A Bit of Fry & Laurie
A Bit of Fry & Laurie
8.3
As the title suggests, "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" is less of a specific format than a 'coat-hanger' for short sketches, starring the comical duo in various, recurring or unique roles: Stephen Fry, the sophisticated giant who usually plays the smug one, and comparatively small Hugh Laurie, usually playing the patsy.
匚卂尺ㄥ reviewedFebruary 14, 2025
This is a wonderful comedy series, although it seems to sometimes get forgotten when looking back a great British comedy and I think that may be a testament to the genius of the men in question. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are each polymaths in their own way. They've both had long and successful careers while becoming national treasures along the way and as such this series may get lost at times in the long list of triumphs that these men have accomplished.
I grew up knowing Stephen Fry as the author of those books on the shelves in our house and then as the host of popular BBC2 show QI. My first encounter with Hugh Laurie (even if I didn't realise it at the time) was probably in Stuart Little. Once I reached my teens and started to discover more material that these two were behind I couldn't believe the true brilliance they were responsible for, especially "A Bit Of Fry & Laurie". Their use of language and absolutely ridiculous concepts for sketches that only they could make work is extraordinary. I just knew Stephen Fry as that very intelligent man with the "schoolmaster image" as host of QI and then to see some of the things he said, impressions he mastered and characters he brought to life on screen in ABOFAL was a wonderful experience and made me realise how brilliant he is. The same goes for Hugh Laurie; I knew him as leading actor in a hit US TV series that we Brits didn't pay much attention to compared to the rest of the world and then I realised why. We know him as a comic genius in British comedy which he showed in ABOFAL, not to mention his fantastic musical skill. I found myself resting on holiday reading a Hugh Laurie novel while listening to a Hugh Laurie album, while a dubbed version of "House" was on the TV; amazing!
These two are one of the best comedy double-acts ever to walk the Earth and make more modern sketch shows seem cheap (excluding Armstrong & Miller and Mitchell & Webb of course, although I prefer the former). Their use of word play is wonderful to listen to, for example one of my favourites is during a sketch where Stephen Fry is telling a story while eating cornflakes with a knife and fork and he says "I stooped to pick a buttercup. Why people leave buttocks lying around I have no idea".
Some of the best sketch comedy ever made!