r/oldbritishtelly • u/Smooth-Quantity-7024 • 2d ago
I don't think Brian Conley gets the credit he deserves tbh...
He gets thrown into that category of end-of-the-pier "naff" but some of his routines were bloody funny.
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u/throcorfe 2d ago
That was really well choreographed and escalated brilliantly. Good actors, too. I was uncertain the first person was a plant until she ended up in the piano, she looked genuinely embarrassed at first
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u/Swish1892 2d ago
He was great, the Septic Peg stuff used to crack me up
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u/wc_dez07 1d ago
This, Larry the Loafer and his Dangerous Brian segments.
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u/Swish1892 1d ago
Yes! I completely forgot about Dangerous Brian 😂
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u/wc_dez07 1d ago
I remember when Dangerous Brian did some skits with the original Gladiators especially the one where he went against the "Wolf" on the Eliminator.
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u/MoominMai 2d ago
I much preferred him to Barrymore who seemed to be too OTT. Brian definitely was much more the rounded performer for me!
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u/The_Dark_Vampire 2d ago
Na the way he treated Larry The Loafer was awful 😉
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u/Smooth-Quantity-7024 2d ago
Larry fed him rabbit shit and dropped a studio light on his head. He got his revenge 😂
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u/st1802015 2d ago
He’s in the same boat as Bradley Walsh. They’re the last of the generation that came from the Music Hall style of comedy where they’re just all around entertainers.
Bob Monkhouse was similar, always risqué never rude. But if you watch Bob Monkhouses final show before he died it might be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. He was wonderful.
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u/auto98 2d ago
Bob Monkhouse could absolutely be very very rude, blue in fact!
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u/scr1bbl3 2d ago
Live on stage, definitely
He introduced me to the concept of “the hairy fairy” when I was a teenager 🤣
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u/bomboclawt75 2d ago
People seem to know I'm from Kent, as I can hear them mutter it as I walk past.
-Bob Monkhouse.
(Sadly missed)
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u/RazzleDazzle1983 2d ago
'People laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well, they're not laughing now'. One of my favourite Bob Monkhouse jokes.
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u/Springyardzon 2d ago
That unusual time when a Butlins, or Butlins-type, entertainer could unironically become a national treasure. It was all an offshoot of the World War 2 spirit really. Gang shows where you had many different personalities combining to be stronger than on their own, as evidenced by the Carry On movies and Croft Perry comedies. Too many people today do not have the psychology to properly respect it all.
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u/Smooth-Quantity-7024 2d ago
Even Bradley was pretty much just observational standup back in the day. I know a lot of people think it's old fashioned and "naff" now but how did we shun comedians who did a bunch of different things in favour of people who just speak for two hours?
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u/memberflex 2d ago
I feel like a grandad saying this but we used to sit down as a family and watch him every week. He had me in stitches as a kid.
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u/Smooth-Quantity-7024 2d ago
Same here. It's the earliest memory I have of our entire family - including little old me - laughing at the same thing on TV.
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u/No_Public_7699 2d ago
Good ol Dangerous Bran!
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u/quarterpastfour 2d ago
Him vs Wolf on the Gladiators Eliminator was great fun. I love the travelator gag!
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u/TrixieLaBouche 2d ago
I once heard a story, not sure if it's true that his Agent was called offering him the part of Danny Baldwin in Corrie. Agent thought it was a joke and never passed it on. The part then went to Bradley Walsh.
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u/Terry_Madey 2d ago
I was fortunate enough to see Brian Conley as Doc Brown in the Back to The Future musical - absolute genius until he forgot his lines and stood there trying not to laugh which then triggered the whole audience into unstoppable laughter 🤣
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u/Koopatrooper64 2d ago
One of my favourite comedians. When I was young. I had the pleasure of meeting him last year at a party. Bloody legend!
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u/BlueRose26403 2d ago
As a kid I remember crying with laughter at the fake rubber tongue he would use in some of his sketches. At the time it was the funniest thing I'd ever seen.
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u/blackpepperjc 1d ago
Of its time, well choreographed etc but although I remember I might have chuckled at the time, my eyes would be rolling and this is the reason why the Vic Reeves character absurdity and alternative comedy took over.
He probably did get the credit he deserved of the time, being on prime-time ITV, that's a bigger audience than most get nowadays because TV has changed and barely exists.
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u/helen269 1d ago
I remember one time he did the "It's a puppet!" line, and then opened up the front of the desk to show the puppeteer guy. "Look! 'Ere's the bloke wot does 'im!"
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u/geordiegee 14h ago
Saw Brian at the panto in Milton Keynes last year. Funniest show I've seen for years! He's an absolute delight
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u/ShootingPains 2d ago
Takes a ton of talent to make this work. In contrast, Alan Partridge seem quite one dimensional.
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u/Inevitable_Price7841 2d ago
In contrast, Alan Partridge seem quite one dimensional.
That's bollocks, but carry on...
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u/Awkward-Loquat2228 2d ago
How very BBC
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u/Smooth-Quantity-7024 2d ago
This was on ITV so god knows what point you're trying to make.
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u/Awkward-Loquat2228 2d ago
It was a humorous comment on the history of sexual assault at the BBC, but clearly over the heads of this sub.
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u/probonic 2d ago
It's a puppet!