Future Is In Quickies
1956 Article
Eric and Ern
They demonstrated their technique in the recent Winifred Atwell Show series on independent television, when their short, sharp sequences – often solely in mine – proved a `hit` with viewers.
Mr. Morecambe and Mr Wise are determined to break away from the
straight man and funny man
formula adopted by many comedy double acts and this has been reflected in their latest television work.
We are both comedians,
said Eric, bespectacled and sad of countenance.
When we got into Winnie Atwell`s program we set out to show viewers just that. We shared the laughs.
He recalled an earlier television series for the BBC, which did not come up to expectations.
The reason was that the writers tried to turn us into a cross between Abbot and Castello, Jewel and Warriss and Laurel and Hardy. And it did not come off,"
said Eric.
OWN STYLE
The Winifred Atwell show saw them blossoming forth as comedians with a style all their own, a style which called for frequent use of `quickies`.
You can call it cartoon humour, if you like.
said Eric, who is not in favour of over-long sketches, which he claims, often become tedious.
Ernie Wise, a short, stocky cheerful man, was delighted that I remembered all the comedy routines they did in the commercial TV series. He took it as a compliment.
It is interesting to note that several other comics have since made fuller use of `quickies` - Ted Ray and Peter Sellers to name a couple.
On the other hand, another well-known comedian I know dismisses `quickies` as little more than useful `fill-ins.`
That might be so with many entertainers, but in the hands of such polished performance as Morecambe and Wise, the `quickie` can become the highlight of any TV comedy show.
Ernie and Eric, who are both thirty years old and have been partners since they were boys, have found that recent television appearances have increased their prestige and drawing power in the music halls.
Theatre audiences, having seen them in action on the small screen, know what to expect – with the result that they are at present enjoying success wherever they are billed.
We have never set the Thames on fire
, said Ernie, modestly,
but we can say that we are doing consistently well.
”
What of the future? They would like to do a BBC series, because they feel they can reach a far bigger audience than with commercial television.
Morecambe and Wise may not yet have reached the top bracket of comedians, but if they continue to get all the opportunities they deserve on television, it will not be long before they arrive there.
They belong to the select band of entertainers – Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock among them – who are lifting television comedy out of the deep rut into which it has been placed by those unimaginative comics who are content to provide the long suffering viewer second-rate, unoriginal material.
© Evening Telegraph 1956 1956