British Comedy Guide

A Racist's Wake

INT. ROOM.

VARIOUS MOURNERS DRESSED IN FUNERAL ATTIRE ARE CHATTING AND SIPPING TEA. THE ROOM IS ADORNED WITH A SWASTIKA FLAG AND PORTRAIT OF HITLER.

MAN: (hugs woman)
Ethel, I'm really sorry about Fred. Right to his bitter end he was a dyed in the wool racist.

ETHEL:
Thanks Jim, you know, he was a good decent old style Nazi.

MAN:
I know love, he would put a lot of these nu-nazis to shame. It's all anti Muslim with them, but Fred, he hated all creeds and colours, a true Aryan brother he was.

A WOMAN (JUNE) SITS BESIDE ETHEL.

JUNE: (consoling Ethel)
It's a terrible loss. Fred was a pillar of the community. I'll never forget him bollocking those young lads for spray painting the swastika the wrong way round.

ETHEL: (sobbing)
I'll miss the fun we had together. He loved me urinating on him, just like Adolf.

JUNE:
Listen pet, I'll bet that Eva Braun is peeing on Fred and Hitler right now, up in heaven.

ETHEL:
Aww, that's a lovely thought dear.

JUNE:
What if I ask my Bill to come round now and again and you can give him a sprinkle?

ETHEL:
That's a kind gesture June, ta ever so much.

JUNE:
That's what friends are for love. (PAUSE) Fred had the place looking well Ethel, right and proper like a White Supremacist's house should.

ETHEL:
He loved his Nazi memorabilia he did and it wasn't all for show either. (PAUSE) Fancy a plum?

ETHEL LIFTS A NAZI WAR HELMET WHICH IS FULL OF FRUIT.

JUNE:
Ta love, and the good thing about the German stuff is that it holds it value, just like the Volkswagen Golf.

A SMALL FIGURE DRESSED IN A KU KLUX KLAN OUTFIT RUNS INTO THE ROOM. HE TAKES OFF HOOD TO REVEAL A BOY.

ETHEL:
Frederick, come here a minute. Gran's got a pressie for you.

ETHEL HANDS THE BOY A LARGE FLAT PARCEL WHICH HE OPENS.

BOY: (amazed look on face)
Wow, is this real Jewish skin grandma?

ETHEL: (sobbing)
Yes, its an original, it was Fred's pride and joy. He wanted you to have it when he passed away. Go outside and play with it, there's a good boy.

CAMERA PANS DOWN TO REVEAL SKIN COLOURED KITE.

JUNE:
Bless, its still in perfect condition.

ETHEL:
It must have been from a German Jew.

That is very funny but wrong beyond belief.

I think the urination stuff could be a little more truncated as it takes a little bit in the wrong direction.

Otherwise though top stuff.

What Sooty said.

Yeap as above. Good stuff.

Like the fruit in the helmet!

As said, wrong but funny :D

An excellent premise. However, I thought it was too full-on and could be a lot funnier.

"Right to his bitter end he was a dyed in the wool racist."

'Racist' is basically derogatory and used more by the left than by racists themselves.

Loved most of it, apart from the Jewish skin part – that's just political incorrectness gone mad.

I know you're trying to take things to the extreme - to be challenging - but I thought it was a bit too much - it's still living memory for some people. :(

Personally, it took me well out of my comfort zone, which I'm sure was part of the point. I tink if you're going non-pc short and sharp works best so that people are laughing before they can register the shock (maybe too strong a word). This took too long to get to the funny for me and the self-censorship chip had kicked in.

I echo what's been said. Wrong but so good. However the opening line is exposition. Can you get a more elegant way of introducing the fact he was a dyed-in-wool racist?

Agree to a degree over the urination but the Eva Braun in heaven image is too good to lose. I'd just cut the lines I quote below. That way you keep the image but lose the dilution.

Quote: Nigel Kelly @ April 18 2009, 2:59 PM BST

Ethel, I'm really sorry about Fred. Right to his bitter end he was a dyed in the wool racist.

CUT THIS PERHAPS?
JUNE:
What if I ask my Bill to come round now and again and you can give him a sprinkle?

ETHEL:
That's a kind gesture June, ta ever so much.

JUNE:
That's what friends are for love. (PAUSE)

Great sketch Nigel. Very, very funny.

Edgy?....INANIMATE!

Thanks.

Interestingly, the bit I found the funniest, had the least to do with racism:

ETHEL:
He loved his Nazi memorabilia he did and it wasn't all for show either. (PAUSE) Fancy a plum?

ETHEL LIFTS A NAZI WAR HELMET WHICH IS FULL OF FRUIT.

Not that's comedy!

Feels like there is something in this, but that maybe it got lost under a (accidental/intentional?) wish to shock people.

Is the helmet a plain German World War 2 one or the more recognizable pickelhaube (Prussian-German WWI) with the spike on top?

LOL, very funny but you'd never get away with it....hahaha

I think the last line may be a step too far and may make it comercially unviable.

Otherwise nicely done.

That and the piss jokes, sometimes slightly underplayed wins the day.

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