I met this legend on a delayed train from London Vic to Gatwick Airport in 2015. After a brief conversation, he gave me his copy of Viz magazine, before exiting the train and saying goodbye to me. Which was nice..
As an American, I just discovered this show and was pleasantly surprised to see this character singing all of these Prince songs in 1930s music hall style.
That's George Formby. He used to get all kinds of filth under the radar. He's best remembered today for "When I'm Cleaning Windows", a song about voyeurism and "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" about his you-know-what. According to one story, the Queen Mother (the present King's grandmother) stopped the BBC from censoring him in a concert for the troops in the later years of WWII. I suppose the US equivalent would be vaudeville acts turned comic movie stars who fell foul of the Hays Code in the 1930s.
@listerofsmeg884 Well, throw in some modern day rap, like Eminem or such as, think it'd work for more than a minute. PS nice name Dave, remember it's been 3 weeks so time to turn your underwear inside out and reapply!
Hilarious, the fast show was so funny, Arthur Atkinson and Chester Drawers, they had me in stitches, crying with laughter, on the floor, stomach aching, I've never laughed so much, they were brilliant.
Loved the Fast Show and still watch it on reruns today. However, I've never seen this sketch before. Utterly hilarious take on George Formby. Brilllliiannnt!
Mark Williams can pull off a really good George Formby impression. This one is a little exaggerated, but the other clip of him singing the song about Einstein is spot on!
I sing his little tunes very often around the house, in his voice with all the gestures but sadly I dont have a little banjolele. Funny how something can just tickle you for the rest of your life lol, Prince will never be gone as long as we have Fred Halibut
@@figureheaduk No, he did this in a risque double act with Chester Drawers at the Accrington Empire in 1937. Thank God that Arthur Atkinson showed that you didn't need filth to make folk laugh.
Gary wintle thanks for your post !!!!,I think it's quite safe to say ... we've got an awful lot in common and your post is sublime ,I love your very carefully chosen words..your criticism is oh so gently put in a way that both of us understand, thanks for reading my post and it's been an absolute pleasure to here from you!!!!
Obviously the point was Formby sang songs that were risqué for his time, but now seem quite quaint. The Fast Show basically updated it by having the Formby character sing a series of Prince songs with explicit sexual connotations: "Gett Off", "Cream", "Darling Nikki" and "U Sexy MF" are the songs chosen.
It's cut from the DVD (and replaced with a repeated Caroline Aherne sketch). Apparently George Formby's estate complained, I read it somewhere. I have found no way of verifying it, though.
Harry Enfield said I can't understand why people find the fast show funny!!!!, well Harry time waits for no man...and so does comedy, when you were popular not long before the fast show premiered on the BBC you couldn't put a foot WRONG ... And yes you were funny..the repeats speak for themselves...but your understudy Paul Whitehouse saw a much better view on being funny and took it to another level !!!!, maybe one day you will reflect on your past and like Paul reignite your career...but on a happy note thanks for the laughs....oooohhh suits you sir
I think the Fast Show did get repetitive eventually (the show's strength and weakness was it's repeating characters), but it came from what I consider a Golden Age of British comedy (The Day Today, Absolutely, Fast Show, Big Train, Harry Enfield, Fry & Laurie). Many of the Fast Show's sketches are classics. This Formby/Prince parody, like Big Train's Chaka Khan vs the Begees, is funny no matter how many times I watch it.
And yet when the fast show had their reprisal they didn't evolve the humor and it wasn't as good... but the Harry and Paul's story of the twos was brilliant
Emma Crozier you didn't find Ted and Ralph funny? Or unlucky Alf? Rowley Birkin? The fast show had loads of funny, memorable characters, not just from Paul but the whole group.
I met this legend on a delayed train from London Vic to Gatwick Airport in 2015. After a brief conversation, he gave me his copy of Viz magazine, before exiting the train and saying goodbye to me. Which was nice..
Did he get his coat?
@@bigpants6121 He did..
@@rebelwithoutapplause5629 Suits you sir!
@Big pants He had a very expensive coat because he was considewably wicher than yow..!
Well he did see you, roit
"Turned out shite again!" 🤣
Even after all these years, i still p*ss myself laughing at the end of this.
Absolutely hilarious :D
As an American, I just discovered this show and was pleasantly surprised to see this character singing all of these Prince songs in 1930s music hall style.
underrated
Hi! I'm Ed Winchester
That's George Formby. He used to get all kinds of filth under the radar. He's best remembered today for "When I'm Cleaning Windows", a song about voyeurism and "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock" about his you-know-what. According to one story, the Queen Mother (the present King's grandmother) stopped the BBC from censoring him in a concert for the troops in the later years of WWII. I suppose the US equivalent would be vaudeville acts turned comic movie stars who fell foul of the Hays Code in the 1930s.
Still watching this in 2023………… which was nice 😂😂
Mark Williams impersonating George Formby is BRILLIANT! You can't help but imagine other music artists tributes being done in a Formby format !
Aah, The Fred Halibut Hour , from the golden age of radio .
I haven't seen this since broadcast. It's made me cry laughing all over again.
This sketch and the George Doors caravan sketch completely crack me up😂😂
The face wobble 😂😂
He really should have gone on tour with this, can you imagine 2 hours of this at the O2 arena??!
I can and I can imagine paying to see it.
He could mimic Arctic Monkeys too 😂👌🏼
It's funny, but the the entire skit lasts 1 min. Would be tough to stretch the concept to 2 hours
@listerofsmeg884 Well, throw in some modern day rap, like Eminem or such as, think it'd work for more than a minute.
PS nice name Dave, remember it's been 3 weeks so time to turn your underwear inside out and reapply!
Can't listen to Prince any more without picturing this
I play herdle decades every morning. Guess what the 90s song was today!! That's why I'm here
Great tribute to Prince.
wonderful, truly wonderful. The Fast Show will always be timeless...
I have been looking for this for at least 10 years. thanks for posting.
This is absolutely priceless.
Mark Williams is literally perfect for this role. XD
Genius sketch , up there with Julio geordio
Hilarious, the fast show was so funny, Arthur Atkinson and Chester Drawers, they had me in stitches, crying with laughter, on the floor, stomach aching, I've never laughed so much, they were brilliant.
Just the name Chester Draws was enough to crack me up
Loved the Fast Show and still watch it on reruns today. However, I've never seen this sketch before. Utterly hilarious take on George Formby. Brilllliiannnt!
This is simultaneously hilarious and also rather sinister.
Mark Williams can pull off a really good George Formby impression. This one is a little exaggerated, but the other clip of him singing the song about Einstein is spot on!
Williams is a good actor.
Angus Lamont I would buy a whole album of this lol.
@@danielwilliamson6180 Ah yes the E=MC² song is brilliant but that is from the Alexi Sayle show not the fast show just fyi
@@TheBarnem13 I said "Williams is a good actor."
Comedy at its most perfect and beautiful
This is bloody hilarious!
The artist formerly known as Fred Williams.
Oh god! I'm crying 🤣🤣🤣
I sing his little tunes very often around the house, in his voice with all the gestures but sadly I dont have a little banjolele. Funny how something can just tickle you for the rest of your life lol, Prince will never be gone as long as we have Fred Halibut
"Hey-hey! Turned out shite again, int it?" lol!!! XD
😄😄😄
brilliant !!!!
Turned out shaaat again 🙂
Mucho fantastico
just brilliant!
The whole concept is so ridiculous but also hilariously funny. George Formby meets Chubby Brown.
This is a classic PMSL😂
Got to go down as one of funniest minute in comedy!
😂 Thanks for sharing this!
Genius.
Alan Partridge voice:
“Literally soiled myself.”
Darling Nikki really would work well as a Formbyesque music hall number.
Absolute destroyer 😂😂😂😂😂
I'll get me coat.
It's just Brilliant 😂😂😂
Fucking hilarious. I wish he'd done 'Erotic City' and 'Sister' too
🌷 ''TIPTOOOEEE THROUGHHH THE TULIPPPS!''
Another innocent sounding yet Sinister song.
Yesss! Tiny Tim 🙂
Way ahead of it time this 👍🏼
Brilliant
This episode aired on GOLD on August 21st 2020 and it included these sketches.
😂 why do they call you Dave Hedgehog?
What series and episode Dave, please?
@@carldean2260 Series 2, Episode 3.
It says in the description.
@@carldean2260 it is not on DVD. could not get the rights i think????
@@rutgervangestel Yeah think you're right, Prince would have had to sign off on it and it was probably too expensive
it's perfect.
Funny love it 😂.
The best !!!! Lol 😆 🤣 😂 😹 😆 🤣
that bit at the end X''D
As a Prince fan, nice to see the D&P and Symbol songs get parodied along with a Purple rain one!
classic😂😂😂
I saw you playing banjolele at a ukejo concert!
Alternative FM Interlude
that’s class …
George Formby covering Prince?! 😅🤣😂
RIP Prince!
Soooo funny
I wonder how Purple Rain would have sounded with that baby-banjo ?
''HAAAHOOOOOOH....''
George Fornby inspired
0:49 😂
This is pretty Blue for the 1930s...
qetoun You probably would have been hung for coming out with this stuff in the 30's! This was from the late 90's
@@figureheaduk No, he did this in a risque double act with Chester Drawers at the Accrington Empire in 1937. Thank God that Arthur Atkinson showed that you didn't need filth to make folk laugh.
f'king hilarious, George would turn in his grave at this but comedy m
moves on lol
I think he'd laugh himself silly. His own act, at the time, was considered very near the knuckle.
oH MY GOODNESS! HA HA HA.
0:46
😂
haaahaaa 💗
The teeth have it...
Gary wintle thanks for your post !!!!,I think it's quite safe to say ... we've got an awful lot in common and your post is sublime ,I love your very carefully chosen words..your criticism is oh so gently put in a way that both of us understand, thanks for reading my post and it's been an absolute pleasure to here from you!!!!
Oh fuck me , that is so fucking funny
Prince's people will have this taken down....they always bloody do.
Hliarious though.
+pewagm I think they'll be a bit distracted today :-(
pewagm at least we know who the dislike on the video is from
Prince loved the Big Train sketch about him hunting so I think he may have laughed at this if he saw it.
Gary Wintle did he? Where did you hear this?
Think Prince will be laughing in heaven about this lol
more likely trying to sue from beyond the grave
I heard somewhere that he wouldn't let Weird Al Yankovic do parodies of his songs so I don't know.
mark williams lol
Can someome explain all the Prince comments please?
Andrew Morrice he's singing Prince songs!
Obviously the point was Formby sang songs that were risqué for his time, but now seem quite quaint. The Fast Show basically updated it by having the Formby character sing a series of Prince songs with explicit sexual connotations: "Gett Off", "Cream", "Darling Nikki" and "U Sexy MF" are the songs chosen.
Seriously?
HAHAHAHAHAHA
0:46!
You
No Dislikes!! The way this clip should be.
ahahaha......
"turned out shite again, hasn't it?"
Hee heee 😃
Hee heee it turned out shite again 😃
His teeth is hilarious.
X''D
Hey hey, turned out shite again, in it
Turned out shite again. 😂
john lennon wouldv'e loved this.
Funny how this comedian said he hated Bernard Manning....o but its different when they say it...
How did he get away with this when Arthur Atkinson was cancelled for saying shit
Can’t stop laughing turned out shite again !
I believe this sketch was cut from broadcast.
I recall seeing this on BBC in 2004- the various songs were interspersed throughout one episode of 'Fast Show'
It's cut from the DVD (and replaced with a repeated Caroline Aherne sketch). Apparently George Formby's estate complained, I read it somewhere. I have found no way of verifying it, though.
thanks for info. I can well imagine Prince may have been non-plussed too!
On another note, that perfectly-timed film tear when he says "motherfucker" is just sublime. I cried laughing.
Daniel Williamson it wasn't
0:43 and 0:49 LOL
Hey hey...turned out shite again in't it.. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂..
Eee, that Halibut is awful coarse ain't 'ee?
Harry Enfield said I can't understand why people find the fast show funny!!!!, well Harry time waits for no man...and so does comedy, when you were popular not long before the fast show premiered on the BBC you couldn't put a foot WRONG ... And yes you were funny..the repeats speak for themselves...but your understudy Paul Whitehouse saw a much better view on being funny and took it to another level !!!!, maybe one day you will reflect on your past and like Paul reignite your career...but on a happy note thanks for the laughs....oooohhh suits you sir
I think the Fast Show did get repetitive eventually (the show's strength and weakness was it's repeating characters), but it came from what I consider a Golden Age of British comedy (The Day Today, Absolutely, Fast Show, Big Train, Harry Enfield, Fry & Laurie). Many of the Fast Show's sketches are classics.
This Formby/Prince parody, like Big Train's Chaka Khan vs the Begees, is funny no matter how many times I watch it.
And yet when the fast show had their reprisal they didn't evolve the humor and it wasn't as good... but the Harry and Paul's story of the twos was brilliant
mark Williams should have got a bafta award for this but they kept giving it to that horrible Paul Whitehouse
The only good thing ever to come out of this terrible show
That maybe your opinion,Fast Show was funny and had a lot of talented people on there
@@JJMCB26 I like to think that I'm entitled to my own opinion
@@emmacrozier5917 That’s why you get to keep it.
mark Williams was the only decent one out of all the cast and funny aswell the rest were horrible and talentless
Emma Crozier you didn't find Ted and Ralph funny? Or unlucky Alf? Rowley Birkin? The fast show had loads of funny, memorable characters, not just from Paul but the whole group.
😂