Who do you think is our best ever and why? Cleese French Saunders Henry Bishop Flannigan Hancock Feldman Chaplin Wood Henry Jason Or another great? For me, it’s Ronnie Barker. So very clever, gentle humour, flexible and all done with that twinkle in his eye. For me Porridge was his finest hour (as opposed to Open All Hours). Who’s yours and why?
The Pythons & Cleese in particular. I know their humour is divisive but if it works for you, it’s pure genius. Also no one comedy character has ever betterred Basil Fawlty imo
Shouty shouty Thatcher grrrrrrr. Although he has written some decent stuff he hasn’t been in I guess...but not world class I’d take Barker from that list . Although in another way Terry Gilliam had a lot to offer. And Peter Kay, a modern day Barker in statute and writing capability
Question of taste I suppose...Personally I can't stand Peter Kay. Glad to see Gervais hasn't even made the list.
Tommy Cooper. Just needed to walk on stage without saying anything and people were laughing. Comic genius.
Ronnie Barker for me. I’ve watched Porridge so many times I know a lot of the script but I still laugh my head off.
The list is not my personal favourites, just some examples to kick off with. Some brilliant omissions clearly. The rules? There aren’t any and, if there were, they should be broken anyway.
Might’ve been better to go with best comedy character. For instance, I never got Mr Bean, but Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder still hurts me with laughing so much when I see them
Or someone like Barry Cryer who wrote probably more comedy lines than anyone else. (And that other 70’s bloke, can’t remember his name)
