Peter Cook was one of the original and best English satirists, who inspired an entire generation of English comedians. For instance, the cast from Monty Python are his direct comedic descendants.Peter is most well known for his long association with Dudley Moore (who later went on to Hollywood fame and fortune). He started working with him in a group that also included Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennet in Beyond the Fringe. They then formed a duo for the show Not Only ... But Also ..., giving rise to their famous characters "Pete and Dud" and later the excessively foul mouthed "Derek and Clive".
Unfortunately, Peter essentially drank himself to death by the mid-nineties.
Some of you may only remember Peter Cook from the short wedding scene in The Princess Bride ("Mowwige ... that bwessed ewent ..."). Peter's style of humor was often to be tedious, repetitive, and annoying to whomever was playing the straight man, often with brilliant results (and sometimes simply with tedious and annoying results).
I found a slew of videos of his work on YouTube, most of which I never saw before. Enjoy.
Pete and John Cleese send up Chamberlain.
Two sketches. The first is with Rowan Atkinson and is quite funny. The second is a song which is not as good, but does get a little funnier as it goes on.
A classic Pete and Dud sketch.
Annoying stranger 1. Very good.
Annoying stranger 2. From the Secret Policeman's Other Ball. Another with John Cleese. Also very good.
You can search YouTube for more.
Yehuda
Links:
A "war game" simulating the Jewish Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Ew. Who wants to play the Nazis gunning down concentration camp victims?
Settlers of Catan in Lego.
Using computer games to establish collective wisdom and implement social change.
A neat game theory article demonstrating how information changes the odds of winning. It's actually kind of obvious, when you think about it. If you know when you have a winning hand, and your opponent doesn't, you will tend to win more from cutting your losses.
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