My Blackberry is not working

Video Link. Ronnie Corbett and Harry Enfield star in a sketch from The One Ronnie. (Thanks, Simon!)

• [Phil Ward]

  Harry Enfield looks like he’s corpsing nicely there :)

• [Voris Klopchick]

  I thought blackberries were supposed to be black. That looks like a raspberry?!

  • [Nelson.C]

    Blackberries are green until they begin to ripen, then transition to red then black. You generally want to leave them a day or two till they get a little soft, they’re sweeter then.

    That’s the problem here, of course. Somehow Ronnie’s got his hands on a beta.

• [apoxia]

  Fan-freakin-tastic. Very good indeed!

• [Tzunun]

  Anyone else relieved that the grocer didn’t recommend a Wii for the grandson?

• [bsdnazz]

  Sweet and reminds me of fork handles.

• [scolbath]

  This made my day, and the day of everyone I work with. Simply wonderful.

• [Jack]

  Eggs-Box?

• [stenz]

  Every time I see a British comedy show, the working class blokes are all in brown coats. Is the brown overcoat a staple amongst British workers? Or is it some homage to the early days of TV there?

  • [manicbassman]

    Harry Enfield is wearing that staple of british working dress, the brown dustcoat… they also come in white, but that’s for less messy work environments…

  • [Anonymous]

    The brown coat stereotype gets touched upon here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QmZWv-eBI

    I grew up watching The Two Ronnies and while I loved it, I’ll confess I’m surprised, and a little elated, that this new special with the one remaining promises to be good.

    John

  • [Darwindr]

    I think they are just Firefly fans.

  • [Noodle]

    It’s a homage to a famous sketch by the guy on the right:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz2-ukrd2VQ

  • [Anonymous]

    You must have very limited exposure to British Comedy shows :p

    It’s a throwback from the early to mid 20th century; generally worn by grocers and the like (possibly still is smaller backward villages?)

    It’s got nothing to do with links to other comedy shows, or even neccessarily the working class – it’s just iconic of old-school shop workers and green-grocers so does a good job of setting the scene and adding to the context of the skit.

    It’s the shopworkers equivelant of a matrons outfit – not worn anymore but instantly recognisable.

• [Anonymous]

  Yeah, its an Eggs Box, 3.60.

• [tw15]

  The brown overcoat a staple amongst British workers, although it is usually removed when they go to the pub in the evening to toast the Queen’s health and sing “Chim Chiminee” around the piano.

• [Suds]

  This sketch is berry punny! (sorry, I had too)

• [Yamara]

  Long live music hall.

  Seeing this 21st Century-themed take on the old form gave me a feeling like I had when I realized that Ed Sullivan’s phrase “a really big shoo” was just him pronouncing the word “show” with its 19th Century alternate spelling “shew”–but in the 1970s.

  It’s a nostalgia that’s time-travelled from a place you’ve always read about, but never been.

• [Anonymous]

  Love it! Reminds me of the scene in “Porridge” when the new prisoner is told a fellow inmate’s nickname is “arsenic”. The new prisoner, Ronnie C. says “Oh a poisoner?” And Ronnie B. answers “No, sat on a razor blade”. They were just hilarious.

• [josiah4jc]

  Ahha! I see what they did there!

  They took phrases and jargon modeled after real-world analogs and reverses engineered them back to their real world analogs.

  Let me try:
  Pilot 1: So what kind of bird are we flying today?
  Pilot 2: No birds today. We’re flying hornets! (holds up a hornet)
  Pilot 1: Looks a bit dangerous.
  Pilot 2: It’s a bit tricky, so you have to be light on the stick
  (holds up a stick)

  Hmmm…. I think I could write a program to do this…

• [carborundum]

  Thanks Noodle, haven’t seen that in ages!

• [Dave Rattigan]

  The other Ronnie (RIP) excelled at playing around with language. Nice to see Corbett (who was never as good as Barker, IMO) is keeping that style of comedy alive.

  • [Anonymous]

    Perhaps not but the two of them really worked well together. Barker’s characterisation and wordplay was very well complemented by the general humour and sillyness displayed by Corbett.

• [Ant]

  It needs a palm, banana (dongle), etc. ;)