# The Four Yorkshiremen Sketch **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [January 27, 2023, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867 "2023-01-27T04:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/1 "2023-01-27T04:49:19Z")
Is it really appropriate to say they’re trying to “one up\*” each other? Would something else work better? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/2 "2023-01-27T04:55:55Z")
TVTropes calls this phenomenon “Misery Poker”: the players call and raise on each others’ stories of woe. > **[Misery Poker - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MiseryPoker)** > > Every now and then, life sucks. Sometimes getting out of bed in the morning can seem a feat of Herculean strength, and dragging yourself into school or work is all but impossible. Often, the one thing that can sustain us as we limp into the … This particular sketch is cited. > [@](#): > > The “Four Yorkshiremen” sketch from _[At Last the 1948 Show](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/AtLastThe1948Show)_, popularized by [Monty Python](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/MontyPython). The Four Yorkshiremen reminisce about their childhoods, each man describing his as more terrible than the man before - and promptly amending their previous tale of woe when it was their turn to speak again. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/3 "2023-01-27T04:58:19Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Sometimes getting out of bed in the morning can seem a feat of Herculean strength, A bed? Luxury! We had to sleep on pile of rags! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/4 "2023-01-27T05:14:08Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@gnoitall](#): > > > > Sometimes getting out of bed in the morning can seem a feat of Herculean strength, > > A bed? Luxury! We had to sleep on pile of rags! - Rags? Where did you ever get such wealth? I had to make my own mud to sleep in. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/5 "2023-01-27T05:37:38Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I had to make my own mud to sleep in. We would have loved mud! We had to make do with dust! ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/6 "2023-01-27T06:00:23Z")
Dust? At least it was soft! My family slept on large rocks! ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/7 "2023-01-27T06:01:12Z")
They are taking the piss. They could be winding each other up. They are trying to one up each other. It doesn’t need to be maximising the negative. … and we had to make our own dust, by breaking rocks with our bare hands. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/8 "2023-01-27T07:43:26Z")
> [@Bootb](#): > > My family slept on large rocks! > [@penultima\_thule](#): > > … and we had to make our own dust, by breaking rocks with our bare hands. Rocks. You were lucky! All we had was jagged shards of broken glass! But we were happy. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/9 "2023-01-27T07:52:10Z")
In the original sketch they are wealthy people with brandy and cigars. To be handed all that wealth on a plate would seem “soft” to a Yorkshireman so it is indeed a form of one-upmanship to claim to have risen so far from the most humble beginnings. I’m from that part of the world and, though stereotypical, such people are _very_ familiar to me. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/10 "2023-01-27T07:53:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > broken glass! Silicon glass? Luxury. We had to use shards of radioactive radium glass. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/11 "2023-01-27T10:13:30Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m from that part of the world and, though stereotypical, such people are _very_ familiar to me. Ah, there are black catters everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/12 "2023-01-27T10:25:31Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Is it really appropriate to say they’re trying to “one up\*” each other? Would something else work better? Would _“one down”_ work better? Is it more appropriate to say one man is _“going down on”_ another? [/innocuous look] ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/13 "2023-01-27T10:49:09Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > We had to use shards of radioactive radium glass. At least you only had to _sleep_ on radium! That was _breakfast_ for us! 'Alf a lump of radium washed down with heavy water before dad shoved us out door to work at mill fifteen hours a day for thruppence a week. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/14 "2023-01-27T10:53:19Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > It doesn’t need to be maximising the negative. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Would _“one down”_ work better? They are certainly competing with one another, consistent with oneupmanship. We can just think of it as upping the exaggeration, upping the hyperbole. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/15 "2023-01-27T12:51:18Z")
Per John Cleese, the sketch was inspired by a 1910 short story: > **[Self-Made Men](https://americanliterature.com/author/stephen-leacock/short-story/self-made-men)** > > Self-Made Men by Stephen Leacock ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/16 "2023-01-27T14:27:40Z")
No one has linked to the original sketch yet: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DT1mGoLDRbc/maxresdefault.jpg "The Iconic Four Yorkshiremen | At Last the 1948 Show") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1mGoLDRbc) I think it’s the best comedy sketch ever. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/17 "2023-01-27T14:54:42Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > At least you only had to _sleep_ on radium! You got to sleep? We had to doze for 15 seconds 1440 times a day! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/18 "2023-01-27T15:28:28Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > We had to use shards of radioactive radium glass. Oh, you had a heat source! We slept on endothermicly reactive substances. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/19 "2023-01-27T15:51:43Z")
Heat?? Luxury! We were cold and we were grateful for it! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867/20 "2023-01-27T17:21:10Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > At least you only had to _sleep_ on radium! That was _breakfast_ for us! 'Alf a lump of radium washed down with heavy water before dad shoved us out door to work at mill fifteen hours a day for thruppence a week. You got _water_ to drink? We had to wash down our radium breakfast with our own tears. And we never knew our dad, or mum for that matter. The orphanage sold us to a farm where we had to pull the plough for no wages, just meals. And the meals weren’t even pure radium. We had to go through the tailings from the uranium mine and extract our own radium. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-four-yorkshiremen-sketch/978867.md?page=2)