I watched the best of Spike Milligan DVD recently. I found some of his sketche very funny - but others not funny at all.

One sketch I didn't get at all. Have you seen it? It's where Spike is a doctor and a dwarf comes in and goes behind the screen and then a tall guy comes out and it ends up with the waiting room people laughing at someone outside (the doctor?). The only thing I could come up with was that it was some sort of post-modern experiment to see if people would find humour in some fairly random stream of consciousness type sketch.

What do you think?

Quote: Steve Charlie @ May 10 2011, 5:43 AM BST

I watched the best of Spike Milligan DVD recently. I found some of his sketche very funny - but others not funny at all.

One sketch I didn't get at all. Have you seen it? It's where Spike is a doctor and a dwarf comes in and goes behind the screen and then a tall guy comes out and it ends up with the waiting room people laughing at someone outside (the doctor?). The only thing I could come up with was that it was some sort of post-modern experiment to see if people would find humour in some fairly random stream of consciousness type sketch.

What do you think?

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Try watching the sketch backward. That may help...

Quote: Steve Charlie @ May 10 2011, 5:43 AM BST

One sketch I didn't get at all. Have you seen it? It's where Spike is a doctor and a dwarf comes in...

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...and crucially, Spike says "go behind that screen and change..."

Quote: Steve Charlie @ May 10 2011, 5:43 AM BST

...and then a tall guy comes out

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See, he has changed....

Quote: Steve Charlie @ May 10 2011, 5:43 AM BST

....and it ends up with the waiting room people laughing at someone outside

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They are laughing at the patient's toupee. In those days, a toupee was thought to be ridiculous, and so to be 'diagnosed' with one would be a terrible thing, because everyone would laugh at you.

A toupee still is ridiculous isn't it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=din5JORDXzk

I did get the 'change' thing.

I watched it again and it made more sense. Maybe I was half asleep the first time.

Still don't get the naked woman. And how did the doctor get in the waiting room? And if the patient had had all that treatment before then why was his wallet so dusty? And why was the patient happy to pay 200 pound in cheques but reluctant to part with £1 in cash?

I get the toupée thing better now. Maybe I didn't get the toupée thing because wigs are much better these days. Or maybe it's because I was half asleep.

Quote: Steve Charlie @ May 12 2011, 4:04 AM BST

I still don't get the naked woman.

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Try wining and dining her first.

There doesn't have to be any logic to a Spike sketch.

And I can still spot a toupee from 100 yards.

Quote: Chappers @ May 12 2011, 12:23 PM BST

And I can still spot a toupee from 100 yards.

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You wouldn't spot the ones you never notice.

I can spot a black man at a 100yds, but I'm not allowed to say that.

Can't we use the word dwarf any more? Do we have say 'dwarfed person' (unless the doctor was physically dwarfing the person)...?

Quote: Tim Azure @ June 7 2011, 6:51 PM BST

Can't we use the word dwarf any more? Do we have say 'dwarfed person' (unless the doctor was physically dwarfing the person)...?

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I thought it was Porg now - person of restricted growth.

For sheer surrealism in the 'Q' series the "Quasimodo" sketch takes some beating! Best bit is Dave Lodge's "Hello Sailor! It's a Man's Life Aboard the Quasimodo 'Bum-Boat' Protecting the Southern Reaches" And so on!

Quote: Synaesthesia @ July 22 2011, 2:49 PM BST

For sheer surrealism in the 'Q' series the "Quasimodo" sketch takes some beating! Best bit is Dave Lodge's "Hello Sailor! It's a Man's Life Aboard the Quasimodo 'Bum-Boat' Protecting the Southern Reaches" And so on!

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The Dwarf sketch is probably from one of the Q series as well.