The satirising of sexual references expresses their foolishness; the explanation of the song is the joke in the sense of the ridiculous. The sketch proved very popular with the audience. As there were many taboos in the 60’s which Cook and Moore took no notice of and really pushed the boundaries on. The audience admired their confidence and they were described as the ‘Beatles’ of comedy. As in the other two sketches, they are filmed very close on and have very little set. This makes us as the audience feel closer to them. It also means that we can see everything that goes wrong.
In the sketch, ‘un-welcomed visitors’, Cook and Moore play two of their most memorable characters, - these are their alter ego’s, ‘Pete n Dudd’. Two cloth capped idiots who discuss all manner of worldly subjects, such as art, theology and philosophy.
They appear to be very close friends as they are positioned very closely together. Their accents and repetition of certain words show just how silly and full of nonsense the two are. In the sketch they build up stories to make everything into big adventures in their own little world. They tell the story of how their quiet night in was ruined by Hollywood starlets visiting them. The thought of two old duffers being visited and desired by these famous starlets is incredibly funny. Moore also describes these starlets visiting them as a ‘spot of the usual trouble’ which is obviously unusual; this irony is too very funny.
During this sketch Cook looked removed and isolated as he found it hard to learn lines and therefore looked at the camera a lot for his lines on autocue. This usually would have been frowned upon. However, it was part of him the audience had grown to like and it gives Cook his removed appearance.
The third sketch I watched was, ‘Art Gallery’ where we again are in the company of ‘Pete n Dudd’. This sketch is a satire on the role of the art critic and on every day people’s responses to ‘great art’.
They both act as though they know everything there is to know about art. They talk as though they have swallowed a guide book, although have no real concept about what the paintings are actually about so make up it up. They represent a slice of society as they are not well educated and show little understanding. This, appeals to every day people as they feel they can relate to them and enjoy their stupidity.
Cooks humour was in the style of Oscar Wilde/Lewis Carroll, and he is very straight and cerebral. Where as Dudley’s humour was more on the lines of ‘Laurel and Hardy’. Dudd came across as the ’clown’ of the duo. He looked very comfy and lively and was visibly funny. This comparison of characters becomes obvious at the start when Dudd climbs over the seat next to Moore, rather than simply walking around. This presents Dudd as rather child-like, as though he views the chair as a climbing frame. The audience often warmed to him as he was the cuter of the two.
The sketches are so enjoyable the audience had a laugh with the characters. During the sketch Pete offers Dudd a sandwich which Dudd chokes on, this makes them both laugh. This ad-libbing resulted in the two corpsesing. The two were famous for it. It was usually frowned upon and considered unprofessional. However, because the two found it so hilarious the audience too found it funny.
They often tried to catch each other out; this meant that anything could happen in their sketches. This appealed to their audience as it was not often done. Their personality shown through and they allowed the audience to see them as they truly are which meant the audience felt close to them.
The comedy they produced was very silly, there were no punch lines. It was based solely on their irony, sarcasm and foolishness. Cook and Moore create a different world for their characters to inhabit, a ‘comical wonderland’.
The duo, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, started out performing at the University of Cambridge, which they both attended and ended up the ‘Beatles’ of comedy. They were obviously born for comedy and worked well together, it was quite apparent they enjoyed each others company too. They relied on each others different comedy styles to produce what can only be described as wonderfully hilarious comedy.