This might be a pretty obscure thing to ask you people about, but where else can I go?
As a young adolescent (c. 1975-1983), I used to listen to the Dr. Demento show on the radio every Sunday night. Late, late into the night as I recall, often making me sleep-deprived for Monday’s classes. But I didn’t care; it was worth it every time.
Mostly, the good Doctor played funny or weird songs. “Demented” songs, you could even call them. That was sort of the whole point of the show. But occasionally, he played comedy sketches too. And there’s this one particular sketch, small fragments of which are still echoing in my brain even to this day. I’d like to know who’s responsible for it, as I’ve long since forgotten the name of the troupe (the Doctor would have said), and I didn’t get a recording of the sketch at the time.
It’s a British sketch, as I say. It could be a television sketch (but I only ever heard it on the radio), or it could be a recording from a comedy album or radio broadcast. It would have to date from before 1984, but if I had to guess, I would place it in the 60s or 70s.
There are three (or more?) actors in it, all speaking in “ordinary” English accents. Perhaps London-ish accents, but I’m not very good at those finer distinctions. The actors are not any of the Pythons, nor are they Peter Cook or Dudley Moore, all of whose voices I’d recognize easily.
A man walks into a shop to buy a record player. Except, too bad for him, he’s a little behind the times. Initally, he asks to buy a “gramophone”, so that he can play his 78s. Apparently, he’s completely unaware of all the advances that have happened in audio technology since about World War II.
When the sales clerks realize they have a rube on their hands, they decide to exploit the situation mercilessly for their own amusement. A fragment of the dialog goes approximately like this…
The sketch continues on in that vein: the customer is clueless about what’s reasonable, or what any of the product jargon means, but he won’t back down and admit he’s out of his depth. The salesmen keep the fun going as long as they can.
Anyway, if anyone out there can pin down the comedians or actors who did this thing, it would put my mind at rest. Thankee kindly.
