I’ve listened to audio recordings of “Beyond the Fringe” forever, but my husband just bought a DVD billed as “the only filmed performance of the legendary comedy revue.”
It’s a film of their London show. Dudley Moore’s piano bits are hilarious enough in audio only, but the visuals enabled me to appreciate them as the pure genius they are.
Here’s a YouTube clip from that show of his take on Benjamin Britten and Kurt Weill.
What a shame that he’s probaby most remembered his role in Arthur!
Love Dudley Moore and Beyond the Fringe.
My two favorite skits:
The Frog and Peach
One Leg Too Few
Dudley Moore was indeed a very funny guy but the real comic genius of the duo was Peter Cook.
I read an interview with a member of Monty Python (I’m pretty sure it was Graham Chapman) who said that Peter Cook was the only person in the world who could write a brilliant three minute sketch in three minutes.
I saw Peter Cook and Dudley Moore together on-stage in Good Evening!, which I later learned incorporated a lot of stuff from Beyond the Fringe. I’d already seen them in Bedazzled and loved that, but had no idea Moore was a piano player (He performed “Der Flabbergast” as part of the show).
It’s too bad for both of them – Moore appeared in several films besides Arthur and its sequel, but Cook didn’t get as much fame and exposure. It would be awful if he were remembered for his part in, say Supergirl.
I saw Moore performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra back in the 80s. He really is a first-class piano player.
He’s remembered in the UK for being one of the best comedians ever. He topped a poll of “comedians’ comedian”.
He was a genius of the type that doesn’t come along often and should be treasured when they do.
Dud was a great straight man. I love this clip. Dud hidding behind the drink because Cook is cracking him up and Cook is just on a mission to make his partner laugh more. Great stuff.
He’s not remembered that well in the States.
That poll is one of Comedians. How well remembered is he by the British public?
Not intended to be snarky or confrontational – I just don’t know . I’d certainly be surprised if his name even registered with most folkks in the US, and he’d be well down on a poll of comedians conducted here, even of other comedians.
He’d be remembered very well by most people of my generation(late 30’s) and older. He was the driving force behind Private Eye and was on the TV a lot doing characters.
Here’s a great example. Cook went on a chat show and played three different characters one after the other all improvised. I remember watching this live.
Actually in the BBC story I linked to it says that Cook came 10th in a poll of fans (i.e. not comedians)
Search for some Derek & Clive recordings. In the mid-80’s I found a D&C album in a used record store. I had never heard of it but saw that it was Moore & Cook, so bought it for a buck. It was some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever heard. Some of it is a little offensive if you have delicate sensibilities, but when those two sat down to get drunk and make a comedy album, they produced some good stuff.
[quote=“corkboard, post:11, topic:524896”]
Some of it is a little offensive if you have delicate sensibilities/QUOTE]
Heh. That’s the first time I’ve heard “a little offensive” with relation to D&C.
The Horn <====== NSFW
This is the less well-known side of Moore. Also less well-known is the fact that he died of a rare disease that slowly robbed him of his dexterity, eventually rendering him unable to play; before he died, many people simply thought he was a drunk. I saw an interview a few years before he died in which he moved and spoke with great difficulty. The interviewer asked him what he missed most about being healthy; he paused for a moment, and then managed to blurt out “my music” before bursting into tears. Sad. 
Seems to have been a theme:
He was an absolutely brilliant musician. He attended Oxford on a scholarship for his music and was considered a prodigy. He could have had a very, very successful career as a pianist and kind of got into comedy accidentally (through the Beyond the Fringe review).
What really, really pisses me off is that the BBC destroyed so many tapes of Not Only…But Also…. There is a best of DVD of what remains, but it’s not the same as having all the episodes on hand. And they’re just lost forever. All that brilliance, gone. I do have a book that has the transcripts of several of the lost skits, but most of the joy of the show is in the delivery and the chemistry between Moore and Cook. I’m glad we at least have Bedazzled, which is one of my all time favorite movies.
While I agree that Cook was the real genius at writing the sketches, I think he really needed Moore. He kind of brought Cook back down to earth and made the comedy a bit more, I don’t know, accessible. Like Lennon and McCartney, they were stronger when they were together.
I love that Britten parody. His Peter Pears impression is spot-on.
That’s on the front. On the back of the DVD case, it says, “The complete 1964 gala farewell performance.” I bought it the day I found out it was available. I also have the DVD of “The Best of…What’s Left of…Not Only…But Also”. I had bought the VHS years ago the moment I laid my eyes on it in a store. I have the CD of “Beyond the Fringe” Broadway performance (I still have the two LPs) and the EMI 3-CD set.
I love the Great Train Robbery. “I’d like to make one thing clear at the outset. When you speak of a train robbery, this in fact involved no loss of train.” 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUrhdIxTJSA
And a little late for Christmas, this seasonal sketch (video from their TV show, “Behind the Fridge”). part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6phIWxmF0k part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5vdiM3FhwE
This duo and “Beyond the Fringe” prepared me for Monty Python.
Here Here, a round of Ginnantonix for Dudley Moore!
I seem to remember an article about celebs who own restaurants; do they show up, are they involved or is it just a tax thing. They said that when you went to Moore’s the doorman was dressed in an outlandish getup, and politely asked you to refrain from laughing until you were inside, my kind of place.