Tag Archives: Sketch

Dead Parrot Voted Top Monty Python Sketch

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 DeadParrot Monty Python sketch best

  • Famous pet shop sketch revealed as the nation’s favourite
  • Survey results revealed as legendary comedy troupe take to the stage for the last run of their hugely popular stage shows
  • The Lumberjack Song, The Ministry of Silly Walks and The Spanish Inquisition also feature in top ten

 

The dead parrot sketch, which first aired on 7 December 1969 (45 years ago) and featured John Cleese and Michael Palin, has been voted the nation’s favourite Monty Python sketch of all time.

 

The survey of 2,000 British adults was commissioned to mark the screening of the very last Monty Python live show on TV channel Gold on Sunday 20th July, and asked respondents to select their top sketch from a long list of over 35 iconic scenes.

 

The pet shop scene, which features Cleese as an exasperated customer trying to get his money back from Palin, who is a stubborn pet salesman, has been voted the most popular Python moment by 45% of respondents.  In second place is The Lumberjack Song, which was released as a single in 1975 (28%).  The top three is completed by The Ministry of Silly Walks (23%).

 

The nation’s favourite top ten Monty Python sketches

  1. Dead Parrot – 45%
  2. The Lumberjack Song – 28%
  3. The Ministry of Silly Walks – 23%
  4. The Spanish Inquisition – 16%
  5. Spam – 15%
  6. Four Yorkshiremen – 12%
  7. Nudge Nudge – 11%
  8. Fish slapping dance – 8%
  9. The Restaurant sketch (dirty fork) – 7%
  10. The killer joke – 6%

 

Just missing out on the top ten were the Silly Olympics, Hell’s Grannies and Gay Policemen (all with 6%).

 

The findings also reveal some interesting regional differences with Londoners the most likely to find Monty Python funny (81%), compared with those in the North East (69%). There was a surge of popularity for the Dead Parrot sketch in the East Midlands with over half (55%) voting it their top Python moment, compared to the national average of 45%.  The Lumberjack Song was particularly popular in Northern Ireland (33%) and Scotland (34%), compared with a national average of 28%.  While those living in East Anglia (28%) and Wales (27%) were particularly tickled by The Ministry for Silly Walks (compared with the national average of 23%).

 

Steve North, General Manager of Gold says, “It’s clear from our research that Monty Python has crossed the generations, 45 years on from the very first series.  We’re honoured to be broadcasting the final Monty Python Live (mostly): stage show on our channel so that fans at home can be part of the last ever performance from the most iconic group of comedians in the world.”

 

 

Sketch To Host Café Intellectual: Reading Robert Hughes

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‘The greatest art critic of our time’ – Jonathan Jones
 Robert_Hughes
On Sunday 13th October, The Parlour at Sketch will host Café Intellectual: Reading Robert Hughes. A Sunday evening salon with selected readings and reflections, screenings and sound bites in honour of the controversial figure hailed as ‘the greatest critic of our time’, Robert Hughes.
Curated by The Field and presented in association with the Royal Academy of Arts’ in honour of their highly anticipated ‘Australia’ exhibition. The evening salon will include presentations from a number of Britain’s most esteemed art-critics and artists, whose work has been affected by Hughes’ legacy.
An array of speakers have been invited to toast the work of RA Honorary Fellow Robert Hughes, who was once described by Peter Carey as ‘Australia’s Dante’. Speakers include curator Paul Bayley, artist Dan Davis, Oxford film and television creative director Nicholas Kent, artist Agatha Gothe-Snape and academic and artist Khadija von Zinnenburg Carroll.
The bar team at sketch will be creating cocktails inspired by Hughes’ work. Guests will be able to sample ‘Fatal Shore’ and ‘Shot of the New’ which have heady blends, evoking Hughes’s famous tones.
“They need a place where they can go to meet and drink and talk, preen themselves or simply sit alone with a book … the cafe was the opera of the dissenters. It was also the marketplace of ideas.” – Robert Hughes

Café Intellectual: Reading Robert Hughes will be held at The Parlour at sketch, on Sunday 13th October, 6:30pm – 8pm

The Wine Cocktail Guide

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Frost has come across an excellent wine cocktail guide from the great people at formulawine.co.uk. Mixologists from five London based cocktail bars (Callooh Callay, Sketch, Stories, Detroit bar and Dabbous) have created cocktail recipes containing wine and we have a graphic to display the recipes. The guide gives delicious wine cocktail recipes but also interesting new places to visit around London. Let us know what you think. Will you try them all?

wine cocktail guide, guide, alchohol,

 

London Fashion Week: Where To Go

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London Fashion Week is nearly here and we are super excited. Here is a round up of great places to go to eat, drink and have a break from the fast pace.

Josh Wood To Launch Breakfast Pop-up Salon At sketch During London Fashion Week
Sketch on Conduit Street in Mayfair has collaborated with world-renowned salon Josh Wood Atelier to open an exclusive pop-up breakfast blow-dry and nail bar in the Glade at sketch. The salon will offer guests a dry-style blow dry and a file and polish together with an express breakfast for £25.00, ensuring they will look impeccably groomed before a busy day of shows, whether gracing the FROW or simply soaking up the atmosphere at Somerset House. Open from 8.00am until 10.30am, the beauty bar will run throughout London Fashion Week, from 13th-17th September. www.sketch.uk.com

London fashion week, where to go
Babbo
To celebrate this autumn’s London Fashion Week, discreet Mayfair restaurant Babbo has devised a special menu packed with superfoods. Known for being favoured by royalty and celebrities alike, it is frequented by A-listers including Stella McCartney, Kate Beckinsale, Princess Beatrice, Colin Firth and Claudia Schiffer. Head chef Carlo Scotto has created dishes such as Salad of handpicked crab meat with avocado and hazelnuts , Tuna carpaccio with wild asparagus and aubergine puree and John Dory with fresh peas, broad beans, dry tomato and beetroot puree. The menu will be available for the duration of London Fashion Week and is priced at £45 for three courses
39 Albemarle Street, W1S 4JQ – www.babborestaurant.co.uk

Fornata
Between 13-17th September, relaxed Italian restaurant Fornata – located on Soho’s bustling Kingly Street – will offer an express three course meal with a glass of wine for just £25. The vibrant and informal restaurant will offer low-carb dishes such as Grilled courgettes with ricotta, mint and pine nuts or Beef Carpaccio with fresh Porcini mushroom salad to start. These will be followed by a choice of either Sicilian style char-grilled swordfish, Char-grilled ginger baby chicken with rocket and parmesan or Grilled lamb cutlet with aubergine puree and pecorino cheese for main. To finish, guests can choose between Panna cotta with mixed berries or Lemon crostata pie. The menu, which is available throughout London Fashion Week, can be best enjoyed al fresco on Fornata’s lively terrace.
15 Kingly Street, W1B 5PS – www.fornata.com

Ping
PING, West London’s renowned ping-pong rooms will be giving pizza’s a fresh twist for London Fashion Week with the introduction of its ‘Skinny Bitches’ pizza menu. Challenging the perception of what it is that makes a great and nutritious pizza, head chef Bruno Elias has created three low calorie pizzas, that are sure to keep you feeling chic throughout fashion week. The ‘Skinny Bitches’ menu at Ping features pizza made from wholewheat crusts, light cheeses, fresh and healthy toppings, which are all under 600 calories. Pizza’s include the ‘Kate’ made up of ricotta, fresh spinach, roasted apple, walnuts, the ‘Naomi’ with fresh mozzarella, sun blushed tomatoes, raisins, anchovies and pine nuts on a rich tomato base, and the ‘Giselle’ with roasted aubergines, peppers, onions, fresh basil on a rich tomato base.
180-184 Kingly Road, SW59GG – www.weloveping.com

STK
To celebrate this September’s London Fashion Weekend, contemporary steakhouse STK will be opening its doors at the earlier time of noon, on both the Saturday and Sunday, to offer the cities fash pack an exclusive STK’OVER lunch menu. Located minutes from Somerset House STK is the perfect pit stop for post or pre show entertaining, and diners with a pass for London Fashion Weekend will also be offered a complimentary signature STK cocktail. Dishes on the STK’OVER menu include scallop ceviche, feather steak and STK salad.
STK, 336-337 Strand, London, WC2R 1HA – www.togrp.com/togrp-stk-london/about

Villandry 
To mark London Fashion, Villandry, located on Great Portland Street has created a perfect, exclusive menu for die-hard fashionishtas to enjoy throughout September, with each dish no more than 150 calories. Each dish has been carefully devised to follow Villandry’s philosophy of offering lighter Mediterranean dishes, where by bad fats are kept to a minimum. Dishes on the menu include tomato and green bean tartare with avocado salsa, grilled salmon on a bed of pea puree, roasted diced beetroot and horseradish, and for those with a sweet tooth there is the frozen yogurt summer berry trio.
170 Great Portland St, London, W1W 5QB – www.villandry.com
Where do you like to go during London Fashion Week?

Diet Coke throws fashion party of the year for 30th Birthday

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– Sparkling celeb-studded bash celebrates iconic brand and new Diet Coke hunk –

Last night saw the fashion fabulous crowd of Diet Coke fans gather at London’s Sketch to celebrate the brand’s 30th birthday. Guests including Pixie and Peaches Geldof, Pearl Lowe and Danny Goffey, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Laura Whitmore, Zoe Hardman, Jamelia, Ben Grimes, Jade Parfitt and the Made In Chelsea cast enjoyed a sparkling night that looked back at the brand’s dazzling 30-year history and also saw the unveiling of a new Diet Coke hunk.

The biggest surprise of the night saw pulses race when Andrew Cooper, the new Diet Coke hunk entered the room to the famous Etta James “I Just Want To Make Love To You” soundtrack. Back, and sexier than ever, the new hunk ad is set to become one of the most talked about campaigns, and men of the year.

Event host, Hilary Alexander treated guests to a journey across Diet Coke’s 30 years, talking through the exciting campaigns and collaborations that have helped the brand become a cultural icon. She also officially opened a specially curated three decades themed exhibition, which allowed guests to view some of the most exciting moments from the brand including celeb-led campaigns ‘Just for the Elle of it’ (1987), Whitney Houston’s Diet Coke advertising campaign (1988), Paula Abdul’s ‘There’s just one’ (1992), the first hunk Lucky Vanous’ test shots (1994) and Heidi Klum’s Oscar dress from the Diet Coke Heart Truth campaign (2009).

Quirky designer and stylist Patricia Field was there and showcased her limited edition range of ‘Diet Coke City Collection’ bottles. These follow in the line of previous campaigns such as Moschino, Karl Largerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier and Diane Von Furstenberg, firmly cementing the brand as the ultimate fashionista accessory.

Music for the night saw style superblogger Bip Ling hit the decks, combining the ultimate party track favourites from the past three decades in a mega mix specially created for Diet Coke. VIP’s including Lilah Parsons, Jack Derges, Phil Clifton and Wretch 32, also enjoyed three-decade themed cocktails entitled ‘80’s Just For The Taste Of It’, ‘90’s Diet Coke Break’ and ‘00’s Love It Light’ all made using Diet Coke as well as decadent canapés.

Telly Predictions: Happy Finish

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The unique televisual experiment that is Comedy Lab returns this week to unearth more comedy stars of tomorrow and there’s a buzz about one of the pilots in particular.

Happy Finish is a bold, funny and visually striking gang sketch show showcasing some of Channel 4’s next generation of character comedians and sketch writers, as well as two of the country’s most promising up and coming comedy producers and directors.

Comedy Lab; the platform that has helped launched the careers of top performers such as Ricky Gervais, Dom Joly, Mitchell & Webb, Peter Kay and Jimmy Carr, as well as uncovering such gems as Modern Toss and Hat Trick’s Fonejacker.

Staring NADIA KAMIL (28 Acts in 28 Minutes, Newsjack); DANIEL KALUUYA (Skins, Psychoville, Dr Who)’; NICO TATAROWICZ (Krod Mandoon, Shooting Stars); SARA PASCOE (Free Agents, The Thick Of It, Being Human) and MIKE WOZNIAK, voted Time Out New Act Of The Year and if.comedy Best Newcomer. The sketches are written by THE DAWSON BROTHERS (That Mitchell & Webb Look, The Peter Serafinowicz Show, The Kevin Bishop Show).  They have also notched up nearly a million hits for their homemade youtube and funnyordie.co.uk sketches.

The show is directed by AL CAMPBELL (Screenwipe, Trigger Happy TV) and produced by MARK TALBOT, creator of cult comedy night Sabotage where this cast all performed before being picked for the show.

Mark Talbot has this to say “Happy Finish is beautifully filmic with sketches that include an illegal downloading that goes horribly wrong, a boyfriend returning from the dead, the archaeologists who discover one of Jesus’ practical jokes and a glimpse into the perils of homemade time travel.  The show will also have an online presence with exclusive clips being featured on the comedy website www.funnyordie.co.uk.  Comedy Lab has unearthed many of the comedy stars of tomorrow – and our show gives some really talented comedians a chance to show what they can do.”


Happy Finish isn’t the first sketch show in the world to be associated with the funnyordie name but this looks set to be a world away from the American sketch show from the US site. Check out the trailer and some exclusive clips at funnyordie.co.uk/happyfinish
If it doesn’t get picked for a full series I’m sure a lot of people will be sorely dissapointed.

Happy Finish is coming to your TV screens on 19th April 2010 at 11.35pm Channel 4. No doubt it will also be on 4OD forever more.