Marty Feldman was a friend whom I miss very much. He was a comic genius and truly gentle soul. Not many Americans know that in his homeland, Marty was the British equivalent of Woody Allen... namely an accomplished writer and performer. Marty's seminal BBC series laid the foundation for "Monty Python" as many of its members worked on his writing staff.
Marty should never be forgotten and the full true nature of his incredible talent should forever stay on our radar. He was much more than "Aye-Gore."
I'm sharing some rarities in my possession that Marty gave me back in the seventies. Here's a sketch involving a bomb squad wherein you'll see a lot of the influence Marty yielded onto "Python"... as well as the influence Buster Keaton had on Marty. Note Marty's resemblence to the silent film icon in a few of his closeups.
Loved Marty Feldman as kid. He was great in Young Frankenstein
Spike Milligan and Marty Feldman were two of the greatest comedians of the 20th Century. To have made a series together is heaven for me. Just wish the bloody BBC would release it on DVD! You can easily see Spike wrote this skit. It reeks of his experiences in WWII, especially the way the sergeant acted.
Milligan and Feldman, perfect :)
Marty was was fantastic, he sometimes reminds me of a modern Buster Keaton
marty idolized keaton.
He may have idolized Keaton, but the silent comic he was closest to is Ben Turpin. Turpin was strictly a performer. But at his peak at Sennett in the mid twenties he and his shorts are often very funny. With Feldman it was the cockeye. With Turpin it was crossed eyes. Many of his shorts from that period are lost, but there are a few on KZhead. Check out The Pride of Prideville with the very talented Thelma Hill. Also in it is Ruth Taylor, the mother of Buck Henry.
why oh why dont they show this nowadays on TV? I'd watch it again and again...there's a hole generation out there who dont even know who these guy are!!!
Two genial naturally funny, Buster Keaton inspired entertainers...I miss them both. RIP.......especially after the bomb sketch 😉
I saw The Last Remake when i was a 16yr old pothead in the early 1990s.. And totally feel in love with it. I was instantly a Feldman Fan. When i learned that Marty had passed and the amout of things he appeared in was very limited it made me sad. I didnt even know about him while he was alive, and I still miss him every time i see him.
I haven't seen these clips since the Marty Feldman Show was on TV in the USA decades ago. Marty had a following in the US prior to Young Frankenstein. He was a remarkable man, writer, and comedian. The Monster in the box routine was performed on the Flip Wilson show before an live audience. At the end of the show the Monster in the box was revealed. Jack Benny did a Cameo as the revealed Monster.
Two comedy geniuses together.
Marty Feldman was a truly comedian.
First time I've ever seen this, hu-larious!
I am 68 now, one of the most memorable sketches I have of MF has to be around the mid 60s, possibly TWTWTW or TW3. First advances into digital animation. My father was a Sound Engineer in the Industry, his father, Technical Director at Ealing Studios, and his 2 brothers, also technicians in the cinema industry, both killed in WW2.The sketch was MF being a news broadcaster, at his desk, with at stage right, our left, a glass of water. Whilst MF was reading some banal, but obviously relevant new article, a digitalised frog, walked across the front of the desk, and dived into the glass of water!!!
Marty Feldman was so great. :)
Have you seen the one where he's playing golf and the ball ends up going all over the place including a fountain, a train, a truck of sand and gets swallowed by a bird? thats one of the funniest I've seen...good ol' marty!
Marty Feldman was great!
Great actor and performer.Thank u...
What delightful insanity. :)
Great stuff! And great to see Spike Milligan on here for his comedy was so ahead of it's time. Like Ernie Kovacs
i remember this show when it aired....classic tv.....loved the sketch when he was following someone and takeing there picture....i think it was one of his funniest...
As you must well know, you were fortunate to have such a friend in your life. He was an AMAZING talent and a favorite of mine and so many others. Thank you so much for sharing these.
Brilliant.
I remember the Marty Feldman Comedy Machine that was on Friday nights during the summer. It was a very short lived show that had some of the greatest comedy I've seen. I would disagree that he's the British version of Woody Allen, Marty Feldman was more like a combination of Buster Keaton and Ben Turpin. I would love to get copies of his show if anyone knows where they may be purchased. His best remembered sketch was the thing in the box that he took to the Vet.
Thank you very much for sharing this
Oh please. Marty Feldman was NOTHING like Woody Allen. Marty Feldman was *FUNNY!!* :)
He wuz the bees-neez.
One of the best in my opinion.
thanks for sharing x
And you would be correct. I have one last one that I'll put up that I believe aired both on the American "Golddiggers" show as well as the "Comedy Machine."
Wow! You knew him? I have always adored him. There will never be another like him!
I never really noticed it, but there IS quie a bit of resemblance with Buster Keaton! Two great, funny men!!! Thanks for the post!
I remember watching Marty Feldman's show 'The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine' on tv here in Australia back in the 70s. The titles were animated by Terry Gilliam as were various sketches.
I'm a silent film aficionado and have noticed the resemblance of Feldman's work to Keaton, but have never seen it elsewhere acknowledged (though I may not have seen the right sources). Thank you for confirming my suspicion and thank you for posting! I'll admit I am more familiar with his film work than his sketches so your posts are a treasure!
Hello there. Gosh, you were lucky to know Marty. I only feel as though I do. I'm an ex Brit living in New Zealand. I was a comedian in Christchurch NZ during the 80's and even performed a few of Martys sketches in my earl shows before I'd written many of my own. I can still do some of his best stuff, his parts, Tims & Johns, voice perfect .... but I could never do the eyes .... funny that :)
It's when they start dancing.
Over here he does get tonnes of credit, or rather from certain people he does. Such as me =D love him!
ARGH!! I really want that undertakers coat!!
great draft commercial for inner city youth
Perfect.
i'd be able to die happily if adult swim did that. my friends would too since he's so monty python-esque and we all love monty python.
a pity he didn't get more credit. he's funnier than most of the hacks on comedy central.
Wie immer...EXTRA.........
Total Genious!!
thanks for sharing this! I love Marty Feldman!
Thought the same. Marty definitely studied and loved most of the great movie slapstick comedians from the silent through early 1930s era, but here definitely a lot of Chaplin is evident. Yet, Marty is able to bring an edge to it by totally leaving out the Chaplin trademark melodrama (I am a huge fan of Chaplin BTW). This is pure nonsense and the timing is perfect! BTW: I am from Germany and hugely embarrased by our lame attemps of copying this stuff and watering it down during the 1970s...
Hmm, "Marty Feldman's Comedy Hour" Anyone remember? One of The Funniest men ever to set foot on this Planet! But, that's just my personal opine... C'ya, CJ-4-JC
Comedy machine?
Brilliant, AND new (to me at least...)
Classic Milligan stuff !
Is this Marty Feldman with Spike Milligan?
hillariuous :D
a lot of his actics remind you of Charlie Chaplin.....but agreed, its still a lot fun to watch such classic comedies :)
Spike Milligan.. a true genius..
hehe, go marty
I'll bet these clips were cut from the U.S. version of "Comedy Machine" because I don't remember any of them.
It’s clear to me now where Monty Python got their inspiration from.
mrSkandalpolisen the Pythons were writing alongside Marty for a while and starred with him in "At Last the 1948 Show". Their other British influence was Spike Milligan's writing of the Goon Shows. The Pythons were writing for him and he rejected a lot of the material they submitted, which they ised in the Flying Circus.
Marty was unique! Does anyone have a copy of the sketch he did on Dean Martin's Summer Show, "Gimme Five Bob"?
Pity this has almost no audio. You'd hear @0:40 "This could be dangerous, shall we go home and put on our uniforms and military-grade facial hair?" "But people might think we're different characters!" "Don't be silly, our faces are the same. You disrespect the blistering intellect of the Great British Public, sir!" "I don't wish to know that!"
Reminds me of D.E.O.D.S Chattenden.
With that tash Marty looked like Donald Sutherland.
Vat a lausy scketch
In my opinion the comparison with the young W. Allen of Bananas or Casino Royale,Pussycat and so on, is right.not the latter Allen, of course.
is that spike milligan as peasant#2?
you said it ..i grew up with my dad Eric laughing with them in the 60's ..real humour!
FUCK YEA!!!! ENGLISH comedy !!!!
War o de roses, eh?
Search "In God we trust", featuring Andy Kaufmann and Richard Pryor.
Are you referring to his liaison with his adopted daughter? No blood relation ship there, so what is the problem exactly? He fell in love with a lady and moved on.
more like charlie chaplin in this bit ... very original in his speaking roles
Who the hell is Woody Allen?
@gayjuggalo quite right old bean.
Weird, bleak, and funny.
Milligan, of course, was a Marx Brothers man!
what the hell is this ........
this sketch is not the best, annoyingªªªªªªªªªª
Nöt fönny, says Peter Sellers. The end is not funny at all !!!
This isn’t funny at all.
And your screen name is ill chosen.
Milligan, of course, was a Marx Brothers man!