# Eric the Half-a-Bee **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298 "2003-10-03T09:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/1 "2003-10-03T09:14:49Z")
Which way was Eric the Half-a-Bee halved? Fore and Aft or Starboard and Port? Or was it just that he was a very small bee, half the size of the average bee? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/2 "2003-10-03T09:17:29Z")
He was “bisected accidentally”, therefore he was just half. Which half is unclear. It could be top and bottom, or even diagonally. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/3 "2003-10-03T09:43:08Z")
Well, if he’s been bisected, then maybe straight down the line of symmetry? ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/4 "2003-10-03T10:26:29Z")
Considering that the singer “loves him carnally,” one would imagine that his back half was intact. Thus fore and aft. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/5 "2003-10-03T10:44:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kyomara \* > \*\*Considering that the singer “loves him carnally,” one would imagine that his back half was intact. Thus fore and aft. \*\* But the singer goes on to qualify that this is “semi-carnally” - thus it might be a top/bottom bisection through the cloaca. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/6 "2003-10-03T11:45:11Z")
Cyril Connolly? No - semi-carnally 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/7 "2003-10-03T11:59:07Z")
_walks away whistling…_ ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/8 "2003-10-03T12:53:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*But the singer goes on to qualify that this is “semi-carnally” - thus it might be a top/bottom bisection through the cloaca. \*\* Or indeed, he might have loved him oral-ly.l ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/9 "2003-10-03T12:57:00Z")
There’s a certain buzz about this thread … Well, a certain semi-buzz, anyway … ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/10 "2003-10-03T13:06:22Z")
This reminds me, I’m going to see Eric Idle on stage on Oct 11th. Should be fun! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/11 "2003-10-03T14:21:45Z")
_S._ Frog, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/12 "2003-10-03T15:10:22Z")
Shut up! ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/13 "2003-10-03T15:20:50Z")
(holds up card saying “joke”) ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/14 "2003-10-03T15:38:06Z")
OK, now it is time to settle a question that has been bothering me for years. I have Monty Python’s “All The Words”, the two-volume set of complete TV show scripts from the original series. I have thumbed, re-thumbed, re-re-thumbed, and then chewed the carpet in a mighty rage because I _cannot_ find the Eric the Half-a-Bee sketch anywhere in it. Where and when did EtHaB make its appearance? In the original four-year run, a one-off episode (I saw the German episode once, and it wasn’t there), or someplace else? ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/15 "2003-10-03T16:13:16Z")
I have nothing to add to this thread (not that this has ever stopped me before), because it’s all been said, and better than I could have. I did want to thank the previous posters, though, for the best laugh I’ve had all week. _Signing off to scrub the orange juice off of my keyboard and monitor._ ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/16 "2003-10-03T17:05:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Olentzero \* > \*\*I have Monty Python’s “All The Words”, the two-volume set of complete TV show scripts from the original series. I have thumbed, re-thumbed, re-re-thumbed, and then chewed the carpet in a mighty rage because I _cannot_ find the Eric the Half-a-Bee sketch anywhere in it. Where and when did EtHaB make its appearance? In the original four-year run, a one-off episode (I saw the German episode once, and it wasn’t there), or someplace else? \*\* The sketch in question is the “Fish License” sketch from Season Two. However, the TV version does not include the “Eric The Half-A-Bee” song. You’ll find that on the recorded version on _Monty Python’s Previous Record_. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/17 "2003-10-03T17:19:57Z")
No he won’t. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/18 "2003-10-03T18:04:17Z")
“A half a bee, a philosophically, must ipso facto half not be…” Ah I love that. I just found an LP of “Previous Record” at a record show, I had lost it for years and, as far as I know, it is not available or in print anymore (at least in the US). The most fantastically funny comedy album of all time. It also has vastly superior versions of “The Argument Sketch”, “Dennis Moore”, “Brontosaurus Talk” and others when compared to the TV show versions. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/19 "2003-10-03T18:17:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BMalion \* > \*\*No he won’t. \*\* WAAAAGHHH! ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298/20 "2003-10-03T18:30:23Z")
Different, not superior, you heathen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eric-the-half-a-bee/205298.md?page=2)