I used to like watching Dave Allen At Large when I was in high school. I happened upon these videos:
Thanks for that, man. My high school days, too. Used to sit up late on Friday nights, cook myself a Hungry Man turkey tv dinner, in the old metal foil tray, and watch this after coming home from the high school football games. I haven’t heard that theme song in a lot of years, but I sure still remembered it.
I remember one sketch that I really liked. I don’t know if there’s a video of it online.
A priest is standing near a building/alley/doorway/corner/something. A dirty-looking guy with an Arab accent comes up and says, ‘Dirty postcards?’ The priest ignores him. The Arab is insistent. ‘Dirty postcards?’ The priest says, ‘No!’ The Arab tugs at the Priest’s cossack. ‘Dirty postcards?’ The priest replies, ‘Go away!’ The Arab persists. ‘Dirty postcards?’ The exasperated Priest says, ‘Oh, all right! How many do you want?’
My fondest memory of Dave Alllen was the last show of a series he did in the late sixties. The series had him meeting people with strange hobbies and jobs. I remember one where he tested a sheet of bullet proof glass by standing behind it while someone shot at him.
On the final show, he gave away the studio to the audience - literally: his desk, the chairs, the carpet - everything. It was surprising, exciting and hilarious. While his comedy sketches and monologues are great, I miss the spontaneity of that series. He was an inspired man.
I remember the long story-type jokes he used to tell, and the one time he joked about his missing half-finger, when he said that he used to stir his drinks with it, and implied that the drinks had dissolved it. They used to show Benny Hill, Dave Allen At Large, and Kenny Everett around the same time. I liked Benny well enough, but Dave Allen was the one I really looked forward to. I must’ve been around 13 or so, back in the days of UHF TV.
The funny thing is, if I had to recall one video skit of his, the one you related is the one I would have come up with. Excellent recounting, BTW.
Just looked up Kenny on Wikipedia. I didn’t know he’d died so young. What a shame.
I remember that. He was telling a story of some sort, and was absentmindedly stirring his drink. Then he seemed to realise what he was doing, looked at his finger with a quizzical expression, and then explained to the audience that over years of using his finger to stir his drink, the drink had dissolved it. The brilliance of that bit was the setup. He was telling the setup story so naturally, I never noticed he’d had his stub in his drink. A good bit of acting there.
They showed Dave Allen At Large and Benny Hill on PBS (KCET, Los Angeles) in the late-'70s/early-'80s. Like you, I liked Benny Hill well enough; but I liked Dave Allen’s more intelligent show. I never saw Kenny Everett.
Another sketch I remember has a Priest entering his office (or whatever they’re called) and the phone is ringing. He answers the phone. ‘Hello?’ A shocked expression appears on his face and he says, ‘It’s Himself!’ He looks toward Heaven, nervously removes his hat, and I think he knelt. A Narrator says, ‘Let Long Distance bring you closer to the ones you love.’
Thanks for the links and the reminder. Great stuff from a great entertainer.
I posted the four-part compilation in the OP because that’s what I found when I got there from somewhere else.
There’s a 15-part compilation on YouTube as well. Here’s Part 1.
Ah, I remember DA well too. The finger thing… he did a story once where he mimiced driving and being stuck in a jam and absentmindedly picking his nose. When someone noticed he would swap to his ‘short’ finger as he braked hard (or something) giving the impression he was roto-rooting his brain… Hilarious.
Another one was he would sit there sewing invisible thread through his lip (his audience watching in bemused fascination) and then ‘pull’ the string and twitch his lip out (it’s more a sight gag 
) … cool bloke. Thanks for the links. 
I haven’t got access to the links.
“May your god go with you.”
All the skits that spoofed Amex - “That will do nicely, thank you.” Especially the Ferryman demanding payment to take the corpse across the river Styx.
Good times.
Also watched Benny Hill and adored Kenny Everett (had the record!)
No Love for Dick Emery? “Da-ad, I think I’ve got it wrong again?”
Speaking of British comedians of this era, I was amazed to recognise Bernard Cribbins in some of the Tennant Dr Whos recently; was he Rose’s dad? Someone’s anyway.
Donna’s Granddad. I knew who he was immediately, but I still can’t remember any show he was in.
Now I’m home and watching *Goodies *vids.
Thanks for the thread
I loved this show so very much. I recently happened upon the first series of Dave Allen At Large on the Internet, and it’s still hilarious. I also found a compilation of his comedy called The Essential Dave Allen on Amazon. There are still copies there very cheap.
I remember Dave Allen At Large as well from my childhood. Sunday nights on WTTW in Chicago they’d show Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Dave Allen at Large, and then an entire Doctor Who story… Best night on television back then…
That’s where I remember watching him as well. The only skit I can really remember offhand is an officer showing a private how to bury a mine and smashing it with the shovel to conceal it. It was moderately amusing, but not as funny as his monologues as I recall.
I once saw Benny Hill do an impersonation of Dave Allen that I thought was brilliantly funny. That must be out on the Internets somewhere.
Well this is weird, I was sure he had his own comedy show but it’s not mentioned in his Wikipedia entry or elsewhere. I remember the “Thames TV” credits that ran after the show had him rowing across the Thames. I may be conflating him with someone else.
But to answer your question he was in several Carry On movies, one Fawlty Towers ep (The Hotel Inspectors), and The Avengers among many others.
I didn’t watch the videos, but like others, I saw DA on PBS many years ago, and the one joke I remember is this one (could’ve been in the vids, but this is from memory):
One day, an Irishman is walking through the woods, and spies a leprechaun. He sneaks up and actually catches the little elf. The leprechaun says, “You’ve caught me, so you get three wishes. What do you want for your first wish?”
The Irishman says, “I want a whisky bottle that’ll fill itself up by magic every time I empty it.”
The leprechaun says a magic word, and POOF! On a stump, right in front of the Irishman, is a whisky bottle. The Irishman says, “Glory be! I can’t believe it!” and he grabs the bottle and drinks it down, and sets it back on the stump. Magically, the bottle fills itself back up. The Irishman is so happy, he’s beside himself now. He drinks the whisky, emptying the bottle again. Again, it magically fills itself up.
The leprechaun says, “What do you want for your other two wishes?”
The Irishman holds up the whisky bottle and says, “I’ll have two more just like this one!”
My local PBS uses to show back to back episodes of Dave Allen and Paul Hogan (pre-Crocodile Dundee). I am surprised that Hogan’s show does not have more fans. The 13 year old in me remembers it being hilarious.
I loved watching DA. As a wee young’un, the Buffalo PBS station showed an hour of Harold Lloyd shorsts, followed by “Benny Hill” and then “Dave Allen at Large” followed by “Monty Python” on Friday nights.
Every six months or so, just for some variety, PBS would temporarily replace DA with other "brit-coms. Anybody else remember “the Two Ronnies”? or “the Good Neighbors”?
Kenny tended to be a bit more smutty. He was best at doing recurring comic characters and wearing silly costumes.