Reader Saul, aware of my extreme “admiration” for Diane Morgan (aka Philomena Cunk), sent me the link to Morgan’s appearance on the British show “Would I Lie to You?”. On that show, each member of a panel makes a startling statement, and the others, after questioning the panelist, guess whether the statement is true or false. Saul characterizes the show like this:

As to the show in question: it’s a panel show, which is common in Britain but as far as I can see not so much in America, it’s completely lacking in cynicism, the two regulars share an excellent chemistry, the guests are often a good mix of celebs and comics, and the premise is simple brilliance (I can’t understand why it hasn’t been franchised and flogged across the world given how easily the format would work elsewhere.). It has a certain cheesy, light-entertainment air to it but it’s so often a joy to watch. It’s a slightly guilty pleasure of mine, and Diane Morgan was good on it. You might want to try it.

And YouTube’s description:

Rob Brydon hosts the award-winning comedy panel show with David Mitchell and Lee Mack as the lightning-quick team captains. Over the course of the show, celebrity guests reveal amazing stories about themselves, some of which are true and some of which are not. The aim of the game is to fool the opposition into mistaking fact for fiction and fiction for fact.

This episode’s guests are Nadiya Hussain, Diane Morgan, Bob Mortimer and Michael Smiley.

Philomena appears between 4:48 to 7:23 with a statement about an ex-boyfriend. But the whole show is funny, as the contestants are quite quick-witted. I doubt that anything this unscripted is on American television, where even the “reality shows” often follow a script. (I do remember older shows that were similar, like “What’s My Line,” but since I watch almost no TV, I can’t really judge what’s happening now.)

h/t: Saul

by Matthew Cobb

As regular readers will know, Jerry’s favourite Boltonian, Philomena Cunk (aka Diane Morgan), starred in a 30-minute special on BBC2 last night, entitled Cunk on Shakespeare. It was a hoot, and I guffawed all the way through. Tw*tter was awash with people repeating their favourite lines (guilty, m’lud) as Morgan and the three script-writers –  Charlie Brooker,  Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris – demolished every trope of the TV documentary (‘I’m going on a journey’ said Cunk, grimacing, before claiming ‘I’ve been studying Shakespeare ever since I was asked to do this programme, and it turns out he was more than just a bald man who could write with feathers’), while savaging how literature is taught and presented.

In a performance that proved Morgan to have the kind of dead-pan talent that made Buster Keaton and Stan Laurel so great, Cunk swivelled her eyes, pursed her lips, consulted her phone and was generally mardy as she tried to make sense of the bald man from Stratford with the aid of the usual band of experts, who this time seemed happy to be along for the ride, rather than utterly bemused as in the case of some of her previous outings.

According to The Daily Telegraph ‘Cunk’s implacable idiocy was thrillingly iconoclastic. Mainly, though, it was very silly and gloriously funny’, while The Guardian said ‘I also like that it’s not so squirmingly Ali G-mean on the serious Shakespeare contributors – the archivist Paul Taylor, theatre director Iqbal Khan, actor Simon Russell Beale and Mr Burton, the “fictional English teacher from TV drama Educating Yorkshire”. I think they’re having a good time too. Brilliant.’ 

But judge for yourselves. Lucky UK readers, or those with the know-how to pretend they are in the UK, can watch it on iPlayer. [JAC: a very kind reader send me a samizdat copy, which I’ll watch soon.] For the rest of you, here are some extracts (I’d be interested to know how many of the jokes non-anglophiles get).

The first, on the words Shakespeare may or may not have invented, is NSFW unless you have headphones on, as it contains A Rude Word (hyphenated) towards the end. Just listen to the brilliantly subtle emphasis when Cunk says ‘Did he?’ at the beginning.

Here she talks with Matthew Burton, an English teacher who featured in an excellent documentary about school life, Educating Yorkshire, and learns how to pronounce ‘pentameter’:

And finally, her she is discussing with theatre director Iqbal Khan. If only real presenters would challenge their interviewees in this way:

JAC: Philomena’s Twi**er followers have taken a big jump, of course, so I now face many more competitors.

As part of the Shakespeare 400th anniversary celebration, BBC Two will release a half-hour program “Cunk on Shakespeare.” I’m not sure when it comes out, but I have high hopes for this one. As Beyond the Joke notes:

Philomena said: ‘A bit like the tooth fairy, nobody’s actually seen Shakespeare, and nobody knows if he’s real or just made up for kids. So I’ll be talking to some expert people to try and find out more about him and his films.’

With the help of an army of interviewees including academics, actors, linguists and historians, Cunk will tell the life story of Shakespeare. She’ll explore some of the works that have made him the greatest playwright the world has ever known, very much the Michael Bay of Elizabethan England.

And some pictures from the program, released in advance.

I’m jealous that the Brits get to see this before I do—if I get to see it at all (some of her bits aren’t on the Internet)

h/t: Matthew Cobb