"Cunk on Earth" mockumentary on Netfilx

Cafe Society
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1

Ya like science shows about the the history of the human race, going back the Neanderthals and later, like the cave paintings at Lascaux? Who doesn’t? Ya like Spinal Tap?

This show, starring Dianne Morgan (if you are in the UK you may know her, I have just discovered her) had me cracking up

Just one quote,- The ancient Greeks invented lots of things that we still have today, like medicine and olives. And lots of things that have died out, like democracy. The ancient Greeks also invented culture, in the form of yogurt, and theatre, in all it’s tedious forms

Edit- well not as funny reading it, you have to watch the show

2

I agree that it is wonderfully irreverent and quite funny, though it wears out after a few episodes: the pattern is predictable. Still made me chuckle. I like the interviews with experts, mostly from academia. She asks completely absurd questions, it’s nice to see how they react. The best are IMO the ones that say what she asks is profoundly true, in a way, and actually very interesting. That is a defense against stupidity that I must remember.

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It is all in the delivery.

You might want to look up some her earlier stuff for Charlie Brooker, particularly “moments of wonder”

Some gems from the “time” episode.

“what is clocks”

and even better

“the is the famous Greenwich Marillion line, named after the band Marillion, who are named after this line”

4

Diane Morgan is a master of deadpan, and a perfect vehicle for Charlie Brooker’s wittering.

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I love this show. Dianne Morgan is hilarious, and I like that they cut the scene before it gets too cringy. Plus, there really are nuggets of historical information and beautiful footage.

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Agreed, the absurdity is best in small increments.

I still want to know why we were at war with the cows, and who won.

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This is a really interesting difference from Sacha Baron Cohen. For him, a lot of the humor is in taking the scene far into cringe, to the spiders-crawling-on-your-skin point. I can appreciate that, but I don’t want terribly much of it. Cunk cuts quickly, and I can take a lot more of it.

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Philamena Cunk is in effect Charlie Brookers vehicle for a bit of comedy, his background was much more that than Black Mirror, which he’s famous for now. She’s appeared in every News/Weekly/Year XXX Wipe episode, alongside Barry Shitpeas, commenting on various topical things, this was presented by Brooker.

Her first series was Cunk on Britain, which you can find episodes on youtube. My favourite, deeply sick, moment, I’m trying to locate, just sums her up: a idiot with insight who’s not paying attention half the time and off in her own world.

This sequence here which ends with a story about her mate Paul.

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In which she takes you “right up the history of United Britain of Great Kingdom.”

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I just spotted it. I’ve loved her deadpan humor.

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Seeing her travel the world, I observed to my wife, “Man, they have a huge budget for a one-joke show.”

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A very worthy successor to Kenneth Clark and Jacob Bronowski.

Her ‘Cunk on Everything: Encyclopedia Philomena’ is available as an audiobook, so you can enjoy her on the move too.

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Remember the wise words of Aristotle, “Dance like no one is watching.”

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I saw a very brief clip from this show in a YouTube video I watched, where Dianne Morgan was talking about the Globe Theater and said something along the lines of, “People actually came here to see plays on purpose.” It wasn’t the line that was so funny, it was the way she said it.

I had no idea who she was or what it was from. But the OP’s description reminded me of it, and when I looked up her name, sure enough it was her.

I’m probably going to have to watch this show now. This is clearly my kind of humor. It’s almost reminiscent of “Drunk History” which I also enjoy.

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“Right. Who are you??”

Can’t figure out how much the people being interviewed are in on the joke.

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Oh, they’re told ahead of time. Some are better at playing off her act than others is all.

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Hehehe, I love her stories about Paul. He seems like an interesting guy.

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My kids have the hard copy and their favourite quote is about the two types of dinosaurs. The “up and down” ones and the “across” ones.

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Philomena Cunk reacting to the fact that nuclear weapons still exist. An entirely rational response. Philomena Cunk finds out that nuclear weapons still exist - YouTube

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Apropos to the last gag of the last episode.

I liked the way she used Pac Man to explain what Columbus was attempting to do.