# I Finally Figured Out "Benny Hill" (I Think) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613 "2011-05-29T00:17:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/41 "2011-06-02T17:24:36Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Personally, I prefered [_Dave Allen At Large_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=578767) to _Benny Hill_. Dave Allen was a lot funnier, but his show didn’t have near the number of boobies in that Benny Hill’s did. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/42 "2011-06-02T17:28:32Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Dave Allen was a lot funnier, but his show didn’t have near the number of boobies in that Benny Hill’s did. Roomie was channel surfing and came upon _Nuns On The Run_. She said it was hilarious. She found the film just before the shower scene. I looked up at that scene and said, ‘Boobies! This is a _great_ film!’ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/43 "2011-06-02T17:28:59Z")
At least some Benny Hills jokes were a bit more like typical ‘understated’ British humo(u)r’ , 2 that stand out after all these decades in my mind were a shot of a troop ship leaving port while crowds cheered, and the announcer saying something like ‘as the men on the ship left for the war, the crowds on the docks waved and cheered, because they weren’t going’ and another throwaway one - graffiti on a fence - camera focus on one ‘Perserve Wildilfe’ then next shot ‘Pickle a Squirrel Today’. There were probably many more, but they are buried under the masses of old-man getting slapped jokes, men in drag jokes, leering-songs, and the obligatory end of show mad-cap chase scene\*. \*If the original shows were 80minutes, and the American re-cuts were 30 (nominal) minutes, where did they get the extra chase-scenes which I always remember the shows ending on - actually, whoever re-edited them did a good seemless job, as it had seemed to be a 30minute show ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/44 "2011-06-02T17:50:41Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Ask my wife. She made me take it off as my ring tone. ☹ > > Benny Hill was always fun, and not even always in a girls-in-lingerie kind of way. > > The old guy got slapped a lot. 🙂 > > -Joe Bitch. 🙂 I had it as mine for a while, but it used to go off at night and make me almost shit my drawers with its abrupt appearance. Joe ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/45 "2011-06-02T18:23:51Z")
And then there was the gag that still makes me giggle today. Benny and the old man are being interviewed by a television reporter. They play extreme bumpkins with strong accents, and they’re wearing huge, theatrical wigs. The interviewer asks them, “What was the first thing you did when you arrived in London?” Benny: “We bought toupees.” Interviewer (puzzled): “Toupees?” Benny: “Aye. A pay for him and a pay for me.” Pies, of course. I don’t know what accent he was lampooning, but it still makes me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/46 "2011-06-02T19:01:28Z")
> [@Michael\_of\_Lucan](#): > > No. That was Henry Gibson on the Rowan and Martin Laugh In. Damn, I believe you’re right. Which is a shame, 'cause I hated _Laugh-In_. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/47 "2011-06-02T19:17:44Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I wonder if Benny Hill occupies somewhat the same niche on British TV that Hee Haw does on American TV. This statement all of a sudden made Benny Hill make a little more sense. It did not make it funny, but is sure seems to be an equivalent to Hee Haw, which wasn’t really funny either. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/48 "2011-06-02T20:47:18Z")
The jokes were just the right amount of content necessary to show the T&A. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/49 "2011-06-02T21:15:07Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Chaplin has a few funny bits that still hold up, but even in his own day he liked to wallow in pathos. For still funny silent comedy you need to look at Buster Keaton. I just have never gotten this. _ **The General** _ is occasionally funny, and the DVD I saw had \*\*\*Cops \*\*\*on it, so I’ve seen that. Meh. _ **The Navigator** _ didn’t do anything for me and is racist. I’ve seen some of his stuff with Fatty Arbuckle and it’s meh. _ **The Pilgrim** _, _ **A Dog’s Life** _, _ **The Kid** _, _ **The Gold Rush** _, _ **The Circus** _, _ **City Lights** _ and _ **Modern Times** _ all make me laugh, and are satisfying stories to boot. I guess people, I don’t know, have some sorts of…different opinions…from mine. Sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/50 "2011-06-03T12:33:23Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > That was funny. Calling him ‘Asquith’ was a typical stroke of genius too. (hehe…i said stroke) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/51 "2011-06-03T12:38:40Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > And then there was the gag that still makes me giggle today. > > Benny and the old man are being interviewed by a television reporter. They play extreme bumpkins with strong accents, and they’re wearing huge, theatrical wigs. The interviewer asks them, > > “What was the first thing you did when you arrived in London?” > > Benny: “We bought toupees.” > > Interviewer (puzzled): “Toupees?” > > Benny: “Aye. A pay for him and a pay for me.” > > Pies, of course. I don’t know what accent he was lampooning, but it still makes me laugh. True Story: My dad and uncle were in Australia. They had lunch with a new friend (Bob) and were having pie for dessert. Bob asked dad what he did for a living and dad told him that he was an underwriter. Bob then asked, “How’s the pie?” “Delicious” said dad. “No, the Pie.” Bob repeated. “What, this pie?” “No, for your job. Does it Pie well?” As for the OP: to a boy in the late 70’s, early 80’s Benny Hill was a blessing in those pre-internet days. Almost as good as finding a moldy scrap of a porn mag in the woods and even better than a glimpse of boob on the scrambled porn channel. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/52 "2011-06-03T16:40:28Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > The thing that struck me about Benny Hill and even Monty Python was how any skit done in drag is apparently ipso facto funny. American comedy uses a lot of drag humor, but not nearly to the extent as British. I swear that they couldn’t get through an entire show without one bit in drag. That was something I saw remarked in a review of **The Kids In The Hall** when it was new: it was among the first times that there was a show where the male performers appeared in drag, and being in drag _wasn’t_ part of the joke. That would have been, what, around 1990? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/53 "2011-06-03T16:42:59Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > And then there was the gag that still makes me giggle today. > > Benny and the old man are being interviewed by a television reporter. They play extreme bumpkins with strong accents, and they’re wearing huge, theatrical wigs. The interviewer asks them, > > “What was the first thing you did when you arrived in London?” > > Benny: “We bought toupees.” > > Interviewer (puzzled): “Toupees?” > > Benny: “Aye. A pay for him and a pay for me.” > > Pies, of course. I don’t know what accent he was lampooning, but it still makes me laugh. If you liked that, you’ll probably love [“Four Candles”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu9MptWyCB8) from **The Two Ronnies**. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/54 "2011-06-03T17:13:57Z")
Kenny Everette came on in the wee hours when I was quite young. I watched it Friday nights and thought myself very mature for getting the jokes. One I remember that still makes me chuckle was on the cartoon where he was a hero astronaut with a sexy co- pilot. They save the world and are offered little statues of themselves as rewards. “Would you like to have them mounted?” Kenny is asked. “No. Holding hands will be fine,” he answered. Ha! ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/55 "2011-06-04T01:28:34Z")
I still have a nostalgic fondness for Benny Hill. It’s not highbrown, Swiftian humor, and it’s not meant to be. I still love it when he played a Chinese diplomat or something with a heavy accent and the other guy was interviewing him: INterviewer: “This gentleman here is an expert in karate, kung fu, juijitsu…” Benny (thick accent): “Gooda heaving h’evy body.” Interviewer: “…Good at heaving a heavy body…” Benny (thick accent): “No, no, not ‘good a’ heaving a heavy body… GOOD 'EVING 'EVYBODY!” Interviewer: “Ohhhhh…‘Good evening everybody!’” Benny (thick accent): “YEEESSS! (aside to audience) Horry Mackeral!” Love his Fred Scuttle character: Fred: “I am endeavoring to be the first British man on the moon, and I will travel in my ship, Indestructible The Second!” Interviewer: “What happened to Indestructible the First?” Fred: “It fell apart, sir!” ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/56 "2011-06-04T15:42:49Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I still love it when he played a Chinese diplomat or something with a heavy accent and the other guy was interviewing him How about Benny Hill as the owner of a Chinese restaurant and the tall old guy as his Hindu head chef at the arbitration hearing? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/57 "2011-06-04T21:19:12Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Love his Fred Scuttle character: > > Fred: “I am endeavoring to be the first British man on the moon, and I will travel in my ship, Indestructible The Second!” > > Interviewer: “What happened to Indestructible the First?” > > Fred: “It fell apart, sir!” “We’re going to have a very nice art collection, mostly abstracts.” “Pollocks?” “It’s true, sir!” ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613/58 "2011-06-05T00:36:06Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > How about Benny Hill as the owner of a Chinese restaurant and the tall old guy as his Hindu head chef at the arbitration hearing? “He needs to put more men on the job!” Should I be proud or ashamed that I came up with the punch line (or a close approximation of it) of that bit from memory, having not seen it in about twenty years? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-finally-figured-out-benny-hill-i-think/583613.md?page=2)