NationStates Jolt Archive

In all the recent discussions of Britsih satire and comedy, I have noticed one set of names are signally absent; Bremner, Bird and Fortune. A question more directed towards Brits, who are the only posters likely to have seen their satire upon channel 4, is, why do we perenially forget them? They actually hysterically amusing, yet they are perenially disregarded in favour of Dead Ringers, 2d - TV and others.

Link (http://www.channel4.com/news/2004/01/week_4/29_bremnerbirdfortune.html) to follow here for the unititaed.

I've seen it and I think that it's great. I have absolutely no idea why I forget about it though.

Erm, I certainly mentioned it in that thread.... Yes, it's a fantastic, intelligent, and highly witty. Especially the "interviews" Bird and Fortune conduct. I find some of the sketches less amusing than the direct stand-up stuff, but not much less. The one thing I constantly forget. Which one is bird, and which is fortune?

The reason you tend to forget about them is because they arn't a regular show, they just do a show whenever politics is being particularly laughable.

My all time favourite would have to be the one during the war entitled

"Between Iraq and a hard place"

classic =)

Fantastic show. The interviews between the Two Johns, you know, it's always an official called Parr, those always crack me up.

I remember that... The sketches never seemed to work as well, especially the dinner party/focus groups. Everything else though - :D . I especially liked the monologues by the guy with a 'tache. Ooh ooh! He was John Fortune, the old guy was Bird.

Things like Dead Ringers can be quite amusing, but pale so much in comparison beside B, B & F; it's certainly the best impersonation show I've ever seen, and as for political satire, it's certainly high up the rankings, certainly a competitor for the top spot.

I reckon that it is less well-known and/or popular than other shows because it's largely political; a lot of people are apathetic about politics even today, sadly. The others sometimes deal with dull celebrities such as "Posh and Becks" (:mp5:) which for some reason incomprehensible to me seems to entertain a lot of people.

I remember that... The sketches never seemed to work as well, especially the dinner party/focus groups.
Probably because they took a long time over a single joke; they were generally meant as a caricature of a particular mindset or way of living. They weren't as strong as the standup stuff, true.

BB&F is an excellent show all told. The hour-long specials they did around the outset of the second Gulf War were excellent - political satire at it's absolute best, and made a serious political point better than any Michael Moore film ever could. I loved revelations like the fact that Winston Churchill recommended poison gas against Iraqis - and Saddam was condemned years later for the same thing whilst Churchill is regarded as the greatest Briton.

It's a shame Howard is no longer leader of the opposition, the impersonations of him were one of the best bits of the last few series.

I admit I like the show. The problem is, however, that much of its parodies are too close to reality. It's a little depressing, in a way.

It's a little bit highbrow I reckon. You have to know more about politics than the fact that Gordon Brown gasps for breath after every sentance or Tony Blair waves his hands around a lot. Lets face it, considering only 60% of the registered population even bother to vote a show like B, B & F is always going to get forgotten even though it's top quality.