1 | * It's damn difficult to pick a single moment out of ''The Goon Show'''s surreality - the series was consistently funny, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctM_Rvgjfpo "What time is it Eccles?"]] would be up there. |
2 | * With this one right behind: |
3 | -->'''Bluebottle:''' Oh, a cocktail. Good health. [Gulps] |
4 | -->(FX: Huge rumbling explosion - the kind where you hear bricks & bits of timber falling in the distance) |
5 | -->'''Bluebottle:''' You rotten swine! You have nearly deaded me - look, my kneecaps have dropped four inches. Who made that cocktail? |
6 | -->'''Gravely Headstone:''' Molotov. |
7 | * I has taken a look at da [[http://www.thegoonshow.net/quotes.asp quotes here]] an I tink I likes dem. |
8 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_iLElHqv-w Meta-example]]: Creator/SpikeMilligan at the 1994 British Comedy Awards, [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior at the age of seventy-six]], after being given his lifetime achievement award ("It's about bloody time."). |
9 | -->'''Creator/JonathanRoss:''' I have a letter to read out to you from [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales]].\ |
10 | '''Spike Milligan:''' Do I kneel down for this?\ |
11 | '''Jonathan Ross:''' "As someone who grew up to the sounds of ''The Goon Show'' on the steam-driven wireless, I must confess that I've been a lifelong fan of the participants in the show and particularly of Spike Milligan..."\ |
12 | '''Spike Milligan:''' Oh, the little grovelling bastard.[[note]]They were friends in real life. Spike later sent a fax to Prince Charles saying "I suppose a knighthood is out of the question?" It wasn't; he received one seven years later (although it was an honorary KBE, as Spike was an Irish citizen).[[/note]] |
13 | * In "The String Robberies": |
14 | ** We are primed to expect an appearance by Eccles-- |
15 | --->''[Knocking at a door]'' |
16 | --->'''Bloodnok:''' Who is that there, who is it? [[WhoWouldBeStupidEnough Only a lunatic]] would be out in such a storm! |
17 | ** -- but instead of just one Eccles, we get a whole ''chorus'' of them, all singing "Good King Wenceslas" with great feeling. |
18 | --->'''Bloodnok:''' You crazy, mixed-up Eccleses, you! Christmas has gone!\ |
19 | '''Eccles:''' Oh? Which way did it go?\ |
20 | '''Bloodnok:''' It's finished!\ |
21 | '''Eccles:''' Finished? Oh, I'd better talk with my friends here.\ |
22 | ''[sound of group murmuring and muttering to themselves]''\ |
23 | '''Eccles:''' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night Penny for the guy?]]\ |
24 | ''[sound of door slamming]'' |
25 | * For a while, there was a great RunningGag in which Eccles made his first appearance in each episode singing a ''Paint Your Wagon'' song with... unusual lyrics: |
26 | ** "I talk to the trees/That's why they put me away..." [[note]]in "Rommel's Treasure"[[/note]] |
27 | *** Eddie Braben of ''Creator/MorecambeAndWise'' claims this was a suggestion he sent in in a fan letter and was never credited for. |
28 | ** "With a smile on my face/For the whole human race/It's almost like being insane!" [[note]]in "The Great Regency Park Swim"[[/note]] |
29 | ** [[OverlyLongGag Ram bam ra-da-ba-bum bam ba-da ba bum da ba-da de dum-dum, pa-ram bam ra-da-ba-bum bam ba-da ba bum da ba-da de dum-dum-dum-dum... bam-de-dam... bam... dun]]. ''(several seconds of silence) (starts all over again before finally being interrupted by another character)'' [[note]]in "The Sahara Desert Statue"[[/note]] |
30 | * "The Siege of Fort Night": |
31 | -->'''Eccles:''' Will I have to walk all the way? |
32 | -->'''Seagoon:''' Of course not! Part of the way, you'll be allowed to run! |
33 | * "What's My Line": After Seagoon has performed a song that is rendered as a repeated thudding sound: |
34 | -->'''Grytpype''': The lad has the gift of melody! ...Tell me, what was it?\ |
35 | ''({{Beat}})''\ |
36 | ''Thud, Thud, Thud''... |
37 | * In a classic OverlyLongGag, Crun asks Neddie for his name and address. The result can be read in its entirety in the Quotes section. |
38 | * From "The Case of the Missing CD Plates", the sound effect of the steamroller hitting Neddie Seagoon and his nickel-plated bagpipes is the {{leitmotif}} of "The Treasure of Loch Lommond" [[LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand slowing to a stop.]] |
39 | ** The RunningGag, a [[OverlyLongGag repeated]] CutawayGag that builds up to one hell of a BaitAndSwitch: |
40 | -->Meanwhile, in a notorious fish shop in Baryschool, in Yoshiwara:\ |
41 | ''[[{{Beat}} (Nearly fifteen seconds of silence)]]''\ |
42 | ...by Jove, I do believe they're closed. |
43 | * Ad-libs and mistakes are always good for a laugh. |
44 | ** "The White Neddie Trade" was particularly rife with them: |
45 | -->'''Seagoon''': Are you suggesting--\ |
46 | '''Minnie''': ''(makes a high-pitched noise in the background)''\ |
47 | '''Seagoon''': You ''are'' suggesting--\ |
48 | '''Henry''': She's jumped out of the window.\ |
49 | '''Seagoon''': ''(holding back laughter)'' Are you suggesting I expose my intimate garments to the foul gaze of hot-blooded Latins?!\ |
50 | '''Throat''': '''(moans sexually)'''\ |
51 | ''(a short while later)''\ |
52 | '''Henry''': Then we must get them out, right away! With speed, buddy!\ |
53 | '''Minnie''': With speed! We mustn't waste any '''time'''!\ |
54 | ''(Henry and Minnie improvise a ten second song about not wasting time)''\ |
55 | '''Minnie''': Come on, we must hurry, Henry... ''(slightly off-mic)'' [[BreakingTheFourthWall We've filled in time like the producer asked...]]\ |
56 | ''(another short while later)''\ |
57 | '''Seagoon''': Where are those bagpipes? I felt in the next tunnel...\ |
58 | '''Eccles''': Ow! Oy, here! You naughty man you!\ |
59 | '''Seagoon''': I should've said kennel, shouldn't I? Nevermind. What are you doing in this kennel?!\ |
60 | '''Eccles''': [[TheGadfly What am I doing in this tunnel?]] |
61 | ** Another two almost back-to-back in "The Great String Robberies": |
62 | -->'''Mr. Lalkaka''': I'll tell you what I've got, I've got a revolutionary-type dark room.\ |
63 | '''Mr. Banerjee''': What have you got?\ |
64 | '''Mr. Lalkaka''': No light in it. ''(beat, slight audience laugh)'' I meant to say it's got a light in it, but I killed the joke by saying 'no light in it'.\ |
65 | ''(thirty seconds later)''\ |
66 | '''Seagoon''': Look! The number of the house is 66 Fairycake Lane!\ |
67 | '''Bloodnok''': ''([[{{Corpsing}} trying desperately not to laugh]])'' That's been changed! |
68 | ** And in "The Great Spon Plague": |
69 | -->'''Henry''': Min? Min modern Min? ''(imitating Jim Spriggs)'' Min modern Mii'''iiiin'''?\ |
70 | '''Minnie''': What is it, cocky?\ |
71 | '''Henry''': What have you put on the roof?\ |
72 | ''(Beat)''\ |
73 | '''Minnie''': Um, can you say that line again, because I can't answer the next one...\ |
74 | '''Henry''': Uh... "Where..." Oh, yes...\ |
75 | '''Minnie''': ''(deliberately)'' What is it, cocky?\ |
76 | '''Henry''': Where have you put the roof?\ |
77 | '''Minnie''': I sent it to the menders, it was leaking, cocky! |
78 | ** From the end of "The Junk Affair", Peter Sellers demonstrates the problem with ActingForTwo in a live recording: |
79 | -->'''Grytpype-Thynne''': Thinks: It can't last forever.\ |
80 | '''Moriarty''': No, but we've got to make the most of it while we can!\ |
81 | '''Grytpype-Thynne''': Yes! Now then nice man--\ |
82 | '''Moriarty''': Wrong voice!\ |
83 | '''Sellers''' and '''Secombe''': ''([[{{Corpsing}} both crack up]])''\ |
84 | '''Bluebottle''': ''([[OohMeAccentsSlipping slightly more forced than usual]])'' Now then nice man! We want to buy that piece of junk in the window! |
85 | * The entirety of the first third of the episode "Tiddleywinks" is a masterclass in absurd. It involves Creator/PeterSellers (AsHimself) becoming obsessed with expensive cars, tape recorders[[note]] at the time, home audio tape recording was still a luxury item[[/note]] and photography, to the point that he actually believes he is a motorcar. Accordingly, he's consigned to a BedlamHouse where he manages to convince Eccles that he too is a motorcar. The two escape and are finally cornered by Neddie, Moriarty and [[CelebrityParadox Grypthype-Thynne]], who administers an experimental treatment... to Neddie, [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext turning him into a chicken]] as Grypthype-Thynne gloats and [[EvilLaugh laughs evilly]]. Then Creator/MaxGeldray has his segment and the episode just ends, with Creator/WallaceGreenslade admitting the episode ran a bit short so they're going to go right into next week's episode. Cue "This is the BBC Home Service"... |
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