The Suit You Tailors

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Mark Williams and Paul Whitehouse as Ken and Kenneth
Mark Williams and Paul Whitehouse as Ken and Kenneth

Ken and Kenneth, better known as The 'Suit You' Tailors, are popular fictional characters played by Paul Whitehouse and Mark Williams in the BBC sketch show The Fast Show, which ran from 1994 to 2000.

The tailors feature in just about all of the episodes of the show. Ken (Whitehouse) is the more prominent of the two, and is always the first to introduce himself to the customer. He regularly claims to be "radiant". Kenneth (Williams) will then appear, usually out of nowhere, and the two will begin to make innuendo-laden (or outright obscene) suggestions or quips about the interrogated customer, forcing him or her to leave the shop.

Their popular nickname is derived from the frequent use of the phrase "Suit you, sir!" as part of their barrage of innuendo. This is often misquoted as "Suits you", a phrase which in fact never occurs in the shows.

The tailors have also featured outside of the shop: once they were sitting at the bottom of a model catwalk, on another occasion they were part-time waiters at a restaurant, and in the Christmas Special they were Yule-tide carol singers.

Johnny Depp famously appeared in "The Last Fast Show Ever", where he joined in with the innuendo. In the very last of their sketches, the tables are finally turned when the customer reveals that he is gay. Kenneth, from offscreen, shouts "I'm not coming out!", while Ken, standing in front of the man with a shocked face, says "I'm not coming out either!"

The tailors have also appeared on a few advertisements for The Link (retailer), using the same catchphrases on someone buying a mobile phone.

This sketch is also much like the Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch "Nudge Nudge", which features Eric Idle and Terry Jones. In the Monty Python sketch, Eric Idle's character is pummeling the innocent character of Terry Jones with sexual innuendo, much like the tailors.