Funny / Topsy-Turvy

• Gilbert attempts to get a disenchanted Sullivan interested in his new libretto:
  Gilbert: Now, the local alchemist is killed in an explosion, and there, amongst his effects, a chorus of villagers discover a potion.
  Sullivan: Magic, no doubt.
  Gilbert: Indeed.
  Sullivan: I thought as much.
  Gilbert: The effect of this magic potion is to transform the character who takes it into whatever he or she is pretending to be.
  Sullivan: [good-humoured, but exasperated] Oh, Gilbert! You and your world of topsy-turvydom. In 1881 it was a magic coin, and before that it was a magic lozenge, and in 1877 it was an elixir.
  Gilbert: [beat] ...In this instance, it is a magic potion.
• Most of what comes out of Mr. Temple’s mouth.
  Temple: I fear that dear Mr. Gilbert has run out of ideas.
  Lely: No!
  Temple: He doesn't know what to do with me. Ponder this: he thrusts me into a gamut of tight-fitting pots, pans, and pails, and poaches me like a fucking haddock! —Forgive my Anglo-Saxon, Mr. Butt. Do please have a biscuit.
  Mr. Butt, Lely’s dresser: Thank you, Mr. Temple. I’ll take one home for me tea.
• Lely breaks the news to Temple about Grossmith and Barrington's oyster-related embarrassment:
  Lely: Dickie, have you heard the real news of the day?
  Temple: Yes, the Fenian bomb. Oh, dreadful.
  Lely: No - Grossmith and Barrington.
  Temple: [shocked] What?
  Lely: They're off tonight.
  Temple: No!
  Lely: Yes.
  Temple: Both of them?
  Lely: Yes.
  Temple: Why?
  Lely: Oysters...
  Temple: [gasps]
  Lely: We shared luncheon together.
  Temple: Did you swallow?
  Lely: No, I chose the sole.
  Temple: Off the bone?
  Lely: Yes, it was rather succulent.
  Temple: Wise man. Oysters can kill, you know.
  Lely: Oh, unquestionably.
  Temple: I had an aunt choked on a scallop at Herne Bay.
  Lely: Really?
  Temple: Tragic.
• The entire rehearsal scene with Gilbert, Grossmith, Jessie Bond and Barker.
  Jessie: "She has a left elbow which people come miles to see."
  Barrington: "I'mtoldherright heeeeel ismuchadmired by connoisseeuuuurs."
  Gilbert: Could we do that line again, Barrington? This time, try it in English.