Customer Reviews

Beyond the Fringe

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Inspired by The Goon Show, inspiring "At Last The 1948 Show", "Do Not Adjust Your Set" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus", a film of the original "Beyond The Fringe" surfacing is cause for celebration of British Humor the world over!!!

This presentation has the complete West End/Broadway show, and runs a side-aching 116 minutes. *Very* funny stuff, this!

However, despite the box's claims, this *not* the first released, nor the *only* filming of "Beyond The Fringe." As any maven of early '80's U.S. Midnight movies knows, that honor goes dubiously to the poorly filmed and terribly recorded document of their Royal Command Performance reunion with Monty Python's Flying Circus at Prince Albert Hall from 1972, released in the U.S. as "Monty Python Meets Beyond The Fringe." U.S. filmgoers (at any rate)left the theatre badly puzzled: The audience knew all the punchlines, and began laughing at them, and shouting at them before they were even uttered, drowning the actors out on the film's soundtrack. That Command Performance has mercifully remained unreleased on Videotape and DVD, THIS performance fortunately is MUCH better! It is hilarious!

This is the 1964 farewell performance from London's West End. It is well enough recorded, sonically speaking, although sometimes some castmembers seem unevenly miked or undermiked, or worse have a microphone drop-out for a second or two. Furthermore, it *is* in Black & White, which the product review doesn't seem to mention in any prominent way. Putting on the subtitles will help you with the occasional mike drop-out, but the B&W format does not contrast the stage set very well, and may seem a bit drab to the 21st century viewer. However, don't let these details scare you away: this really *was* (and remains) one of the funniest things seen on stage since the Marx Bros. "Animal Crackers" in 1929!!!

This show was filmed 41 years ago. It was filmed in black & white with primitive audio/video equipment. The show itself was utter simplicity: four young comedians on a bare stage. Their few props included a piano, a table and some chairs. Beyond a couple of hats, the players' only costumes were the gray suits they wore throughout the show. The show itself consisted of these comedians riffing off political and cultural topics of the day. If you haven't seen it, it doesn't sound like much.

But then why does "Beyond the Fringe" make nearly all of today's comedy look pathetic by comparison?

This DVD captures four comic geniuses in peak form. No, it's not "politically correct", and that is one reason it's great. Yes, in some places it comes off as quaint or dated, but 1964 was a while ago. 95% of the material is as fresh today as it was the day the show was filmed. It's best to see this on DVD. You need both the video and the audio to fully appreciate each gag. And you need to be able to run parts back and watch them over, because you won't catch it all the first time. This is smart humor for educated adults. Bring your thinking cap and be ready to laugh.

By comparison, the "Saturday Night Live" kids look like...just that. Little kids playing in a sand box. The "Monty Pythoners" were as irreverant, but never as cool or smart. Are you a fan of today's typical setup-punchline comics? The "My mother/father/wife/kids..." or "Did ya ever wonder..." types? Then "Beyond the Fringe" is not for you. The one negative thing about this DVD is the way it reveals how far comedy has sunk since the 1960s, when "pushing the envelope" referred to intelligence and creativity, and not to the number of sexual or profane references used. Hopefully, young comics will see this and be inspired to raise the bar on humor.

If you like sharp, smart humor, you've come to the right place. And order it here, because you'll pay more in the mail-order catalogs.

If you want to know about the contents of this DVD, read some of the other reviews here. For me, I'd just like to say that, having discovered BEYOND THE FRINGE on LP in 1962 when I was in college and having seen a road-show production of it in Philadelphia and having seen Peter Cook and Dudley Moore on Broadway in GOOD EVENING and having an LP called BEHIND THE FRIDGE and on and on, all of these things dating back 30-40 years and more, having FINALLY been able to SEE the original cast perform the show was a delight.

Yes, the video quality is sad. I'd expected the black and white, since this was filmed for TV in 1964, but the audio quality threw me at first. But that doesn't matter! The comedy and the performances are perfect. Peter Cook was (at least this side of the pond) one of the most under-rated comic geniuses of the latter half of the 20th century. His partnership with Dudley Moore, which lasted well beyond FRINGE until Moore became a movie star in his own right, was always enjoyable (except for their dreadful "party" personnae as "Derek and Clive," over-the-top blue material that leaves me totally unamused).

As one reviewer has said, this DVD demonstrates how far down comedy has sunk in the past 30 years or so. Nowhere in this hilarious program is there a sexual reference or an off-color remark. This is comedy for people with brains. I remember when there was more of that. (Does anybody remember Nichols and May?)

I heartily recommend this DVD!

Many of the reviews below are inaccurate. For example, Beyond the Fringe was not inspired by The Goon Show and didn't particularly inspire Monty Python. Beyond the Fringe was unique for a number of reasons. Firstly it brought together four people who were each uniquely talented in their own right. Despite being relatively fresh out of Cambridge University, Peter Cook already had a reputation as an astonishingly funny man and had already written two revues which were performed in London's West End. While at university he had been the star of Footlights and revered by his contemporaries. Dudley Moore was already known as a brilliant musician, having been an organ scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford and then turning to jazz at which he excelled and made his living. Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett had turned their backs on performing careers, Miller to become a doctor and Bennett to pursue a career as a historian. They were tempted back by the impresario who was trying to put together the revue that became Beyond the Fringe and what a blessing that they were - Miller went on to become an outstanding theatrical and operatic director, Bennett went on to become one of the two or three most oustanding post-war playwrights (Forty Years On, A Private Function, The Madness of King George III).

Secondly, Beyond the Fringe was really the first time that highly intelligent products of the establishment (each had been educated at Oxford or Cambridge) mocked that establishment. Sure, the Goons had occasionally made fun of Parliament or the BBC in passing, but it was all harmless fun. Beyond the Fringe was new because it went much further and satirised British institutions and mores for the first time. No one had ever heard an impersonation of the Prime Minister before of the kind that Peter Cook did in TV PM. When Harold Macmillan actually turned up to see Beyond the Fringe in the West End, Peter Cook did the impression while Macmillan sat through it with a (presumably forced) fixed smile, so Peter Cook threw in the line "When I'm at a bit of a loose end, there's nothing I like better than to sit watching four vibrant young performers with a big grin plastered all over my silly old face". Nothing was beyond satire - the RAF ("I want to join the Few", "Sorry, there's too many"), the Church, the anti-nuclear lobby ("We asked our members the following question: "Do you want to see your wife and children go up in smoke?" and 94 percent of them said "No".") and even the Duke of Edinburgh.

Thirdly, theirs was probably the cleverest comedy performance this country has ever produced. Far cleverer than anything the Goons or Monty Python ever did, far wittier than anything before or since (what better way to point out the flaw in the nuclear deterrence argument than Alan Bennett's government official patiently explaining how we would nuke the Russians back if they nuked us, and observing that "this prevents them from attacking.... well, it effectively deters them from..... well, it would jolly well serve them right!") and, at its time, totally original.

Young folk and non-British people probably won't understand some of the references in it. A unique piece of comedy and satire. How many other comedians can boast that their show was so outstanding that the Prime Minister of England and the President of the US (JFK) insisted on going to see it, that top A-listers of the day such as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton made time to attend?

As one who has remembered -- it seems like all my life -- "My brother Esau is an hairy man, but I am a smooth man," and "So That's the Way You Like It," I'm very happy to say that this DVD performance is BETTER than the 1960s LPs. It has new skits that were not on the vinyl, and the brilliant familiars are done either exactly as they were, or slightly improved. In particular Dudley Moore's facial expressions add humor one can't get from the LP, and on the DVD one can be sure of who is playing whom in "The Aftermyth of War." Alan Bennett's skit on T E Lawrence has never been on audio or in the various book collections, as far as I know, and it's hilarious.

As a devoted fan of British comedy, I found the content of this DVD absolutely outstanding, great as a historical document chronicling a signature of the satirical movement of 1960s London, but also for pure entertainment. The sketches carry intellectual weight under the guise of absurdity, and the performers are perfect vehicles for the scenes they created (especially Peter Cook - God, what a face!). Monty Python fans especially will enjoy seeing the mental seeds of famous characters and sketches in this, their predecessor and inspiration.

Modern viewers are going to be annoyed by the poor quality of the recording. Shot in black and white, the players often look ghostly and washed out under the stagelights, and the sound occasionally cuts out (not their fault, of course). Fans of British humour will be able to forgive this (and Jonathan Miller's rather nasal accent); casual viewers will not.

Bottom line, if you are just breaking in to this genre, start with something more accessible (the Python films, then ease into "Flying Circus"). If you already like Python, "Beyond the Fringe" will probably be a winner for you. For hardcore satire fans, this is a must-see.

Though this was filmed in the 1960s, the sketches are still brilliant today. I missed the crisp video quality, but I realized that the production had so little of the technology we have today.

The writing of these sketches and the players - Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller - are all just absolutely fantastic. Very satirical, each one is a gem.

My favorites are the songs that Dudley Moore sings and plays on the piano. The expressions on his face are priceless, and the music is exquisite. An incredible showcase of his amazing talent - and literally had me rolling on the floor.

This DVD is a classic. And it's the only recording ever made of this group and their clever work. The epitome of excellence, and the highest level of comedy that only a few can achieve.

In spite of the fuzzy production values, this is a definite keeper. the irony can be understood with a smattering of memory of those days and much of it is body humor anyway. Piano, singing hilarious and Jonathon Miller is as great now as earlier. Peter Cook in his accents and impersonations is well worth the price of admission.

"Beyond the Fringe" was the best predecessor to "Monty Python", "SCTV", and current sketch comedy, funnier than those, moves at the pace of "Laugh-In" or "Hellzapoppin", and has fake Shakespeare far more accurate and funnier than "The Reduced Shakespeare Company". So I was at first elated to see that this piece of comedy history had been preserved. Sadly, this fuzzy DVD is an early British version of the show that came to Broadway, and some of the better jokes are missing. (For example, the skit of a one-legged actor trying out for Tarzan ends without the casting call for Long John Silver.) Still, it's a lot better than having nothing. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore are probably better here than in their later, more American, appearances, especially Moore's piano playing. Having the visuals is a plus, but fans might want to compare the Broadway CD.

This is a rare look into a form of British comedy that existed in 1963 and was replaced by different types in the next few years just as other aspects of Britain radically changed over those years.

The DVD is a black and white filming of a west end stage performance. There are very few props. The performers and audience are from the upper crust of British society and the performance is to their taste.

People in the US under 50 years of age will probably not get the humor and think that it boring unless they are knowledgeable about the past from their interest in history.

You might want to watch the Avengers episodes of 1963 and earlier to get a feel for the type of society which is being satarized.