That Alexander Armstrong is hosting some 2p game show (Pointless) rather than making top notch comedy like this is one of the great crimes of our times.
He does Pointless for the money - it’s very well paid. There will come a time when he won’t be working, so he needs to make as much dosh as he can while he can. See also Bradley Walsh
Always a treat to see the sketches in full. It means we get to see Fyffe get up to mischief. Whether it's pouring himself the stiffest of whiskies, doing shots of tequila, or huffing paint fumes...
It is impressive and a clearly loving tribute. I just have to keep reminding myself that, relative to the era, it's probably no more shocking than Michael and Donald.
Kevin Bower. This is not keeping Flanders and Swan alive. This "tribute actors nothing of the sort. It lacks any of the intelligent humour. All it really is,is low grade porn . DISGUSTING.
Firstly it’s ‘Swann’ not ‘Swan’. I would have thought that an obvious expert such as yourself would have known that. And secondly - if you can’t see the humour and intelligence shown in the writing and performing of this and you do truly think it’s disgusting porn - then you’re either a religious bigot, or you truly have no hope of a life filled with amusement or joy, my friend. Have a nice day.
As the great men said themselves "Still, we feel that the time has perhaps come for us to take our stand on the somewhat polluted beaches of the 'nouvelle vague', to say goodbye to mealy-mouthed hypocrisy, which has served us so well for so long, and come right out with something adult, fearless and forthright. And filthy."
Michael & Donald got away with a great deal of innuendo. They were much more subtle with it. The A&M parodies are very funny: Great use of the old Test Card C.
Don't be ridiculous. They would never have stooped to this disgusting level. I don't mind smut if it's original smut - let's say Jimmy Carr. But to take the wit of Flanders and Swan and turn it into low grade porn just shows the depth of depravity this country has sunk to.
Nope you aren’t the only one. Personalities, mannerisms, and voices are somewhat similar too, though Armstrong’s speaking voice is obviously somewhat deeper than Harris’s is.
As good as this is, they took quite a risk writing a sketch about two people that last performed about 40 years before. Still, its a cracking good portrayal!
Kind of a self own for a comedy duo to parody a more famous comedy duo and then not be as funny as them. Gotta hand it to these guys for their courage in inviting the comparison.
dusty0608. How wrong you are. When Flanders and Swan sang about the English being the best they were ridiculing the English. Why do you say this is apt today? Could it be because of your own racism? If you think this is apt you have completely missed the humour.
Simon Winter Have you never heard of Brexit?? The comment was aimed at the prevailing mindset of a sizeable proportion of the UK populous, the underlying (and indeed generational) mindset that led to what is seen as tragic isolationism by the remainder of the population. Oh, I am British by the way and have every right to that opinion and the particular sketch by Armstrong and Miller I detailed was produced many years prior to the whole Brexit situation and the version of the Flanders and Swann material is humorous in todays context not just when it was aired on TV and this applies to the originators as well. Nothing racist there but then again maybe I should pre-qualify every post I make with context expanding narrative to avoid being called a racist in the future. How dare you Sir, project your own bias and prejudice on to a stranger and accuse them of racism.
Cleverly done, but I always found that part of the charm of Flanders and Swann was the way that it didn't even appear to cross their minds to be in any way sexual or even imply swearing. Perhaps it is a desire to hark back to a fictional better time when one didn't need to make an effort to clean up one's comedy because it was never dirty in the first place. Armstrong and Miller rather negate that...
Comedy was never clean, but they got past the censors by double-intendre and innuendo. Shakespeare had some pretty cheeky gags in there. I think, double-intendre is kind of played out, and Miller and Armstrong have here turned it on it's head, by using the sixties format of Flanders and Swann to be incredibly rude. It is kind of like the Regency Dance sketches, which is 18th century ladies and their suiters talking dirty to each other. Or the Victorian Piano sketches, which is about a pianist playing modern songs, like Horny and Take Me To The Gaybar, to victorian ladies and gentlemen. Or even their RAF airman using modern chav-slang. They do love to contrast the perceived cleanliness of polite society through history with bawdiness.
@@markheywood8236 "pee po belly bum drawers" springs to mind. A clever swipe at the dramatists if the day who grabbed publicity for themselves by putting four letter words into otherwise incomprehensible scripts. If these words come into common usage, we shall have nothing left for special occasions.
Not sexual? Apart from their song about date rape, that is... (I'm a big fan of F&S but that is one song that hasn't aged well, even in a satirical sense.)
Well, obviously you never heard the song Madeira M'Dear. It's downright a date rape song and I love it. Showed how rapes were better worked out in the old days. Nowadays you just slip in a pill and be done with it... No charm whatsoever... If you went to the trouble of actually doing it the way F&S suggest, the least you should expect is for the girl to consent to be raped. Least she could do...
Not a song about date rape. It is a song involving a dirty old man and a 17 year old who makes a dubious decision after a few glasses of wine but after having a few drinks with him she leaves his flat and the building, having remembered her mother's warning, before later going back. She's shown in the song to be both physically and mentally capable of rejecting his advances and does so during the song (he does not stop her leaving) before returning at the end and wakes "with a smile on her face". It's not a song that would be written these days but is not about date rape. Still one of my least favourite F&S songs though. I much prefer their more whimsical stuff like Ill Wind, British Bedstead Men and Slow Train
Yes: "Armstrong was educated at Mowden Hall School in Stocksfield, Northumberland and St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh, where he was a chorister at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral from the ages of 11 to 13.[4] He attended Durham School and Trinity College, Cambridge on music scholarships.[5][6] He played the piano"
This is an impressive piece of craftsmanship. They sound and look just like the originals. But they’re not as funny as the originals, so what’s the point?
@@tonywright8294 F &S are whimsical, not funny in the sense of having punchlines that are designed to trigger laughs at specific moments. It's a very British thing, and most Americans don't care for it.
This is wrong. Flanders and Swan were not smutty. This is bismirching their legacy. Quite frankly in my opinion it's disgusting. They have taken intelligent humour and turned into low grade porn. This is not a tribute act. You make me feel heartbroken 💔 that you could this to the Great Flanders and Swan.
A great parody of Flanders & Swann, but also an homage.
I do love when Brabbins rolls forward!
"They've no idea."
Yes!
Mike Whiting WOULDN'T YOU?
I seem to check in to these about once a year.
With the airmen and 'origins of' an hour has suddenly gone by and my ribs hurt.
That Alexander Armstrong is hosting some 2p game show (Pointless) rather than making top notch comedy like this is one of the great crimes of our times.
I would say that many people aren't even aware of his comedy past, game show hosting is the comedy equivalent of teaching
Hadn’t thought about it that way, but bugger me, your so right..!
He does Pointless for the money - it’s very well paid. There will come a time when he won’t be working, so he needs to make as much dosh as he can while he can.
See also Bradley Walsh
Frightfully lucrative though
Always a treat to see the sketches in full. It means we get to see Fyffe get up to mischief. Whether it's pouring himself the stiffest of whiskies, doing shots of tequila, or huffing paint fumes...
I never rated Armstrong & Miller at the time, but now I realise how much they put into it.
I'm pleased it finally clicked Zeta , they're wonderfully talented ; as you now know !
We need more of the wholesome fare we've come to expect from Brabbins and Fyffe these days.
When I watched this skit, I laughed out loud and spilt my tea down my shirt. Mind you, I'm quite old, so I do that a lot anyway.
I spilt tea down my shirt... ROLLS WHEELCHAIR FORWARD Mind you, I'm quite old, so I do that a lot anyway ROLLS WHEELCHAIR BACK
Down his shirt... *imagine that*.
Same here, without the tea
0:01 Misses Palmer ;)
0:44 song
1:39 seeing to the misses
2:26 song
3:30 foreigners
4:24 song
5:15 Crafty one
5:56 song
7:06 Teenage girls
7:52 song
It is impressive and a clearly loving tribute. I just have to keep reminding myself that, relative to the era, it's probably no more shocking than Michael and Donald.
I am French and live in Belgium yet know the song about foreigners by heart.
*Rolls forward*
'Imagine that, into cheese!'
*Rolls backward*
CaptainLumpyDog
*Rolls forward*
"They've no idea"
*Rolls backward*
The ominous lighting too, 10/10
Like it or not - it's stuff like this which helps keep Flanders & Swann alive. It comes across as the heartfelt tribute which it surely is..
Kevin Bower Prior to Brabbins and Fyffe I had never heard of Flanders and Swann. Now I am so glad to to have both of them!
You can tell this was done with love!
Kevin Bower.
This is not keeping Flanders and Swan alive.
This "tribute actors nothing of the sort.
It lacks any of the intelligent humour.
All it really is,is low grade porn .
DISGUSTING.
Firstly it’s ‘Swann’ not ‘Swan’. I would have thought that an obvious expert such as yourself would have known that. And secondly - if you can’t see the humour and intelligence shown in the writing and performing of this and you do truly think it’s disgusting porn - then you’re either a religious bigot, or you truly have no hope of a life filled with amusement or joy, my friend. Have a nice day.
@@simonwinter8839 wrong.
Love every one of the Armstrong and Miller episodes
Hysterical laughter from me Puzzled looks from the dog!
Love Fyffe's little cocktail of rather nefarious looking stimulants.
He’s doing a variation of a suicide shot
These two are really talented.
I used to watch this show back in my Uni years. Awesome!!!
I like the Armstrong and Miller show because it's my favourite and it's funny it makes me laugh
07:38 "They've no idea" gets me every time !
I know! Armstrong and Miller were brilliant. They had a real affection for Flanders and Swann, I believe.
Excelsior Entertainments Imagine that! Into cheese.
Rolls forward. Imagine that.
i love watching these sketches, i just noticed that brabbins taps his shoes several times :D
Beautifully concocted.
Let's be fair: everyone here's either watching the whole thing through or skipping straight to the "CUT OFF OF AIR" frames. :D
You, sir, are a gent.
Fantastic to have the "talky" bits as well as the songs.
myasmate The talky bits are the second best part after the sudden cuts!
Yes this is performed with admiration to Michael and Donald...I suspect they would have liked it!
Armstrong has a fine voice. Miller gets Swann's high laugh perfectly. Talented pair.
im using 'knocking out a crafty one' from now on
As the great men said themselves "Still, we feel that the time has perhaps come for us to take our stand on the somewhat polluted beaches of the 'nouvelle vague', to say goodbye to mealy-mouthed hypocrisy, which has served us so well for so long, and come right out with something adult, fearless and forthright. And filthy."
Shoddy...but surprisingly lucrative
Keith Jellis *EYEBROWS*
Oh thankyou , I needed to laugh.
Ooooh! Send a dvd to the Archbishop of Westminster! LOL
Knocking off a crafty one!° Haha..
Imagine that
into Cheese!
I would absolutely unironically watch these guys
'The loveliest thing about teenage girls...!'
5:00 As soon as Alexander said "once".... I knew what was coming
"Imagine that - cheese!"
So close..it's frightening!
If only Flanders and Swann could have gotten away with this.
Michael & Donald got away with a great deal of innuendo. They were much more subtle with it.
The A&M parodies are very funny: Great use of the old Test Card C.
It was as far as you could go at the time. I have a Flanders and Swann performance program.
Don't be ridiculous.
They would never have stooped to this disgusting level.
I don't mind smut if it's original smut - let's say Jimmy Carr.
But to take the wit of Flanders and Swan and turn it into low grade porn just shows the depth of depravity this country has sunk to.
@@simonwinter8839 oh dear.
Sad and ignorant comment.
@@graemestarkey7524 Why is that?What's sad and ignorant about my comment?
How are there people who dislike this?
7:37 gets me EVERY BLOODY TIME.
ujustgotpwned2008 They've no idea!
" They've no idea ! "
Test Cards at 1:38, 5:13 & 8:05.
Am I the only one who sees a strong resemblance of Neil Patrick Harris in A. Armstrong?
Nope you aren’t the only one. Personalities, mannerisms, and voices are somewhat similar too, though Armstrong’s speaking voice is obviously somewhat deeper than Harris’s is.
"Another pint for the bender, please!"
@@319metresMWlegen ......
.....
.....
.....
Wait for it...
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Dry
My favourite one is not included in this collection. It was called, have you ever taken a shit on a train?
*giggles*
imagine that, into cheeeese!
'In Greece, they live in bungalows and eat the bits between dogs toes..'
I don't know why but I've never heard of the Armstrong and Miller show.Just watched this to see why. I prefer Flanders and Swann,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Swann was a conscientious objector so they parodied him as an Englishmen with the Nazis?
@The505Guys He's not paralysed, there's a song about the 'accident' that caused it :-D
He fought with the Nazis you know!
**GIGGLES**
Never you mind whose army.
And never mind which courthouse we surrendered at..
As good as this is, they took quite a risk writing a sketch about two people that last performed about 40 years before. Still, its a cracking good portrayal!
He fought with the Nazis, you know!
Better than the originals :)
Knocking off a crafty one,There's really nothing finer,Do it in the kitchen,And loose yourself over the china.
It's a reference to the Flanders and Swann original, which is it's self a mockery of the overblown nature of jingoistic patriotism. But.... whatever.
Armstrong and Miller
Kind of a self own for a comedy duo to parody a more famous comedy duo and then not be as funny as them. Gotta hand it to these guys for their courage in inviting the comparison.
@3:30 foreigners, how apt at the moment.....
dusty0608.
How wrong you are.
When Flanders and Swan sang about the English being the best they were ridiculing the English.
Why do you say this is apt today?
Could it be because of your own racism?
If you think this is apt you have completely missed the humour.
Simon Winter Have you never heard of Brexit?? The comment was aimed at the prevailing mindset of a sizeable proportion of the UK populous, the underlying (and indeed generational) mindset that led to what is seen as tragic isolationism by the remainder of the population. Oh, I am British by the way and have every right to that opinion and the particular sketch by Armstrong and Miller I detailed was produced many years prior to the whole Brexit situation and the version of the Flanders and Swann material is humorous in todays context not just when it was aired on TV and this applies to the originators as well.
Nothing racist there but then again maybe I should pre-qualify every post I make with context expanding narrative to avoid being called a racist in the future.
How dare you Sir, project your own bias and prejudice on to a stranger and accuse them of racism.
@@dusty060828© isn't a sizable portion
Cleverly done, but I always found that part of the charm of Flanders and Swann was the way that it didn't even appear to cross their minds to be in any way sexual or even imply swearing. Perhaps it is a desire to hark back to a fictional better time when one didn't need to make an effort to clean up one's comedy because it was never dirty in the first place.
Armstrong and Miller rather negate that...
Comedy was never clean, but they got past the censors by double-intendre and innuendo. Shakespeare had some pretty cheeky gags in there. I think, double-intendre is kind of played out, and Miller and Armstrong have here turned it on it's head, by using the sixties format of Flanders and Swann to be incredibly rude. It is kind of like the Regency Dance sketches, which is 18th century ladies and their suiters talking dirty to each other. Or the Victorian Piano sketches, which is about a pianist playing modern songs, like Horny and Take Me To The Gaybar, to victorian ladies and gentlemen. Or even their RAF airman using modern chav-slang. They do love to contrast the perceived cleanliness of polite society through history with bawdiness.
Flanders and Swann were often very knowingly filthy.
You can't say oly-ma-kitty-luca-chi-chi-chi isn't blatantly sexual.
@@markheywood8236 "pee po belly bum drawers" springs to mind. A clever swipe at the dramatists if the day who grabbed publicity for themselves by putting four letter words into otherwise incomprehensible scripts.
If these words come into common usage, we shall have nothing left for special occasions.
Not sexual? Apart from their song about date rape, that is... (I'm a big fan of F&S but that is one song that hasn't aged well, even in a satirical sense.)
Well, obviously you never heard the song Madeira M'Dear. It's downright a date rape song and I love it. Showed how rapes were better worked out in the old days. Nowadays you just slip in a pill and be done with it... No charm whatsoever... If you went to the trouble of actually doing it the way F&S suggest, the least you should expect is for the girl to consent to be raped. Least she could do...
You piece of shit.
Not a song about date rape. It is a song involving a dirty old man and a 17 year old who makes a dubious decision after a few glasses of wine but after having a few drinks with him she leaves his flat and the building, having remembered her mother's warning, before later going back. She's shown in the song to be both physically and mentally capable of rejecting his advances and does so during the song (he does not stop her leaving) before returning at the end and wakes "with a smile on her face".
It's not a song that would be written these days but is not about date rape.
Still one of my least favourite F&S songs though. I much prefer their more whimsical stuff like Ill Wind, British Bedstead Men and Slow Train
They're certainly no Flanders and Swann, though obviously mimic them.
No A &M have talent
I've never got why ben miller is "at" the piano when he clearly cant play while Armstrong is better than passable
They are "recreating" the duo Flanders and Swann, whom they passingly resemble. Look them up :)
Yes:
"Armstrong was educated at Mowden Hall School in Stocksfield, Northumberland and St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh, where he was a chorister at St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral from the ages of 11 to 13.[4] He attended Durham School and Trinity College, Cambridge on music scholarships.[5][6] He played the piano"
This is an impressive piece of craftsmanship. They sound and look just like the originals. But they’re not as funny as the originals, so what’s the point?
F &S funny not . What is funny about singing about a hippopotamus ?
@@tonywright8294 F &S are whimsical, not funny in the sense of having punchlines that are designed to trigger laughs at specific moments. It's a very British thing, and most Americans don't care for it.
What a hopeless parody of the brilliant Flanders and Swann. They they where clever and witty and original. This is just vulgar and stupid.
So, you're the one who left the faecal mountain..
Don’t suppose you have any friends ?
This is wrong. Flanders and Swan were not smutty.
This is bismirching their legacy.
Quite frankly in my opinion it's disgusting.
They have taken intelligent humour and turned into low grade porn.
This is not a tribute act.
You make me feel heartbroken 💔 that you could this to the Great Flanders and Swan.
Have some Madeira m'dear. :D
@@Sheerwater909 Only if you're buying. Quite a witty response though !!
I love Flanders and Swann and find this pretty unfunny, but they were absolutely capable of being smutty