles" and: "...dare I say..." "Dare,dare"

I hate you*

*complimentary*

@@shelbynamels7948 complemintary

Or "a hunk of a charred Panzer"

@@andrewmaclennan5194 *the hulk* of a charred Panzer.

complamenotaury

So true. Fry was well and truly in his cocaine phase during a bit of

that's language for you

😂😂😂 I love you

I was laughing so hard at your perfect summation, that it took a full 30 seconds to actually manage to hit the thumbs up.

Key terms covered.

This is basically a perfect summary.

Cay-pa'bull, is language Cay-pa'bull !

You, on the other hand, have benutifully destroyed it.

@@rishivachaspathyastakala866 The irony here is powerful

I think Shakespeare, kinda was better. But each to their own. Shakespeare certainly never made anyone laugh so? Well he probably did, but they were from the past, and not forced to study it's hard to comprehend rhythmic iambic pentameter shiz at school. :P

Correctly Correctington.

and the complete opposite is The Armstrong and Miller Show - WWII Pilots 1

I wouldn’t mock bipolarism, but it was funny as this is a very mad conversation

I don't think he is mocking. The answer is actually yes. And the conversation isn't actually mad, it makes perfect sense if you pay attention to what he is actually saying.

yeah I think it literally is, I can't believe it took 30 years for stephen fry to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder

Bipolar 1 no less.

I've been there and yes, definitely.

I think it might also be a parody on the type of person that speaks like Fry's character... They sometimes forget people's names while being so intense.

Its different skits

@@Emrys91 7 different skits?

Javelina, Trevlin, Castella, Lyllette, Bradley, Finley, Declan etc.

In Dorset _alone_

"Our language, tiger"

For example, m.youtube.com/watch?v

5:00 for anyone looking

The knowledge that Stephen Fry is gay adds an interesting subtext to moments like that.

"I find you beautiful."

yeah you wish

To be a fly on that wall

Impossible. Alcohol can't talk.

This sketch is exactly what its like to have a conversation with a coked up linguistics undergrad

Studying English is: invigorating, delightful, dizzying, mind-boggling, mesmerizing - glorious! So let‘s go on with it, my brethren in arms

it's a take off of Noam Chomsky..'colourless green ideas sleep furiously'..

i don't get the meaning of either of those sentences

"the first downy growth on the upper lip of a Mediterranean girl!" was missed by the laughter of the original audience, but I caught it and it was hilarious! ... but "I think he said 'vulva'" was a kicker as well.

the rest of the sentence was so covered up with audience laughter, the Mediterraneans forgot to officially protest.

​@@joesr31You're right not to understand their meanings, as they are both grammatically correct sentences but also nonsensical.

Nice one

...what?

@@DuskAndHerEmbrace13 Slavoj Zizek.

Dux Nihilo He is nothing like this.

SelfReferencingName He is though.

I mean, he's definitely wrong to claim that the English language is immune to demagoguery.

@@danielchiverton4168 True. But it is a fairly accurate portrayal of some of the narrow-minded, self-congratulatory guff that certain liberal-conservative oxbridge types (esp. of a late 20th century vintage) would come out with in their tutorials.

Well countermand my trousers if he isn't bang on the bloody milk! 👍

@@danielchiverton4168 He doesn't claim that though, he just posits the idea.

I’m just here to tell you all to shut the fuck up

Ta! 😄

But what does it even mean?

@@neilwayte579 it means that someone is about to laugh so hard that milk comes out their nose, and should the waiter not plug said nose firmly, the milk will surely ruin the other person's pants

@@cindel6765 Dear me! Thank you

Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.

Never underestimate the value of the straightman in comedy. The Marx Brothers would not have been as funny as they were without a Zeppo to bounce off of.

The delivery of "whoops" seemed to surprise Fry as well, you can see him trying not to laugh right after it.

Yes, Stephen Fry is a literature scholar and he uses it beautifully.

@@matsbjur2535 But does his use of said literature scholarship in the confines of language contain, exhibit, express beauty?

@@Fofo-sr2xu they actually do!

Laugh track?

It was filmed in front of a live audience.

People falling over is funny, it's not a joke though and it's definitely not comedy. I think you're just hung up on the idea that it's a series of words followed by a punchline. Think physical comedy, character comedy, observational comedy, the fact that warped copies of things can be hilarious just by existing. Despite this being so heavily about words it's not really in the same realm as jokes, it's mannerisms and timing, notes on class, education and flirting, expectations being subverted. Fry does some brilliant physical comedy and turns on such a torrent of vocal tics so specific they almost demand you think you recognise them, and those unexpected lowbrow/highbrow switches keep giving it the rhythm of a joke that rolls along.

we know why they're funny, but when it comes to explaining it.. yeah, hard 😂

@@storageheater This is a terrific explanation. The comment about how Fry "turns on such a torrent of vocal tics so specific they almost demand you think you recognise them" is particularly insightful: I instinctively feel on first listen that I must've been born in the wrong era and 'ought' to recognise them as parodies of a whole string of intellectual figures who probably used to hold court on late-night 1970s arts programmes - yet in fact I think it's just Stephen relishing the chance to create archetypes of these sorts of tics without it needing to reference anyone specifically. It's brilliant, either way.

Thanks for pointing out. It is indeed.

What does it mean in your opinion?

​@@samvimes2061 Yes it's needlessly, terribly embellished, congrats on getting the joke, but much of what he says must've missed your head as well if you thought it was completely devoid of "meaning". Underneath the exaggerated, meaningless blabbering, there was a pretty solid line of thought. He is talking about real questions asked in linguistics and aesthetics and philosophy in general. Though it is hardly groundbreaking stuff, it is very interesting nonetheless. Those last lines were definitely deliberately chosen to sound pseudo-philosophical as possible, but it'd be an injustice to say the whole thing was "meaningless". I'd ask you what an objectively meaningful imperative sentence even could be, but it would seem too much like I'm parodying Fry's character at this point.

@@gnorung7769 successfully parodied!

And didn't he say it beautifully?

Every damn night.

Autocue!

❤ Jeeves and Wooster

The last golden era of SNL was ended by the departure of people like Hader, Wiig, Armisen, Sudeikis, Moynihan, and of the writers, Mulaney. Since then they've been more concerned with providing a safespace for snowflakes and virtue signaling than real comedy.

"Rebenton" - Jeremy Clarkson

@@jagtan13 haha TG lads had their own way of pronouncing (car) names

@@nothajzl indeed!

Same for me in my English Linguistics degree!

Based off some of his writing, the reason for that is because that's where he's getting it all from. He has a wonderful way of documenting, mocking and being the very thing all at once.

I *WISH* my philosophy classes were like this! I got "what are morals, values, and ethics?"

Somehow it doesn't surprise me that Stephen Fry was teaching philosophy at your university.

@@doctorfmac8469 ohh that is easy...Q:"what are morals, values, and ethics?" A:"Ideas but nothing tangible"

of course that is about it

And there I was thinking they might actually teach useful things like phonology, rather than intellectual claptrap!

which bit was that?

No it didn't

You said nobody caught it, do you expect someone would ever think to suggest that Marjorie was connected to Fry and Laurie out of context?

@@kevinbissinger lol no???? 😂😂 it was just me saying that no one caught it lol. I didn’t expect them to

I did, being young in Ulster, and it got me into trouble, let me tell you.

Actually, I'd probably argue the opposite and say this would have been thoroughly rehearsed. That's why this show was so funny. They were meticulous about hitting the right comedic beats at just the right time. That takes practice. I've seen some behind the scenes footage of their similar process on blackadder. Very interesting.

All scripted. They sweated over getting every word just right. Fry did a small amount of improv away from Fry & Laurie, but he never felt he was particularly good at it.

They are both still very much alive. And they’re both still tremendous… 😉

Sostén firmemente la nariz del presentador de las noticias, camarero, o la leche amigable contradirá mis pantalones.

I want this sentence on a T-shirt or plaque or mug.

Fry on Harris podcast. Check it.

Fry and Petersons debate on political correctness

Or, watch Russell Brand

He's taken part in quite an few debates including Jordan Peterson and Christopher Hitchens which are excellent. One in particular to look out for is when the panel debates whether or not religion is a source for the good; it is truly compelling.

@@elisabethvajner7767 that debate was simply unfortunate, as fry pointed out on several occasions that they came to talk about political correctness but the majority of the panel was just going at each other's throats instead. Damn shame.

Apparently

I was in the audience for the first sketch.

also Saussure

in the trade it's called "the floating straight man"