Four Yorkshiremen sketch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch is a take on nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. Four Yorkshiremen reminisce about their upbringing, and as the conversation progresses, they try to one-up each other, their accounts of deprived childhoods becoming increasingly outrageous and absurd.
The sketch was originally written for the British television comedy series At Last the 1948 Show, and was co-written by the show's four writer-performers: John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Marty Feldman. The original performance of the sketch by the four creators is one of the surviving sketches from the program and can be seen on the At Last the 1948 Show DVD.
The "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch has been performed by Monty Python during their live shows, Live at Drury Lane (1974, no video recording available) and Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982), each performance varying slightly in its content. It was also performed with three Pythons (John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones) and Rowan Atkinson for The Secret Policeman's Ball, the 1979 Amnesty International benefit gala.
In a conscious salute to its performance at the 1979 Amnesty show, the sketch was revived for the 2001 Amnesty show We Know Where You Live, Live - on that occasion performed by Eddie Izzard, Harry Enfield, Alan Rickman, and Vic Reeves.
As a result of the numerous Python performances, and the comparative obscurity of At Last The 1948 Show, the "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch is widely and incorrectly considered to be a Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch.
[edit] External links
- "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch - transcript from the album Monty Python Live at Drury Lane, 1974
- Radio interview with Tim Brooke-Taylor — includes comments about the "Four Yorkshiremen sketch"
