How to Irritate People by John Cleese and
Graham Chapman, who also star in the show
A different
version of this note and thoughts on other books are available at:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEVa4_CsRStSBBDo4uJWT8BSWtTTn0N1E
and
http://realini.blogspot.ro/
This is
another wonderful work from the hilarious John Cleese and Graham Chapman.
Alas, the
latter had a problem with alcohol and in the period around the filming of The
Life of Brian he went through two large bottles of gin every day.
The program
was about one and a half hours long and included extremely funny sketches, in a
restaurant, car repair shop and more.
In the part
where John Cleese plays the father to the character portrayed by Graham
Chapman, he does everything to annoy.
Father wants
to watch television, his favorite program, only the son and daughter-in-law are
already captivated by what they see on TV.
The way to
reach his goal is for father to render the situation impossible and make the
others leave the room.
And of
course he accomplishes that brilliantly.
The Car salesman
This one is
one of my favorites, especially since it happens, if not in the outrageous form
presented in the film, but in a more moderate manner to have this experience in
real life.
Professionals
of various kinds abuse their customers and they get away with a lot, if not
like the infamous mechanic portrayed by Michael Palin.
Examples
that comes to my mind refer to bus drivers on public transportation- since I
use them when I do not take the bike downtown- for reasons of snow or heavy
rain- I have to suffer along with other passengers as these guys hit the brakes
like they have nobody on their damn vehicle and then they abuse the horn all
the time…
The
customer played by Graham Chapman brings a car to the shop, only to be refused
by the cunning salesman portrayed by Michael Palin
The
salesman tries every trick in the book and is well qualified to become a
politician for he always dodges a question or a fault in the car.
He pretends
he has to go to lunch, but the customer needs to call and it will be all right,
after all, they never had a problem with this model- yeah, right!
The customer
insists that he tried to call but he was ignored repeatedly and the car has so
many serious problems…
From the
brakes that he invites the salesman to check by pushing while he uses them to
no effect to almost anything else…
-
Tell you what! You bring it in and
we’ll have a look! That’s what Palin’s character keeps saying throughout
-
But I did bring it in! comes the
reply and the vehicle is evidently there, in the shop
While Palin’s
personage ventures to check things, everything starts falling apart, from
inside to the big parts:
First it is
the brakes- we see that they are useless, in spite of the effort to deny, play
down or ignore made by the salesman.
Then there
are absurd explanations and suggestions like give it time and finally, when all
doors and front fall off:
-
Tell you what! You bring it in and
we’ll have a look!
The Indian Restaurant
This is
another fabulous gem, wherein we have Graham Chapman, Connie Booth and Michael
Palin in superb form
Michael Palin
plays this eccentric waiter who is such a perfectionist that whenever there is
a small thing that is wrong he starts kicking himself.
Literally,
he uses one foot to hit the other and then starts banging his head against the
wall and kicking himself all at the same time, because there was dust on a
chair and he could not lick it off, again, literally, or a spoon is missing.
Graham
Chapman is sensational in his limited, minimalist response to all the kerfuffle
and the sobriety with which he takes all this in.
Michael Palin
demonstrated that humility can be funny and self-criticism can be taken to an
overwhelming extreme.
A peak
experience and a zenith of comedy.
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu