It must have been in the early 1950's, back in the days of black & white, single channel TV, with everything performed live; I saw a panto/circus style sketch faturing Charlie Drake and Jack Douglas 'painting' a wall. They sloshed loads of gungy stuff over each other, ending up losing their trousers and pouring it into their underpants (nothing indecent of course in those days).
What really amused me was the continuity announcer afterwards explaining that they weren't really wasting paint as they were using shaving foam. (Everything then was either rationed or in short supply!)
By today's standards it wasn't particularly exciting but to a lad in his early teens it made a definate impression which lasted a lifetime. Updated and 'sexed-up' a bit, it would be great to see it performed by Julie and Charlie.
What early memories do other folk have?
Sotonude.
Early television memories
by Hayley » 29 Jun 2006, 00:13
Oh dear, I sense a long post from Bill on the way when he sees this thread.
Small point but shaving foam wasn't around in the Charlie Drake era. It would have been shaving soap whipped up (another equally long post from Clown Julie on how to make it also in the pipeline. I suspect).
Me....tingly feelings watching women behaving badly in anything. There was a time when clothes ripping was a comedy regular. I liked that. I loved women doing messy things to one another, of course. And cat fights that were well over the top, especially ones that ended in the mud or or a pond. Also the aforementioned Charlie Drake messing women up in The Worker and a stage act where he chucked a ballet dancer around the stage.
Even as a kid, that moment where the stooge (especially another girl) knew something messy was coming but still stood there and let it happen got me excited. Still does. Oh dear, what am I like?
Hayley
Small point but shaving foam wasn't around in the Charlie Drake era. It would have been shaving soap whipped up (another equally long post from Clown Julie on how to make it also in the pipeline. I suspect).
Me....tingly feelings watching women behaving badly in anything. There was a time when clothes ripping was a comedy regular. I liked that. I loved women doing messy things to one another, of course. And cat fights that were well over the top, especially ones that ended in the mud or or a pond. Also the aforementioned Charlie Drake messing women up in The Worker and a stage act where he chucked a ballet dancer around the stage.
Even as a kid, that moment where the stooge (especially another girl) knew something messy was coming but still stood there and let it happen got me excited. Still does. Oh dear, what am I like?
Hayley
by caroline2 » 29 Jun 2006, 14:05
Since we are back to "old time tele" does anyone remember when all broadcasting was live and what you saw was actually happening. I still remember a show from years and years ago - it was Jimmy Jewel and Ben Warris; (that tells you how long ago it was!!) During the show there had been a fair amount of slapstick inflicted on the male guests and the final shots were clearly intended for everyone to take their curtain calls and then for the guests to get their own back on Jimmy and Ben by throwing them into a swimming pool - yes they even had swimming pools in TV studios in those days! - but in the mayhem all the male guests would fall in as well.
What was not anticipated was the participation of the young female vocalist. She had been spared humiliation during the show and clearly, during rehearsal, had not been included in the final ducking. Needless to say, plots were afoot and when the time came for the dunking everyone rounded on her and threw her in, before jumping in themselves. The look on her face as she surfaced was priceless! And, of course, in those days she was wearing stockings and suspenders with a very full-cut dress, so we were able to enjoy the sight of her undies whilst she tried to push her skirts down underwater.
Even after all these years it still makes me smile; (and, of course, I still dream about being that girl!)
Caroline
What was not anticipated was the participation of the young female vocalist. She had been spared humiliation during the show and clearly, during rehearsal, had not been included in the final ducking. Needless to say, plots were afoot and when the time came for the dunking everyone rounded on her and threw her in, before jumping in themselves. The look on her face as she surfaced was priceless! And, of course, in those days she was wearing stockings and suspenders with a very full-cut dress, so we were able to enjoy the sight of her undies whilst she tried to push her skirts down underwater.
Even after all these years it still makes me smile; (and, of course, I still dream about being that girl!)
Caroline
by sweetfeet » 29 Jun 2006, 17:23
There was a programme on Channel4, not long after it first went on air [on a Sunday lunchtime would you believe it]. It was some arty programme where a group of women were getting naked, covering themselves in blue paint and making art on canvas with their bodies - now that's what we pay the licence fee for!! 
There were about six girls in total and I can still remember the lead girl, think she was the artist amongst them all. She gave an interview in a trouser suit and heels, with clevage clever visible between her jacket, which was enough for me anyway...then she stripped off and joined in.
Besides that...Noel's House Party...Great Race re-runs etc....Can't remember but I've sure my mum and dad must have stuck me infront of Tiswas on a Saturday morning when I was younger too
There were about six girls in total and I can still remember the lead girl, think she was the artist amongst them all. She gave an interview in a trouser suit and heels, with clevage clever visible between her jacket, which was enough for me anyway...then she stripped off and joined in.
Besides that...Noel's House Party...Great Race re-runs etc....Can't remember but I've sure my mum and dad must have stuck me infront of Tiswas on a Saturday morning when I was younger too
by Richard » 29 Jun 2006, 23:30
klownn wrote:my first memory was the clown charlie corolli? at blackpool tower on tv just pure funklownn
Ahh, Charlie Cairoli!
Didn't the ring at Blackpool Tower Circus sink to provide a pool? I remember a show where practically everyone ended up in the water with Charlie (Senior) and his troupe, wonderful.
Another 'wet one' that I remember was from the singer Dorothy Squires' swimming pool. It was a general variety show performed around the pool with some of the acts falling in. Ms Squires' daughter, Rosemary, who later became a pop singer herself was, at the time, a somewhat gawky teenager who made a nuisance of herself; at one point picking a fight with a female opera singer in a full sequined dress. Both of them got pushed in and the singer took her bow, disappearing right under the surface.
This might be the one that Caroline 2 remembers.
Last edited by Richard on 29 Jun 2006, 23:51, edited 1 time in total.
by Richard » 29 Jun 2006, 23:48
Laurel and Hardy were great clothes ripping enthusiasts. In 'Berth Marks' (1929) there was a general ripping scene on a train which included Paulette Goddard, and in 'Double Whoopee' (also1929) Jean Harlow lost her skirt in a hotel door held by Stan. 'You're Darn Tootin' (1928) featured a trouser ripping scene, but that was all male 
.
.by TheDefector » 29 Jun 2006, 23:52
My earliest memories were the Cage on Tiswas and The Phantom Flan Flinger, like many a School Boy at the time had a crush on Sally James 
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by Richard » 30 Jun 2006, 00:04
TheDefector wrote:My earliest memories were the Cage on Tiswas and The Phantom Flan Flinger, like many a School Boy at the time had a crush on Sally James
I was a middle aged businessman when Tiswas was on and I had a crush on Ms James! Did you know that our Sallly now has a shop selling school uniforms?
by ClownJulie » 30 Jun 2006, 00:58
.................
Last edited by ClownJulie on 19 Apr 2017, 21:53, edited 1 time in total.
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by BillShipton » 01 Jul 2006, 13:49
WARNING; OLD GIT MOMENT APPROACHING....
My very first television slapstick memory was a late 1950s ITV series called Mick and Montmerency. This also starred Charlie Drake and always involved a classic slapstick scene. My memories are VERY vague because a) I was very young and b) I lived on Anglesey at that time and we had a small black and white telly that got its reception from Liverpool so my recollections are hazy in every sense. I do remember a lot of whitewash being poured over one another.
Charlie Drake also had a 'grown-up' series later in the evening which I can remember had him covered in something different every week as a running gag. I can remember this included eggs, flour, feathers and black paint. Then in the last show he got the lot. There was also a sketch where he played a court jester whose gags included putting eggs in people's hats and asking them how they liked them to which they all replied "Scrambled" and got them smashed and rubbed into their heads. The final scene of the series had him swimming away in his jester's outfit to floods of tears from me. I didn't want it to end and I can remember my Mum consoling me with "Don't be upset. They have to have time to go and make some more." But clearly I loved the show to death at that age.
Incidentally this is the same series where Drake famously was knocked unconscious live on TV being thrown throw a supposedly collapsing bookcase. Apparently, the props people had seen the bookcase he was meant to go through, spotted it was a bit rickety and strengthened it! As a result, Charlie was knocked senseless. The gag was followed by the two men in the sketch then throwing him out the window. This was meant to happen all in one move, but as he was unconscious, the guys had to lift him off the floor and bundle him out the window. This they did, even though he was clearly out of it and in need of treatment! It is this second fall which did for him. Out cold he hit his head on a stage weight and wound up in hospital at the BBCs expense for months! To this day I can remember the screen going black and the in-vision continuity announcer coming on saying, "I'm afraid we are unable to continue with this programme, so here is some music.." I was probably in tears over that as well.
Charlie Drake also used women in his sketches but I was too young to notice then!
After that, it was the early Crackerjack shows which spring to mind. Leslie Crowther and Peter Glaze did a slapstik sketch every week, sometimes involving the women on the show. As the show continued, the slapstick element stayed right up to the days of Jan Hunt and even Stu Francis in the messy game at the end (probably the first TV 'gunge tank'!
On the subject of serious singers getting sploshed, not on TV and definitely before my time, the Crazy Gang used to do this a lot in their show at the Victoria Palace. The show always included female singers and variety acts (like impressionist Flora Desmond) and the Gang regularly dropped buckets of water or wallpaper paste on them, and played other practical jokes. They had a faiir old turnover of singers as a result - including the lady who was to eventually marry (and stay married to) Ronnie Corbett.
Hmmm...perhaps Clown Julie and I should collorate on a definitely history of TV slapstick for the site!
Meanwhile, I'm still recovering from Luscious Lee's visit yesterday. The full story with pics will be appearing on the blog and here.
My very first television slapstick memory was a late 1950s ITV series called Mick and Montmerency. This also starred Charlie Drake and always involved a classic slapstick scene. My memories are VERY vague because a) I was very young and b) I lived on Anglesey at that time and we had a small black and white telly that got its reception from Liverpool so my recollections are hazy in every sense. I do remember a lot of whitewash being poured over one another.
Charlie Drake also had a 'grown-up' series later in the evening which I can remember had him covered in something different every week as a running gag. I can remember this included eggs, flour, feathers and black paint. Then in the last show he got the lot. There was also a sketch where he played a court jester whose gags included putting eggs in people's hats and asking them how they liked them to which they all replied "Scrambled" and got them smashed and rubbed into their heads. The final scene of the series had him swimming away in his jester's outfit to floods of tears from me. I didn't want it to end and I can remember my Mum consoling me with "Don't be upset. They have to have time to go and make some more." But clearly I loved the show to death at that age.
Incidentally this is the same series where Drake famously was knocked unconscious live on TV being thrown throw a supposedly collapsing bookcase. Apparently, the props people had seen the bookcase he was meant to go through, spotted it was a bit rickety and strengthened it! As a result, Charlie was knocked senseless. The gag was followed by the two men in the sketch then throwing him out the window. This was meant to happen all in one move, but as he was unconscious, the guys had to lift him off the floor and bundle him out the window. This they did, even though he was clearly out of it and in need of treatment! It is this second fall which did for him. Out cold he hit his head on a stage weight and wound up in hospital at the BBCs expense for months! To this day I can remember the screen going black and the in-vision continuity announcer coming on saying, "I'm afraid we are unable to continue with this programme, so here is some music.." I was probably in tears over that as well.
Charlie Drake also used women in his sketches but I was too young to notice then!
After that, it was the early Crackerjack shows which spring to mind. Leslie Crowther and Peter Glaze did a slapstik sketch every week, sometimes involving the women on the show. As the show continued, the slapstick element stayed right up to the days of Jan Hunt and even Stu Francis in the messy game at the end (probably the first TV 'gunge tank'!
On the subject of serious singers getting sploshed, not on TV and definitely before my time, the Crazy Gang used to do this a lot in their show at the Victoria Palace. The show always included female singers and variety acts (like impressionist Flora Desmond) and the Gang regularly dropped buckets of water or wallpaper paste on them, and played other practical jokes. They had a faiir old turnover of singers as a result - including the lady who was to eventually marry (and stay married to) Ronnie Corbett.
Hmmm...perhaps Clown Julie and I should collorate on a definitely history of TV slapstick for the site!
Meanwhile, I'm still recovering from Luscious Lee's visit yesterday. The full story with pics will be appearing on the blog and here.
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BillShipton - Posts: 4371 [ View ]
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Early television memories
by glynnnn1 » 01 Jul 2006, 20:03
Charlie Drake did a sketch with a woman where buckets of 'paint' were on an overhead shelf.
One after another he pulled on ropes attached to the buckets and torrents of the mess poured down onto both him and the woman. She was clearly not enjoying the experience very much but Charlie certainly was!
Despite normally finding his humour slightly off putting I have to admit I enjoyed that sketch and filed it away in my early memories of the enjoyment of slapstick humour.
Les Dawson also did a short slapstick film.
The audience, all actors, were in a Cinema watching a slapstick film on the screen.
Suddenly the charactors in the 'film' stopped what they were doing, flinging pies, and came down among the audience and started pieing them instead. An almighty pie fight took place lasting about ten mimutes or so.
Unfortunately I've never seen it repeated on television.
One after another he pulled on ropes attached to the buckets and torrents of the mess poured down onto both him and the woman. She was clearly not enjoying the experience very much but Charlie certainly was!
Despite normally finding his humour slightly off putting I have to admit I enjoyed that sketch and filed it away in my early memories of the enjoyment of slapstick humour.
Les Dawson also did a short slapstick film.
The audience, all actors, were in a Cinema watching a slapstick film on the screen.
Suddenly the charactors in the 'film' stopped what they were doing, flinging pies, and came down among the audience and started pieing them instead. An almighty pie fight took place lasting about ten mimutes or so.
Unfortunately I've never seen it repeated on television.
by Richard » 02 Jul 2006, 14:46
I can vaguely remember that one Glynnn (the Les Dawson one), I wish they would repeat it so that I could record it.
Re Mick & Montmorency, it was almost certainly them in the 'wall painting sketch' but I didn't realise it was that late in the 1950s. We didn't have a TV in those days so I could only watch when visiting my aunt & uncle. (Nowadays that would be called 'a deprived childhood'!). I just put lapses of memory down to senility.
Signed: Another Old Git.
Re Mick & Montmorency, it was almost certainly them in the 'wall painting sketch' but I didn't realise it was that late in the 1950s. We didn't have a TV in those days so I could only watch when visiting my aunt & uncle. (Nowadays that would be called 'a deprived childhood'!). I just put lapses of memory down to senility.
Signed: Another Old Git.
by Spinynorman and Frilly » 02 Jul 2006, 22:53
Blimey! Somebody who was on TISWAS and they got messy. Can we have an autograph please.
Kind regards, Spinynorman and Frilly
Still messing about after all these years!
Still messing about after all these years!
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