Peter Cook and Dudley Moore pre Derek and Clive

[dipsydoodle]

Both dead now - sadly. The Pete & Dud Dagenham Dialogues are from the mid sixties in the UK in BBC program called Not Only But Also. The general game was to see which of them could make the other laugh first. A lot of it was unscripted off the cuff.

Pete & Dud. "Bloody Greta Garbo"

[Mac1949]

1. Thanks for the clip. Cook and Moore were always great fun.

I never thought Peter Cook ever got the credit he deserved, though, for being the twisted comic genius he was. Here's one of my favorite bits- as the PM in Whoops Apocalypse (an otherwise forgettable movie). He stole every scene he was in.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Peter Cook was only about 19 when he wrote "One Leg Too Few"

[Mac1949]

3. They were both brilliant in this skit. One of my faves.

Another of my favorites was Cook and John Cleese in this one, from The Secret Policeman's Ball, 1979. Watch closely and you can see Cleese cracking up behind his newspaper at one point.

[dipsydoodle]

4. That's his E.L Whisty character

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._L._Wisty

From memory the first general opportunity to see Peter Cook on TV here was as Whisty each week in That Was The Week That Was aka TW3 shown Saturday nights here late 1962 - we didn't have colour TV until 1966/67.

The origin of Mr Bean's voice was here in "Will this wind be so mighty as to lay low the mountains of the earth" Should've been Alan Bennett playing the part but he was sick. Cook got Rowan Atkinson to stand in at very short notice with only 10 minutes or so to reherse. He made the voice up on the spot which visibly amuses Cook.

[Mac1949]

5. Brit comedy is the best. We seem to have lost the knack of doing whimsical and charming. nt