Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

brunoantunes-63048 This a unique, mesmerizing series that doesn't seem to be earning the cult status it deserves. The humour is both flamboyant and abstract. Fry and Laurie perform a succession on apparently silly and quirky sketchs, while making you think about social status, power, communication, logic and linguistics. The conceptual complexity underlying nearly every line of dialogue is astounding. Some sketches are quite demanding for the audience, you'll have to put some abstract pieces of puzzle together to get the meaning. Anyone familiar with the Palo Research on systemic psychology and communication will be gratified with unpredictable gags which illustrate paradoxes and power tactics with sheer brilliance. Plus, there is also good (mostly minimalistic) cinematography, great acting (mostly from Fry) and some quite cool parodic music performed by Laurie. "Soupy twist"!

Jayesh Sinha It is a shame really that people will always know Hugh Laurie for House, and remember him as a serious actor, and will perhaps know the comedy actor in him. Not that Laurie in House is not good I mean he is great, but Hugh Laurie the true actor is a comedian and its a shame that most of his fans, especially those who started following him after House will never be introduced to his true works.Well enough about Hugh Laurie, and on to the show as Hugh is only half of the show, the other half the always funny Stephan Fry. My first brush with the pair was in Blackadder, and along with Rowan Atkinson the three formed the pillars of British Comedy. It is an absolute delight for someone who likes good comedy that two of the three (Fry and Laurie), through this show, were given a license to go totally free and let loose their sense of comedy, no holds barred.The show is essentially a series of skits performed by Fry and Laurie, and with each skit they take on different roles, though a few skits and roles are sometimes repeated, like Tony and Control,the good natured secret service men. In between skits sometimes we have a few fillers where Laurie and Fry are common London citizens and are randomly interviewed. In these interviews we never see or hear the question, and rather only the response they give, which works great as we can think up the question, which is fun. An example of this, which I recall off hand, is Fry dressed as an elderly person, saying I wouldn't suck it (or some variant thereof). We never hear the question, and Fry walks off after saying this, and that is that. These fillers are incredibly funny in themselves, and Laurie and Fry often even dress as women for the interviews. Another one which I remember is when Fry dressed as a woman is being interviewed, and Laurie, also dressed as a woman, walks up behind 'her', and threatens to write a stiff letter to the authorities. "I will write a stiff letter a very stiff letter....I will write it on a piece of card board." It was funny, damn funny and I seem to remember that this was the only interview filler where there was any direct interaction between the two actors.The skits, which are the main focus of the show are very varied, and the two lead characters take on various roles and the setting change, from 1990s to the medieval ages at times even. Each skit on an average runs for about 3-5 mins, and these skits often break the audience wall as it is known and in one particular skit, there were subtitles at the bottom of the screen which pointed out to a man in the audience and said we can zoom right upto to his nostrils, which the camera later does. Another instance of this is when Fry goes and sits in the studio audience requesting them to fondle is bottom. Some characters and skits are repeated over the series and the their story is continued, from episode to episode. Tony and Control or two businessmen trying to fight of an adversary named Marjorie, were quite frequent.Everyone has their favorite skits, and mine is Fry as a Policeman and Laurie as Mr. Nippl-e, where the pronunciation of Nippl-e is essentially the sound produced by dropping a small piece of wood on a table. That skit is absolute genius and very funny. Other regular elements of the show are Fry suddenly rambling on without a break, into the most perfect English, while in reality he is talking gibberish, and Laurie having a series of chat shows like 'realising I have given the wrong directions to.....' or 'Introducing my grandfather to....', 'or photocopying my genitals with.....' which are quite funny. A character whose name we hear a lot but who is never actually seen, Mr. Dalliard, is another semi-regular on the show. Another regular towards the latter seasons is every episode ending with Laurie playing the piano while Fry does an erratic and clumsy dance, while preparing a cocktail. The phrases "Please Mr. Music will you play" and "Soupy twist" are regular in the last two seasons.In between all this is music and each of the characters take turn performing some songs, with some humorous lyrics, and Fry even got to Michael Jackson in one and do the 'moonwalk' with the help of a treadmill.All in all the show is a work of art, and anyone who claims himself to be fond of comedy has to watch this show. It is a masterpiece, created by two masters of the art of comedy who in the show were given the license to just let their creativity run wild. Ultimately 4 seasons seems a little too less and I wish Laurie would one day return to comedy and give us at least one more episode of the show along with Fry. Admittedly not everyone will like every skit and some will like some skits more than others, but the layers of the show are so many that you are bound to find about the show that you absolutely love.A must for all those who enjoy good comedy....a definite 9 on 10.

bnkybrdwybby If you love comedy that can be intelligent and frivolous at the same time, A Bit of Fry & Laurie is the perfect show to view. Fry and Laurie each bring to the table their own form of comic genius which when combined becomes an explosion of guaranteed laughs. Anyone who has seen this show has their own favorite sketches. Some love the spy sketches in which Fry & Laurie satirize the British Secret Serivce and the mechanically amiable Tony and Control. Others may prefer the Utoxiter sketches featuring the pair as scotch-sucking John and Peter, always trying to outwit their rival, Margorie. My own personal favorites are Hugh Lauries singing numbers (particularly in the fourth series) and any sketch that involves Hugh Laurie and a bar (in particular the one with Fry as the piano player whom he forces to play "Strangers in the Night." For those who enjoy satirical comedy at its best, you will love the work of Fry and Laurie.As a citizen of the United States, my exposure to the brilliance of British comedy is limited to one night a week on public television. I was familiar with Hugh Laurie from Stuart Little and his guest appearance on Friends. It was in 2004 when I began watching House and became fascinated by the acting of Hugh Laurie. Okay that's an understatement, I fell in love with him. I searched his name on my library database and found that he was in a show called Blackadder. This was my first experience with British comedy and I think it was an amazing show to begin with. With Blackadder I became familiar with British terms and slang, and I began to watch more British comedy on television. When I found this show that was chocked full of Hugh Laurie, (I mean, his name was in the title!) I jumped at the opportunity to view all four series. I was now familiar with some British pop culture and the work of both Fry and Laurie, and I feel that a better pair could not join together than these two brilliant gentleman. Each of them has their own unique qualities that makes the show twice as hilarious. Stephan has the ability to say any random phrase that can make absolutely during conversation without breaking the tone, and his satirical comments are classic. Laurie possesses brilliance with accents and musical talent as well as his ability to play a range of characters from an uptight and short tempered upperclassman to his rather goofy side that is often used in the introduction. (I apologize for that run-on sentence. I get carried away when I discuss Hugh Laurie.)Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry bring something very rare to comedy (especially in the United States). They don't spell everything out for the audience. It's hard to explain if you have never before seen their comedy, but what would be a complete joke for another show is only a section of a joke for Fry & Laurie, and not even the punchline. I guess what I mean is that they keep the entire sketch funny, rather than the traditional way of keeping it serious to the punchline. Well, I think I've bored you enough with my thoughts of the show so I will leave you with a phrase which I think sums up all of my thoughts completely: Soupy Twist.

dr_foreman I consider Steven Fry & Hugh Laurie to be old buddies of mine, since I grew up watching "Blackadder" and "Jeeves & Wooster." Naturally, I thought I'd give "A Bit of Fry & Laurie" a try when it came out on U.S. DVD. So far, I've seen the first two seasons.The show sees the boys operating at their most cerebral and bizarre; many, many of the sketches are unashamedly intellectual and/or surreal. While there are many hilarious moments, I find perhaps half of the sketches to be either flat or alienating in their grotesqueness. The show is a weird mishmash of great stuff and complete clunkers. Generally, I find Laurie funnier than Fry.The first season is good on the whole, but the second season sees Fry and Laurie recycling too many of their characters for repeat skits. I really didn't need to watch the endless adventures of John the businessman or the soft-spoken secret agents, for instance. I wanted more new stuff.But when the sketches are great, they're great. I can't get the nursing home skit with the cocoa out of my head. But something about the bad sketches really annoys me. Sometimes being a little too smart and too smarmy kills the joke, you know what I mean? Pitch your material lower boys, pitch lower! You're dealing with an American here! Maybe I'll buy season three when I have some dough handy -- I'm just not sure.