Anglo-Saxon Attitudes

Steven Coogan: "Is This Cool?" Something You Wouldn't See Over Here

I love Steve Coogan.  Alan Partidge, Duncan Thickett, Tony Ferrino,  Paul Calf,  Pauline Calf,  Tristram Shandy....I don't care.   I will watch anything with Steve Coogan in it that I can get my hands on.

He's the world's greatest character (or caricature) actor.  This is a love I've not tried to explain or share with American friends.  I am afraid they won't get Partridge & Co.  Certainly the ones who find Brit comedy "mean-spirited" won't get Partridge.

Anyway.  I was curious when I saw footage on You Tube that we won't be getting over here.  Here's Steve Coogan from a show called "The Day to Day."

Is this cool?

Yes.  Yes, it is,  Steve Coogan.

Spongebob: "Sailor Mouth" (the British parody)

CROSS-POSTED (ANGLO-SAXON ATTITUDES).  The British parody of "Spongebob" adds a whole new dimension to the cartoon.  Far from challenging this as "fair use"Viacom really need to get JokeComics4001 on board.  This Stephen is kind of a genius.  Here's my favorite one:  "Sailor Mouth", complete with British swear words.  (Not for faint-hearted Americans)

• "Sailor Mouth" Part 1
• "Sailor Mouth" Part 2

• "Jelly Fish" Part 1
• "Jelly Fish" Part 2

There are lots of others.  These are my favorites.

My only quibble is with the voice of "Squidward."  I think Stephen made a mistake making him American.  He's got that British thing of pronouncing "th" alternately as "v" or "f"  which is kind of a dead giveaway.  Besides, they lost that languid, Squidward-might-be-gay ennunciation that so exercises "Focus on the Family" and similar groups.  I was also a little sad that he got rid of the real Mr Crab's fake west-country accent (the American idea of one).   Still:  A genius genius.

And only 17, judging by this.  Blimey!

 

The Mil Millington Website and Related Millington-Based Goodness.

If you call yourself an Anglophile, test out your understanding of the English and your tolerance for the British love of light-hearted irony even in the most sacred relationships by reading what remains of columnist/author Mil Millington's  webpage, Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About.  But first, to keep from making yourself look foolish by firing off an angry response or a lengthy screed of relationship advice, read my comments in "The Flatland Chronicles" here. 

The Flatland Almanack Honors List: Ricky Gervais.

Ricky Gervais is one of my heroes.  You can't help sensing if you're paying attention that behind the cherubic smile and squeaky giggle beats a dark, cynical spirit and that behind that is a mind with many a wry twist and black depth.

The man's view of the world is dark, but his gift for skewering pretenses and pretensions, or tearing down the defenses that people place between themselves and too clear a knowledge of themselves and others, is unerring.  He makes me think of this quote from Mark Twain:

I have not read Nietzsche or Ibsen, nor any other philosopher, and have not needed to do it, and have not desired to do it; I have gone to the fountainhead for information - that is to say, to the human race. Every man is in his own person the whole human race, with not a detail lacking; I have studied the human race with diligence and strong interest all these years in my own person; in myself I find in big or little proportion every quality and every defect that is findable in the mass of the race.... What a coward every man is! And how surely he will find it out if he will just let other people alone and sit down and examine himself. The human race is a race of cowards; and I am not only marching in the procession but carrying a banner.

In the BBC America promos for The Office (UK version) a man said, "If you don't know someone like David Brent, the chances are, you are David Brent."   We are all  David Brent.   This is the real theme of  Extras, in which  Gervais as the long-suffering  Andy Millman endures the pretenses and posturings of a world full of celebrated Brents.

MY NOTE ON RICKY GERVAIS AND "EXTRAS" IS HERE.

The Office (US): A tribute & a retraction.

IMAGE HOSTING BY FLICKR.

I am a die-hard, committed fan of the original British version of The Office. Season 1 of the American version didn't really grab me (though I enjoyed it); the six episodes we had were not enough to distinguish the show and enable it to hit its stride. That happened in Season Two. A full American season enabled the show to break new ground and really showcased the brilliance of these really very different characters.

I said in an earlier note (last summer, I think) that I didn't think that the American version really rose to the level of the British version.  The second season completely changed my mind.

It's a brilliant show that ought to be enjoyed on both sides of the Atlantic, as much for the differences as the similarities. I discuss it here.

To do a Proper Gallows Laugh Requires a Stiff Upper Lip.

[published on August 5, 2005 in "The Flatland Oracles"]

Terror brings politics to comedy. The London bombings mean comedy at Edinburgh will be the most political since the 1970s, the Fringe boss says. [BBC News | Entertainment | UK Edition]

   I remember reading a comment shortly after 9-11 by some pundit or maven (I truly don't remember who) that those tragic events had put the Nineties into proper perspective---specifically that it had overnight sucked out all the edgy, cynical humor that the Nineties had spawned.  Seinfeld was mentioned, I remember.   

The Office (UK)---Accept No Substitutes.

IMAGE HOSTING BY FLICKR.

[published on July 6, 2005 at "The Flatland Oracles," my previous blog]

Contemporary English comedy makes me believe the theory that laughter evolved as a response to an enemy's defeat and discomfiture.  I saw the original (UK) version of The Office  [link to bbc website] when I was visiting England in 2002.  I watched it with my hands over my eyes, peeking through the fingers.  It's so painful.  So excruciating.  So gut-wrenchingly funny.  But not in the good-natured American sitcom way.  No, not like that.