British Comedy Guide

Now and then

I'm struck by the need of entertainers to fill certain slots. Whether these slots are man-made or natural I'm not sure. Maybe it falls into the "class room structure". (Where every school class has a clown, a geek, a sporty person etc. People falling into theses roles as they are seemingly a necessity of the social system.)

Alan Carr = Larry Grayson (vacant for ages when Julian Clary proved too erratic for the job)
Chuckle Brothers = Dick And Dom (or Ant And Dec) (Are Dick and Dom related? They look similar.)
Jimmy Carr = Bob Monkhouse (Quiz shows, game shows, obsessive joke collecting...)

Kenneth Williams really fancied Dirk 'Faceman' Benedict, apparently.

Quote: sidecar jon @ January 30 2011, 8:32 PM GMT

Jimmy Carr = Bob Monkhouse (Quiz shows, game shows, obsessive joke collecting...)

Yes, and just as irritating.

Vic Reeves = Eric Morecambe

Lee Evans = Norman Wisdom

Quote: sidecar jon @ January 30 2011, 8:32 PM GMT

Chuckle Brothers = Dick And Dom (or Ant And Dec) (Are Dick and Dom related? They look similar.)

I'm not sure exactly what you're saying here, as the Chuckles are still going, and you've laid out the others in the list in the format 'new = old'!

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ January 31 2011, 4:18 AM GMT

Vic Reeves = Eric Morecambe

Lee Evans = Norman Wisdom

I think that you may have missed the point a little, Alfred. Clearly Lee Evans has somewhat of Sir Norman's physicality about him, but he certainly doesn't fulfill the same role in the comedic sphere. Lee's a stand-up who has dabbled in films, whilst Sir Norman was an all-round entertainer who found his greatest success in film.

Similarly, Reeves certainly attempts to emulate aspects of Eric Morecambe, and whilst there are comparisons in their respective fields of work, is VR really a replacement in the way Jon was talking? He's certainly not a massively popular, mainstream double-act success in anything like the way that Eric was.

Lee Evans = Norman Wisdom .. interesting, I agree, its not a perfect fit for Sir Norman but, Evans sweating and twisting him self into knots on stage certainly looks very similar. I could certainly see him in a film about Norman...

Eric Morecome... hard to see him apart from Ernie, and certainly Vic and bob function when apart from each other.

Hancock = Jack Dee (ish, more middle class)

Quote: Aaron @ January 31 2011, 12:17 PM GMT

I'm not sure exactly what you're saying here, as the Chuckles are still going, and you've laid out the others in the list in the format 'new = old'!

OOps yes I did, sorry, I know the Chuckles are still going, but they must be quite old, and sort of on the wain, while Dick And Dom are on the way up.

Count Arthur Strong = Stanley Unwin/Harry Worth (same linked words, or verbal ticks)

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