Classic: Americans React to the Two Ronnies Four Candles Comedy Sketch

[@knumbugs]

They didn't get it because they have no idea what bollocks means haha

[@Medic6666]

I always thought it was Pillocks :)

[@hughjanus900]

Medic6666 same thing

[@TheRichardGHP]

It's sort of obtuse, and not just an American thing. I'm from New Zealand, saw this sketch plenty of times growing up and never understood the ending until I looked it up a few years ago. I got every other joke but that one.

[@solosam9]

@@hughjanus900 since when has pillocks and bollocks been the same thing

[@hughjanus900]

miss B here in Shropshire we say you stupid pillock

[@jonpaddick1295]

My sister-in-law worked in a hardware store. A customer once asked her for buntin'. She pointed him to a box full of little flags on a string. "No, buntin'," he said, "for cookin' buns in."

[@jonpaddick1295]

@@baylessnow That's a true story.

[@bahadurdehar5048]

Ha, ha, ha, aha how did the Ronnie's miss that one. Bunting, bun tin, hahahahahaha it would have made a excellent yoke. Get it joke

[@SebDangerfield-yu7cm]

When I was a young man, in my early twenties, I worked in a Department Store. One day, an extremely attractive lass in skin-tight jeans and a short crop-top came up to me and said "Excuse me. Please can you tell me where I should go to get felt?" (I assumed she was referring to the material) I nearly choked and turned my head away, only to spy a couple of her friends cracking-up laughing, near the exit. When I turned back, she was already half way across the store, laughing her socks off. Still makes me chuckle, forty years later.

[@cliffcrabtree4359]

Was in Morrisons a someweeks ago, similar thing. An old couple asking one of the staff (this was not long into lockdown). Staff member, checking what they asked for " Big roll?? we're sold out sorry". "NO !, Bovril..!!". My favourite covid moment.🤓

[@NavaNix]

its not a hardware store its a general store they have everything in the old days

[@markywellsboy2182]

We have one still. You can buy screws, washers, nuts, bolts individually. "Got any screws this size?" After scrutiny, out comes the little drawer "How many would you like?" "Four, please" "How much do I owe you?" "That will be 8 pence, please." You can go in there, buy a trolley jack, rat poison, furniture polish, a kettle, cutlery, electrical cable and a bread bin all in one visit.

[@lehanedermot]

Needle to an anchor

[@synaesthesia2010]

i've seen 4 Candles a million times, never fails to make me laugh

[@andrearon7034]

you prolly dont care at all but does someone know a way to get back into an Instagram account?? I was stupid lost the password. I love any tips you can give me

[@xanderkristopher1412]

@Andre Aron instablaster :)

[@geraldinemaher8637]

Watch the two Ronnie's in a sketch about a British shopkeeper and a sheik!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Isleofskye]

Ronnie Barker was one of the greatest wordsmiths Britain has ever produced. Watch The "Mastermind" sketch where his current answers are to the question before the current one with great effect. lolthe question

[@hughtube5154]

Amazing suggestion! kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2GmZmymfsSsprM

[@lozzylols]

Great sketch, but needs concentration to get it all though, I prefer watching alone as others always laugh over the good bits lol

[@locusmortis]

Excellent sketch, the mispronunciation society sketch is a great one for wordplay as well kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3uTn3mHnLd0prs

[@loafersheffield]

He was an absolutely appealing wordsmith. Could not firm a corrosive sentence, even if he plied. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3uTn3mHnLd0prs

[@wilsjane]

+EdmundoKentwell. People tend to focus on the actors and forget the talent of the scriptwriters. My favorite is Roy Clarke who wrote open all hours, last if the summer wine and keeping up appearances. The only person who I have worked with that fills both roles is Mel Brooks. In real life his conversations are just like the script of one of his films.

[@bmphillips15]

Ronnie Barker the writer is a wordsmith, he uses the English language to crest the joke

[@bikeymikey7408]

Everybody knows gerald Wiley wrote that sketch 🤣🤣🤣

[@flapjackboy]

@@bikeymikey7408 Not sure if you know that Gerald Wiley was a pseudonym that Barker used when writing his sketches.

[@bikeymikey7408]

@@flapjackboy hence the smiley faces my friend 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@michaeljames4904]

Barker was always dissatisfied with the final gag he’d written in, under his pseudonymous authorship of the sketch. It was too obscure a word-association and the implied word was vulgar rather than cheeky rude. Years later the perfect ending occurred to him: Corbett exits in a huff just as before, handing the shopping list to a lady assistant with an ample chest, instead, who reading it says to Barker, _”Certainly, sir, what kind of knockers are you looking for?”_

[@markpowell3514]

In rural England, even today, we have shops which sell everything from food to hardware to newspapers! It's the only way some villages can survive. The Two Ronnie's are Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett (real names) who had their comedy duo their entire career. There are many famous sketches on KZbin for you to look at. Also, going back to your Fred Dibnah video, in the early 2000 he made a number of informative series on TV which were much better than his early steeplejack stuff. I think you will enjoy his "Magnificent Monuments" which is very informal and informative of how Britain was constructed throughout the centuries with building techniques explained and even shown.

[@RVREVO]

Not just in England. In New Zealand we call them Dairies. America have Walmart.

[@markpowell3514]

@@RVREVO a dairy in Britain is the place where dairy products are produced 😋 Agreed, America have Walmart but they will have had equivalent small 'stores' in inaccessible towns too

[@woody816]

Mark Powell well up here in the highlands on the outer Hebridean islands u get yesterday’s paper today lol

[@BrazierBear]

These shops still survive in rural, remote parts of Ireland. Where you can get absolutely anything .

[@chatteyj]

I went into a hardware shop in a town on the east devon coast not too long ago and the two shop assistants were wearing brown coats like this.

[@Chris_GY1]

This sketch was about accents and pronunciation of words, it still makes me laugh years later after first seeing the sketch.

[@redsquirrel1086]

In answer to the question about peas, I think this is supposed to be one of the old fashioned General Stores that sold virtually everything in limited quantities. As regards the sketch itself, it can't always be easy for Lillian and Felipe to grasp British humour when strong regional accents and alien terms for certain items are used. It was a nice touch at the relatively recent funeral of Ronnie Corbett when a large freestanding candle was positioned at all 4 corners of the coffin. I think he would have liked that.

[@yasminsawar4762]

And Lancashire, of course!

[@BoingBB]

And pretty much everywhere in England!

[@SuperBungle74]

I remember our local hardware shop was exactly like that n sold absolutely everything in the world. Always takes me back. Defo check out the two Ronnie's. They're legends. Ronnie Corbett n Ronnie Barker

[@ianblack7934]

I remember a small shop near the Trent where you could buy food items, newspapers, fishing tackle & maggots, all over the same counter. And we lived to tell the tale 😂

[@stevezpj]

supermarket chains are killing off all the old general stores - as a kid I was fascinated looking around them due to the massive random variety of stuff :)

[@rubberdc]

its amazing isnt it , we speak alike ( sometimes) but dialects are a challenge to someone who doesnt know them. This show was addictive to all of us here in the UK in the 1970s and 80s.This scene is famous as the 4candles , and is used many times on a daily basis . Ronnie Barker is dressed like that because in those years builders DID dress like that . The shop that Ronnie Corbett worked in is a corner shop that sold everything , and in later life Ronnie Barker owned a shop in a comedy show titled "open all Hours" . if you look that show up you will see as a local shop ( and corner shops were on practically every street corner ) they DID sell everything that someone might need , saving them from going into town .In the States, they call them 711 stores. or something like a Walgreens.

[@TagmakersCoUk]

In the days this sketch was made, towns had a "general dealer" who stocked practically everything. You could go in there and in most cases, the dealer would have what you were after. So tins of peas would sit alongside a box of plastic letter "p" ' s... There are still some remote towns in the UK where the general dealer is still trading - but they will all soon go as the internet dominates our shopping habits. Ronnie Barker was a genius with the English language and its nuances - particularly when playing with various English dialects and regional accents. Many of his sketches are pure gold, and remain exceptionally funny - no matter how often you watch them. Both now deceased, they are icons of UK comedy.

[@derekcolman]

That's true. I used to live near such a shop. There was so much stuff in there you could hardly get in the door. It was a newsagent and tobacconist shop, but it sold almost anything you could think of. I used to ask for things I was sure they would not have, and the woman would produce one from some dark cubbyhole. However I think in this sketch the unlikely items were included because they were needed for the comedy wordplay.

[@dambuster6387]

Better none has corner shops. I remember one such place selling selling salted herring from a wooden barrel stuck out side on the pavement the smell was quite pungent and buying lose sugar by the pound in the 1960,s

[@ianjacques-keen5945]

Tag Makers Pet Tags k

[@cockertoo8920]

We had a shop just like this in our town, was there for years and years, only closed down in the 1990s

[@MrDaiseymay]

I don't think 'dealer'' is the right title. 'Trader' maybe, But most such places were known locally by the family name, that owned it, as a--'General store''.

[@pauliewalnuts3040]

I LOVE how much you guys immerse yourself fully in the British culture and go out of your way to understand and be part of it. If your heart is in Britain, you’re British! Keep the great content coming!

[@Captally]

We used to have shops called Ironmongers which were privately owned and smaller versions of Woolworth in which you could buy almost anything from apricots to zips.

[@andystoker6961]

Still do - fewer than before but still some

[@andyfield3614]

Boone in Poole high street is still like this and sell an extraordinary amount of different stuff English comedy - Garth Ferenghis Dark Place or the Mighty Noisy series 1

[@andyfield3614]

Mighty Boosh I meant

[@nedneedles7253]

I remember my dad buying nails from the ironmongers by the lb and they would wrap them like they do chip's

[@dnmurphy48]

Still do here in Norfolk

[@underwaterbubbles]

British comedy at it's finest.

[@harrismiller1948]

The best comedy sketch ever put on British television

[@melcomepay6668]

Yes.

@@harrismiller1948 There's some *strong* competition for that claim, and a lot of that competition comes from these two. ;-)

[@harrismiller1948]

@ absolutely

[@pistonbroke0461]

It's most definitely up there.. along with Monty Python's 'Parrot Sketch'

[@johnukey]

The Two Ronnies employed a wide variety of accents and dialects in their comedy as a lot of it used plays on words and misunderstandings. If you watch more of their work it will certainly give you a good work-out in recognising and understanding the large variety used in the UK.

[@loafersheffield]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3uTn3mHnLd0prs Pisspronounciation.

[@neilburns8869]

To think that this sketch was made in 1968 and its still as funny now as it was then, speaks volumes for Ronnie Barker's talent as a writer.

[@simonrich3811]

It was made in 1976. 'The Two Ronnies' was first broadcast in 1971.

[@Tilion462]

Ronnie C was a great comedic personality... but Ronnie B was pure genius. You should watch Crossed Lines, Mispronunciation and some musical sketches from the two Ronnies show, then check out episodes each of Barker's series Open All Hours and Porridge (his best work).

[@Sarah-nd2gy]

Porridge is still one of my all time favourite comedy's

[@willrichardson519]

Porridge and Open All Hours are 2 of Ronnie Barkers classic sitcoms.

[@WallaseyanTube]

... The Navy Lark, The Frost Report (where he first met Ronnie Corbett), etc, etc ...

[@jagdpanther1944]

"Sorry" is pure Ronnie Corbett...a true comic, I loved his monologues on two ronnies

[@Julia-hs7vh]

WallaseyanTube Left hand down a bit...oh lummey it's old thunder guts!!

[@daveturner6006]

Once upon a time there did used to be shops like this where you could buy almost anything!

[@NavaNix]

yup called a general store

[@jaybatsford]

Got one just up the road, Allan's of Netherton, quite famous and his slogan is "If we ay got it, yow dow need it"

[@MrDaiseymay]

And they had bare wooden floors, a trap-door to the basement, in the middle of the shop, they'd sell paraffin by the gallon, for peoples Valor stoves etc, and the place would always smell of it.

[@rogueriderhood1862]

@@MrDaiseymay And if the shop was shut you could knock on the back door and they would sell you what you wanted.

[@soundcreeps5371]

@@jaybatsford we had one around the block for a while until the guy retired, it was called Frosties, he run it like Arkwrights, you'd go and ask what you wanted and he'd go around the shop getting it all for you, then price it all up, if you went in often he'd learn your surname and call you Mr. Whatever, the shop is still there but its been shut since 2007.

[@jaygilllan7574]

The big guy is Ronnie Barker, you know the little one. I think the first time they did anything really popular was in a sketch with John Cleese about the class system. Ronnie Barker is widely regarded as one of the greatest comedy writers and actors that has ever appeared on british television. He starred in Porridge, you need to check that out if you can, and the original Open all hours. Both huge hits at the time. Ronnie Corbett was a minor comic and actor at the time they met but he was blessed with perfect timing and also an incredible warmth which seemed to shine through everything he did, both of them are seen as National Treasures. Corbett used to do a rambling monologue, that would be written by Barker, at the end of the two Ronnie show. These perfectly capture their brand of humour.

[@hughtube5154]

And Ronnie Corbett's monologue was the inspiration behind Graham Norton's red chair.

[@Tom_YouTube_stole_my_handle]

I spent an hour with Ronnie Corbett once, the warmth was genuine.

[@MrJoshua1875]

I met him in north berwick at the golf club. A naturally nice warm person with time for everyone,

[@jaygilllan7574]

@@NGT-eb2oy thanks for putting me right. I'd been wrong about that for years.

[@ElwoodShort]

i have seen this sketch so many times... always makes me laugh. The dropped H is typical of southern English regional accents. Also the Two Ronnies (Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett) were a long standing double act that were huge in the UK for decades.

[@beefsuprem0241]

It's a 1970s shop that sells everything pre-supermarkets

[@HA1LILPALAZZO]

a general store I think is the name of the shop ;)

[@MoviesNGames007uk]

Open All Hours is the same it features a corner shop that has anything from bread to flowers

[@michaeljenkinson7099]

Sorry but these stores were around before i became a person in the 1950s.

[@meditationmusicbyalexjackson]

Still one in my village. Hardware shop that sells everything

[@El_Nombre-e3x]

@@crackpot148 You´ve got to love the Welsh x

[@cbierman17]

Both Ronnies always said they wish that the sketch had a better ending, still amazing.

[@allingtonmarakan1436]

Mr. Barker wrote a much better ending but it wouldn't get past the censor so he had to change it to that rather crap one. Sad really.

[@dereknicoll9695]

Ronnies Corbett (the short one) and Barker , now both sadly deceased.

[@TyMarshall007]

yea and Ronnie Corbett and I shear the same Birthday

[@ChefEarthenware]

I once asked a guy in a hardware store if he had any "O's". He wasn't amused and told me that this Two Ronnies sketch had made his life a misery with people coming in and asking for "four candles" etc :)

[@sextonblake1505]

Our local hardware store put up a picture of Four candles as a tribute when Ronnie Barker died.

[@dannydorko7075]

Like others have said billhooks sounds and looks like the british swear word- 'bollocks'. Ronnie barker, the guy playing the customer wrote a lot of their sketches including this one but wasn't happy with the end joke. He wanted it to instead end with a "big slovenly girl" coming out and saying "Right then sir, what kind of knockers (as in door knockers but 'knockers' is also slang for breasts) are you looking for? I love wordplay so I'm a big fan of the Two Ronnies. There's loads of similar wordplay centric sketches including my favourite one- 'crossed lines'

[@Gambit771]

That's a much better ending.

[@catsintheattic5973]

The Crossed Lines sketch is one of my absolute favourites.

[@ronaldobrien6870]

The 'billhooks' line didn't really work and was a lame end to the sketch. Ronnie was right to be annoyed with himself for not coming up with a stronger line like 'knockers'

[@glenbe4026]

@@Smegma Poppins It wasn't used because the Billhooks ending was the original ending. He wasn't happy with it but only thought of the knockers ending at a later date.

[@TOMS-ux4zp]

Yes it was what was called an iron mongers and they sold virtually everything as you said a hardware store. The Two Ronnies were a duo comedy act they were Ronnie Corbett the small guy and Ronnie Barker stockier guy

[@worthalook4870]

RIP to both of them, true legends. Ronnie barker was amazing, two ronnies, open all hours, porridge and many more

[@mossie1954]

It's suppose to be set in the 1950's & 60's in England , when the corner shop would have to carry all these things. Long before supermarkets & malls. People like myself lived in a small village...so hence the reason 'why' they had to have a great deal of peoples needs.

[@melcomepay6668]

Yes, I remember.

[@waldenhouse]

“Open All Hours” is a comedy show also starring Ronnie Barker as a corner shop keeper.....now you will have to listen carefully as it’s a border Yorkshire/Lancashire area so the accents are very different. Also, his Prison comedy called “Porridge” ( porridge is a term given to one being in prison doing porridge - meaning if you were in a vat of thick gloopy porridge, it’s easy to get in, but then it’s hard to get out)!

[@markywellsboy2182]

I thought that the porridge term came from the fact that porridge was served at every breakfast?

[@lovewalsall]

Markywellsboy - Me too. But I quite like Bobby D's explanation.

[@highpath4776]

Also known as Stir. (as in what you do to Porridge).

[@3122tan]

Dont mean to pick, but isnt Open All Hours set in Doncaster? Therefore very strong yorkshire accent, not very close to the Lancashire border, but close to the Nottingham border (this is the only part of british geography i know very well). When i was visiting my husbands home, I stumpled upon Still Open All Hours being filmed in a street in Balby, Doncaster.

[@highpath4776]

@@3122tan That is certainly true that the outside of a hairdressers shop their was used for the external shots, the insides are studio sets, and the programme a north of the midlands south of newcastle generality for geographical prototype

[@fabiamoon2827]

The "four candles" sketch is my absolute favorite piece from the Two Ronnies.

[@alaninsoflo]

Billhooks might be pronounced by Ronnie Barker as "Bill 'ucks" which sounds like "Bollocks" = Testicles

[@willhunt6897]

Alan Stevens I always thought it was meant to be “Pillocks”

[@EvilSnowVO]

Just before it got filmed, Ronnie B came up with a different ending, but didn't have time to change it. Instead of Mr Jones, a young female employee would come out and look at the list, then to Ronnie, then to the list, then back to Ronnie. "Alright sir, what sort of knockers are you looking for?"

[@grahamd5418]

That's why he was asked if he wanted one or two!

[@Celtic2Realms]

Or ballcocks

[@SamauraiRippeR]

You should do The Mastermind Sketch by the Two Ronnies. Total genius.

[@BLUEsurf63]

Answering the question before last, brilliant writing.

[@adunreathcooper]

Ronnie Barker, imo, greatest comedian of all time.

[@EmptyGlass99]

Dissecting comedy is like dissecting a frog - it kills it.

[@S1RD2]

Not really, if your dissecting a frog then its already dead, vivisection would be more appropriate

[@danoshannon340]

you don't dissect comedy to keep it funny, you dissect it to understand it.

[@johnnndoeee674]

EmptyGlass99 there not thry are giving there thoughts and still trying to grasp the many accents that are hard

[@taihavard]

Stewart Lee would disagree.

[@BlueShadow777]

These old-time shops were called “Ironmongers”, selling mostly a mish-mash of general hardware but also other odds and ends... including (minimal) foodstuffs. There are still a few around, but very sparse to almost extinction. Most were put out of business by the large corporate chains like B&Q etc. (Just as the corner grocery shop suffered from the advent of the large supermarkets).

[@kailashpatel1706]

amazing how shops like that have fallen away..

[@BlueShadow777]

Kailash Patel I grew up with Ironmonger shops. They were/are exactly as in the Two Ronnie sketch. I’ve just done an images Google search on “Ironmongery Shops”... seems there are still quite a few around, after all.

[@MarineAqua45]

Daniele Iannarelli The last of those was Robert Dyers ( years before Rymans owner Theo bought it up)

[@paulsmith-ib3nx]

@John 'Sepp' Schiltz - I live in a suburb of Nottingham. Despite having a plethora of big DIY stores nearby, our local hardware shop is thriving. We had a new tram extension built 3-4 years ago and the road network was a nightmare during the work. For a lot of people, it was easier to shop locally, the hardware shop, Hickings, seemed to win many new customers and they've remained loyal after the roads reopened.

[@pyeltd.5457]

Focus and Whicks

[@georgiaraynes1421]

They are both called Ronnie. The writer was Ronnie Barker, the bigger one. He specialized in word play and there are many examples in their shows. Glad you liked the episode even though you didn't understand it. Yes, it was seventies and took place in a general store which sells everything (or did in those days). I grew up in one.

[@SuperReasonable]

Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. Very good individually, but exceptional together. The English language is very confusing. There are over 3,000 French words in active use in the language and a great mix of Anglo Saxon and French concerning many similar subjects. For instance, we talk about the Anglo Saxon beast, but eat the French version of the meat. Cow becomes beef, sheep becomes mutton, pig becomes pork etc. The Germans follow the Saxon version and eat the beast. For example what we would call beef, in German is Rindfleisch literally translated meaning cow meat, the same as lamfleisch, or lamb meat. Other interesting examples of French is that virtually everything military comes from there. Ranks such as Lieutenant, Sergeant, Captain, Major etc. are all French words as are the weapons such as cannon, pistol, bayonet.... I could go on and add the Latin, Chinese, Arabic and Indian words we use everyday into the mix, but you'll get bored, I will however mention one last thing. Just to confuse further we can add the words that sound exactly the same, but have very different meanings - Poor, Pore, Pour etc! All in all, it's the perfect language for comedians like the 2 Ronnie's to exploit!

[@lilacfloyd]

The reason why cow becomes beef, sheep becomes mutton in food terms is because when the Normans arrived they became the ruling class. They had all the high living whilst the local aristocracy were stripped of their land and wealth and became their peasant labour force to tend to the livestock. Therefore for the peasants, the animals became associated with livestock not food and they used their own language. The Normans on the other hand associated these things with food. So once the animals were put on a plate French was used.

[@lovewalsall]

'Poor' doesn't rhyme with 'pore' where I'm from.

[@BoingBB]

Scotland?

[@MrJoshua1875]

strangely enough in northern england and most of scotland pore and poor would not sound similiar, however go further north, and you would be asked If you wanted poored a wee dram oh whisky! and go way down south, they sound similar also,

[@BoingBB]

Poor, pore and pour are all pronounced the same where I live (Bedfordshire).

[@chrismccartney8668]

Old sketch to two of our finest comedians as a team with wordplay Both gone now but not forgotten and their type of humour is much missed...

[@royburston8120]

Ronnie Corbet was a stand up comedian and Ronnie barker was a comedy character actor - they met on a couple of other shows and became a double act (but only on the 2 Ronnies ). They continued to work solo on their own stuff. Until probably the end of the seventies shops like that which sold almost everything and resembled and junk yard still existed in small towns.

[@ThorntonValiant]

Ronnie Corbett is the mastermind in this sketch. His timing is excellent.

[@davidabercrombie5427]

But it was probably written by Ronnie Barker (or Gerald Wiley)

[@charmawow]

Still my all time favourite comedy sketch.....and yep Ronnie Corbett’s reactions makes this friggin hilarious.

[@michaelwhite6498]

The original, hand written script for that sketch recently sold for £28,000 at auction. It was written by Gerald Riley. The name Ronnie Barker used to submit scketch's for the show.

[@Tilion462]

Wiley, not Riley...

[@PeterPanMan]

Tilion462, is that a joke?

[@michaelwhite6498]

No it was my typo error.

[@loafersheffield]

+michael white... could be worse. You could be a sufferer of pisspronounciation. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3uTn3mHnLd0prs

[@100666666]

Gerald WILEY not Riley was his pseudonym

[@ronmorris5739]

There's a beautiful ending to this story... As one viewer has kindly pointed out, neither of the Ronnie's are still with us. When Ronnie Barker passed away, his funeral was attended by anyone who was anyone in the media. In a standard funeral service, the procession is traditionally headed up by three candle bearers. For those who looked closely, Ronnie B had four... A masterpiece.

[@keegan773]

This is an absolute classic. Lillian's face was a study as the joke expanded. I've watched this sketch many times, I know what's coming and still laugh out loud.

[@climbtherainbow]

3:33 Ronnie Corbett says, "What do you want, Ointment or something like that?"

[@kartel8844]

You should watch Ronnie Corbet when he sits in his chair and tells one of his long winded stories. He would get lost in the telling of the story, going off on multiple tangents, which reminds me I never got algebra. For Ronnie Barker try Porridge.

[@hazelkinvig-paul8231]

This was my favourite Two Ronnies sketch of all time, so clever! TFS 👍❤

[@natalieanne2595]

Benny hill is another British classic you should check out. Love you guys and welcome to the uk. ❤️

[@GeoffB2072]

dylan allan I’m sure Benny Hill was very popular in America.

[@matthewmaus]

Apparently this was voted most popular/beloved sketch of the British people, the last time they were asked... another 'brilliant' sketch (I like it, anyway) from the Two Ronnies is the 'Mastermind' sketch. BTW, Ronnie Barker - the larger one, wrote the Fork 'Andles sketch, submitting it to the show under the pseudonym Gerard Wiley, in order that it succeed or fail purely on the quality of the writing. Check out Porridge, as well, xxx

[@lee5150]

It still gets me how much Americans just don’t get sarcasm.

[@dennisstyles9710]

Or Irony

[@paulmacmillan9287]

irrelevant comment... sarcasm doesn't feature in this sketch!

[@spikehere5866]

@@paulmacmillan9287 Spot on.

[@iestynvenables8284]

@@paulmacmillan9287 i thought the same

[@kingstumble]

This is not sarcasm. . It's a play on words.

[@richodude2679]

Many years later Ronnie Barker said he wasn’t happy with the end of the sketch and instead should have replaced the ending, with a joke about knockers .

[@redmanchester2659]

The phantom raspberry blower of old London Town...…………….

[@iangreely8528]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJe9aGiincZ6ipo for the full serial of Phamtom Raspberry Blower - of old London Town

[@O.O.O.K999]

Loved most of what these two did, but I never understood why the phantom raspberry blower was regarded as funny and, sexist as it sounds, I think this was one that appealed almost uniquely to the male psyche.

[@alanharrison5070]

Fantastic 👍👍👍👍

[@highpath4776]

Written By Spike Milligan

[@ianchapman5733]

@@highpath4776 and a gentleman!

[@blackmore4]

Great to see their smiles. Even though they often didn't understand the English expressions and pronunciation, Barker and Corbett's genius with just their body language and expressions makes for great watching.

[@jackrainbow560]

Its not hardware shop. Its a general store, last seen in the UK circa 1960. They sold everything, from boot polish to porridge oats.

[@tweetiepie551]

No it's a hardware shop.. this kind of shop was always called that.we never ever called any shop a general store - that's a backroom storage area.and they were still in operation well into the 1980s.

[@npr1300A8]

Fabulous! The key to classic comedy like this is not to analyse it too much and because it's mostly visual comedy, it has to be viewed without talking. Glad you enjoyed it. Did you see the updated version with Ronnie Corbett and Harry Enfield? It's centred around BlackBerrys.

[@edwardstabletoparmies955]

I love the sketch but it was even funnier watching and hearing you both! My gf is American and we often discuss the way we both talk...and spell.

[@chrismccartney8668]

Billhooks=Bollocks=Testicles Still my favourite sketch of all time Ronnie Barker was very clever and wrote the sketches and Ronnie played his small stooge superbly both gone now but not forgotten !!!

[@Person01234]

A billhook is an agricultural implement, but yeah the potential misunderstanding is "bollocks"

[@lintonkenneally7954]

Try watching “My Blackberry Is Not Working” by “The One Ronnie”.

[@peterbrazier7107]

A must watch

[@deludedjester]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXKqZGyggM5joqs

[@roughblooduk]

The comedy actor, Gene Wilder, saw this sketch in his dressing room just before a show in London's West End and said that he had difficulty going on stage because he could not stop giggling. Regarding accents: they dropped the H as I do and it was full of glottal stops which is a London accent. Keep up the good work. On another matter, if you want to investigate the differences between American and British English take a look at Melvyn Braggs historical documentary: Adventures in English on KZbin. Part 5 is my favourite episode as it deals with American English.

[@TechyMantis]

You have to watch Morecambe and Wise, either singing in the rain, griegs piano concerto, mastermind... any more suggestions are welcome

[@voodooacidman]

i would love to see you guys watch morecambe & wise breakfast scene :)

[@aliceswonderland3779]

"I am playing all the *right* notes... but not *necessarily* in the right order..."

[@Greenwood4727]

Singing in the rain apparently the original actor in the file loved their take on it, Greigs Piano concerto, classic, the stripper another classic..

[@commandingjudgedredd1841]

The sketch in which Eric hears a police car or ambulance wailing away and says (roughly) that "He's not going to sell any ice cream going at that speed".

[@as400techman]

Calling out of the window to Jehovahs Witnesses, "If you save wicked women, save one for me".

[@williamlogan1203]

These shops were more commonly known as Ironmongers, they sold pretty much everything, i remember (yes I'm that old) going in for milk, firelighters and paraffin...

[@andrewmccormack4295]

Yes,there were lots of these little shops that sold just about every thing,esp" in the country areas.I was born in the early 50s and can still remember going in with a tin container and getting it filled with fresh milk.My weekly pocket money was two shillings and sixpence and in those days that was a small fortune for a young kid in England after the war.

[@ottohardwick5323]

"We know nothing about the Two Ronnies..." WHAT?????!!!!!! I love the way it takes you 30 seconds to understand half of what they say....

[@twotone3070]

That's the first time I've seen you both laugh uncontrollably, made me smile. The Two Ronnies was Saturday night prime time television in the 70's when we only had 3 channels and they all went off at night. My suggestions would be the Parrot Sketch by Monty Python or the Morecambe and Wise Show with Andre' Previn. (Google Andre' Previn first if you don't know who he is) also Morecambe and Wise with Shirley Bassey.

[@muninraven3327]

I have found that the Abbott and Costello "who's on first" skit works very well over here in the UK, but I'm speaking as someone who is middle aged. The best oldschool British humour almost always plays with language or normal conventions in some way or another. American comics like the late Bill Hicks and George Carling fit in perfectly. It was about the use of language and the class system.

[@geoffwales8646]

I never found that skit funny, maybe because it laboured the point too much.

[@stephenedwards1278]

Hi Guys - basic lesson on that video. The shop is a hardware store that sells everything ( like the shop in Open All Hours which is another comedy starring Ronnie Barker ) they are not as popular these days but were around in the 1970's and stopped being common to see around the early 1980's. The last one is "Bill Hooks" or Bol"""ks as Ronnie Corbett thinks it says. Ronnie Barker wrote that sketch under another name and sent it in. He got the idea from a real life situation when a little boy was told to go around by his mother and find out how old a neighbour Mrs Jones was (as in her health) The boy came back and said that Mrs Jones said it was "none as your business how old she was !!"

[@martinbell3302]

Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. At Corbett's memorial service 4 candle were carried in the procession.

[@smitbar11]

Yes that's true

[@tompurcell1499]

You sure they weren't fork handles? :)

[@timothygraham4304]

I have been watching reaction videos for the last few days and this is the first one I've seen that had actual reactions! New subscriber here.

[@johngormley2145]

Hi Guys, Really glad you like this. It is one of the most famous sketches in British Television history. Massive play on words and, particularly, regional accents. Guess you guys have the same in US- does it work as well? The wee Ronnie was a good Scottish lad from Edinburgh, sadly passed away just a few years ago. Anyway, about 3.44 in you mentioned you "liked" wee Ronnie's hat. In Britain it's known as a bunnet and/or flat cap. Traditionally worn by Brits from the 20's until about the early 60's when head wear went out of fashion; very much a working class hat. Nowadays worn especially by lads of a certain age (like me!) and especially at horse racing meetings. With a nice Tweed jacket and wee bunnet you certainly look the business at the best horse racing meetings such as the Kentucky Derby. Keep well

[@vincenthandley6390]

Your reactions are priceless. Especially the bits that you 'don't get'. Love it. Thankyou both.

[@awakeningcry]

"Saw tips" "You want some ointment for that?" hehehehehehehehehe

[@cockertoo8920]

Yes, that's what they missed, ha ha

[@TheArcSet]

Before supermarkets sold everything, corner shops sold everything.

[@andrewdaley3081]

Now the Internet sells everything. Andy England 🇬🇧

[@woody816]

U guys are amazing. The difference in accents in uk is unbelievable for the size of the place. Even England has more than a dozen accents alone. In Scotland it’s the same. Wales I’m not sure but I’d imagine there the same. I’m not sure if any other country is the same. Yeah I’m the states u can tell if someone’s from New York or the south but here u can go a matter of miles and the accents are different. Just found u guys and truly love how u are so open and really try to understand us. For that I thank you and hope to enjoy many more of your vids ✌️&❤️ fae Bonnie Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@Greenwood4727]

it can in some places go down to street level..like in my home town you can tell within a few streets where a person lived or grew up.. but thats a special case as we had a lot of industry and people would live in a specific area for a specific job.. like glass makers lived in one section, coal workers in another, chemical workers in another.. and because of the industry the chemicals and noises in those jobs the accents changed a little.so hot jobs would dry their throats out, chemicals would make the a little more gruff/gravelly in the accent as the chemicals burned their throats and so on Like the Scouse accent, many different types.. but the more common now is the broad, which is affected by weather its cold so scousers had more colds and the irish immigrants and so that affected the next generation and so on.. Once you start looking at accents and dialects.. its astounding

[@Greenwood4727]

then if you add geographic, the geordie accent has more in common with dutch due to the distance to the country, (vikings) the tones the voice modulation the singing of the accent some people from the netherlands can understand geordies evenif they are speaking another language. its about tonal modalities and it gets complicated

[@Greenwood4727]

i lived in america for a while and my accent was "normal", everyone could understand me but i met someone from near my home town in the UK.. and our accents got broader and faster, until the people we were with thought we were speaking another language they totally lost their comprehension.. i am Northern you have manchester and liverpool about 30 miles apart and the accent is so different..

[@stumpypetros2685]

It's because English nearly died out. see "The Story of English" CD. England was 3 or 4 bits, formal Latin, and Kingly French were a major sourse of words. And confusion as french Castille became Castle etc. changes in languages and descriptions. Evenin Australia, theres been shift in English use. I live in Sydney and have some very early maps of it. In the Sydney CBD, there's Castlereagh St. Its first name was "Church Row" (St James Church is at one end of the street.) and it's second name was Castle Row before becoming Castlereagh. So 'reagh' must mean row or street. Someone please correct me, You had to have a licence to convert your manor, church and / or castille to have crenelations, beacuse that allowed archers to defend from the roof, a MAJOR defensive upgrade that would seriously inconvienience the king's troops. Anyway anything with crenelations could be called 'castling' which is why Church and Castle were interchangable names. --- am I right?

[@El_Nombre-e3x]

@John 'Sepp' Schiltz Do it, John. It sounds such fun

[@infesticon]

To this day when Im asking for stuff in hardware stores and there is confusion I say "oh christ it's four candles in real life"

[@dareallan9236]

Fork Handles is literally the British version of Who's on First.

[@DBS6567]

puts a smile on my face everytime i see it, class comedy that stands the test of time. ronnie barker is the brains of the outfit. and corbett is an excellent straight man, the butt of all the jokes, together they are classic british comedy at its best.

[@redmanchester2659]

Have a look at "only fools and horses chandelier episode " All the best,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[@janegraham6631]

My favorite episode is the one with the blown up dolls

[@drdassler]

RED MANCHESTER 'A Touch of Glass.' 😉

[@drdassler]

Jane Graham 'Danger UXD.' 😉

[@lozzylols]

I loved this scene when younger! Now I just get very frustrated, perhaps I've seen it too many times

[@ageingted]

@@janegraham6631 Don't forget the Batman episode, pure classic

[@jenniferdevlin2805]

The Four Candles sketch was voted the best British sketch ever a few years back and it was funny to me. I was born in the early 1970's and I have no memory of seeing this clip first time round until I watched the best British comedy sketches.

[@amanda-janekiell2514]

Back in the day shops in England would send a variety of products

[@009MSP]

If one say's 'BILL HOOKS' quickly it can sound like a slang term for testicles, Ronnie Corbett & Ronnie Barker were friends who performed sketches together

[@blueyorks6884]

Even the great Ronnie Barker said he wasnt happy with the ending.

[@davidabercrombie5427]

At the time it was made there were probably people who knew what a bill hook was and what it was used for... now we have to look it up. Its a really funny sketch but that line really dates it.

[@mistofoles]

@@davidabercrombie5427 A bill hook hand held implement used to pull a small boat flush with the side of the dock.

[@samleigh7817]

@@mistofolesbill hook is a small machete for clearing undergrowth, you’re thinking of a boat hook.

[@samleigh7817]

He changed it tho a female assistant and asked for knockers.

[@tirconnell8265]

I've seen this sketch more times than I can count and it never ceases to reduce me to tears but watching the reaction of two people to whom it's entirely new brought a whole new level of joy. I grew up in rural ireland in the 1970's and we had stores like that boasted you could buy "anything from a needle to an anchor".

[@24magiccarrot]

I think a lot of the humor was lost on you guys cause you don't have an understanding of British accents, it is very common for a lot of English speakers in the UK to drop the H sound at the beginning of words so Hoes becomes oh's, but there are two types of words that would phonetically be pronounced Hoe's in which the H might be dropped, both Hoes and hose, but the joke is that he wasn't dropping the H and was actually asking for o's. But I also think you don't have knowledge of the older fashioned shops that were common place in the UK at the time this sketch was made. They do still exist just not as commonplace, but we used to have shops that were predominantly hardware shops but they sold a bit of everything, so you'd get tins of peas, shoes and pantyhose being sold in a shop that mostly sold hammers, screws and nails. The joke behind the end bit is that Billhooks looks a lot like Bollocks, however in a later interview Ronnie Barker who wrote the sketch said he wished he'd made it knockers instead.

[@El_Nombre-e3x]

Ah yes, culture. I am a student of Spanish and it´s from studying a foreign language that you realise how culture is an untranslatable thing that more often than not you have to grow up with to fully understand

[@anthonyhemphill5569]

The 2 Ronnies was great! it was on tv on a sat night and the whole family used to watch it, so yes get a DVD I see them in charity shops all the time

[@simonmaguire5250]

In a hardware shop. Ronnie Corbett is behind the counter, wearing a warehouse jacket. He has just finished serving a customer. CORBETT (muttering): There you are. Mind how you go. (Ronnie Barker enters the shop, wearing a scruffy tank-top and beanie) BARKER: Four Candles! CORBETT: Four Candles? BARKER: Four Candles. (Ronnie Corbett makes for a box, and gets out four candles. He places them on the counter) BARKER: No, four candles! CORBETT (confused): Well there you are, four candles! BARKER: No, fork 'andles! 'Andles for forks! (Ronnie Corbett puts the candles away, and goes to get a fork handle. He places it onto the counter)CORBETT (muttering): Fork handles. Thought you said 'four candles!' (more clearly) Next? BARKER: Got any plugs? CORBETT: Plugs. What kind of plugs? BARKER: A rubber one, bathroom. (Ronnie Corbett gets out a box of bath plugs, and places it on the counter) CORBETT (pulling out two different sized plugs): What size? BARKER: Thirteen amp! CORBETT (muttering): It's electric bathroom plugs, we call them, in the trade. Electric bathroom plugs! (He puts the box away, gets out another box, and places on the counter an electric plug, then puts the box away) BARKER: Saw tips! CORBETT: Saw tips? (he doesn't know what he means) What d'you want? Ointment, or something like that? BARKER: No, saw tips for covering saws. CORBETT: Oh, haven't got any, haven't got any. (he mutters) Comin' in, but we haven' got any. Next? BARKER: 'O's! CORBETT: 'O's? BARKER: 'O's. (He goes to get a hoe, and places it on the counter) BARKER: No, 'O's! CORBETT: 'O's! I thought you said 'O! (he takes the hose back, and gets a hose, whilst muttering) When you said 'O's, I thought you said 'O! 'O's! (He places the hose onto the counter) BARKER: No, 'O's! CORBETT (confused for a moment): O's? Oh, you mean panty 'o's, panty 'o's! (he picks up a pair of tights from beside him) BARKER: No, no, 'O's! 'O's for the gate. Mon repose! 'O's! Letter O's! CORBETT (finally realising): Letter O's! (muttering) You had me going there! (He climbs up a stepladder, gets a box down, puts the ladder away, and takes the box to the counter, and searches through it for letter O's) CORBETT: How many d'you want? BARKER: Two. (Ronnie Corbett leaves two letter O's on the counter, then takes the box back, gets the ladder out again, puts the box away, climbs down the ladder, and puts the ladder away, then returns to the counter) CORBETT: Yes, next? BARKER: Got any P's? CORBETT (fed up): For Gawd' sake, why didn' you bleedin' tell me that while I was up there then? I'm up and down the shop already, it's up and down the bleedin' shop all the time. (He gets the ladder out, climbs up and gets the box of letters down, then puts the ladder away) Honestly, I've got all this shop, I ain't got any help, it's worth it we plan things. (He puts the box on the counter, and gets out some letter P's) How many d'you want? BARKER: No! Tins of peas. Three tins of peas! CORBETT: You're 'avin' me on, ain't ya, yer 'avin' me on? BARKER: I'm not! (Ronnie Corbett dumps the box under the counter, and gets three tins of peas) CORBETT (placing the tins on the counter): Next? BARKER: Got any pumps? CORBETT (getting really fed up): 'And pumps, foot pumps? Come on! BARKER (surprised he has to ask): Foot pumps! CORBETT (muttering, as he goes down the shop): Foot pumps. See a foot pump? (He sees one, and picks it up) Tidy up in 'ere. (He puts the pump down on the counter) BARKER: No, pumps fer ya feet! Brown pump, size nine! CORBETT (almost at breaking point): You are 'avin' me on, you are definitely 'avin' me on! BARKER (not taking much notice of Corbett's mood): I'm not! CORBETT: You are 'avin' me on! (He takes back the pump, and gets a pair of brown foot pumps out of a drawer, and places them on the counter) Next? BARKER: Washers! CORBETT (really close to breaking point): What, dishwashers, floor washers, car washers, windscreen washers, back scrubbers, lavatory cleaners? Floor washers? BARKER: 'Alf inch washers! CORBETT: Oh, tap washers, tap washers? (He finally breaks, and makes to confiscate his list) Look, I've had just about enough of this, give us that list. (He mutters) I'll get it all myself! (Reading through the list) What's this? What's that? Oh that does it! That just about does it! I have just about had it! (calling through to the back) Mr. Jones! You come out and serve this customer please, I have just about had enough of 'im. (Mr. Jones comes out, and Ronnie Corbett shows him the list) Look what 'e's got on there! Look what 'e's got on there! JONES (who goes to a drawer with a towel hanging out of it, and opens it): Right! How many would ya like? One or two? (He removes the towel to reveal the label on the drawer - 'Bill hooks'!)

[@annoldham3018]

I recently made reference to 4 candles when giving a eulogy at my mum's funeral last month. She loved it so much.

[@phillee2814]

We really did used to have general stores like that, and Ronnie Corbet and Ronnie Barker were both masters of comedy before they teamed up - some of the stuff they did was distinctly risque for TV viewers at the time, but they broke new ground by being too popular for the BBC to discipline over it, and by being masters of innuendo - Ronnie Corbet at the end of this is clearly reading the (presumably poor) handritten shopping list and seeing bollocks, not billhooks (a landscape gardening tool). The character played by Ronnie Barker is one that is clearly poorly educated, so the implication is that his handwriting is probably poor and spelling, well, optional! Both Ronnies were very capable actors who could fulfil a huge range of roles.

[@Blighty4eva]

One of the greatest British comedy sketches of all time. Absolute comic legends they were

[@ianprince1698]

in another ending, he calls in a well-endowed lady assistant. the list had said KNOCKERS!!

[@leemendham4788]

In reference to plugs, British electrical appliances used to come without plugs (the big 3-pin British 220-volt variety). The user had to buy them separately, insert an appropriate fuse (2,3,5 or 13-amp depending on the appliance), wire them up to the appliance, and then close them up and tighten the cable grip at the rear. Nowadays manufacturers sell appliances with the plugs attached, and the fuses are inserted via a slot in the bottom of the plug.

[@cubinoid]

"Saw tips..." "What do you want, an ointment or something?"

[@Do_not_assume]

British comedy at its finest. You have to be British to truly capture the essence of this comedy.

[@joshsheffsagain4662]

Don't have to be British. Just need to understand that the words can sound the same as others, or be totally different yet sounding the exact same way. We don't have a monopoly on that you know. 🤦

[@TheEulerID]

In Oxford, Ronnie Barker's home town, there's a Wetherspoons named after that sketch.

[@stephenlarkin3690]

At Barker"s funeral, on his coffin , was a candelabra holding..........four candles.

[@patrickgraham4794]

True, everyone I know calls it the fork handles

[@beestonbump1106]

They were both much loved comedians. Theirs was a gentle humour, as you can see in the famous four candles sketch

[@aliceswonderland3779]

The thing with hoes/hose and 'Os' (letter-Os) in this sketch considers one of many English dialects; one of those that doesn't always pronounce the letter 'H.' Therefore "Os" is misconstrued as "'oes" or "'ose." (Same with "four candles" and "fork 'andles.") Also, regarding the plugs ("rubber one; bathroom") when asked what size, Ronnie Barker said "13 amp" (as in ampere.) The last one ("billhooks") would be pronounced by Ronnie Barker (had he said it) as "bill'ooks," which easily resembles a rather British expletive: (pardon my French, or lack thereof) "Bollocks." The name "The Two Ronnies" stems from their names (as others have said) -- Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker... though you've likely gathered that by now. It's also quite interesting that a couple (at least Terry Jones and Michael Palin, or maybe all) of the members of Monty Python wrote some sketches for "The Two Ronnies." I've often wondered which ones they were -- I could only assume they'd likely be of the more eccentric persuasion. A couple of other favourite "Two Ronnies" sketches of mine, aside from this one include "Mastermind," "Hieroglyphics" and "How to Build a Shed." (I feel there's something rather Python-esque about the last one.) I appreciate you taking the time to read this rather long-winded comment. I hope it helped, despite the incessant and, no doubt unnecessary, rambling.

[@suedenym8666]

These were corner shops which sold everything, canned food, tools, shoes etc. Bill hooks sounds like bollocks. This sketch is based on the Cockney accent. A Cockney is born in the sounds of the Bow bells (St. Mary le Bow) in London. Ronnie Corbet (small one) and Ronnie Barker are the two Ronnies. Barker was a brilliant comic and wrote tons of sketches for loads of TV and radio. You ought to see the whole of The Two Ronnies - they do amazing song routines with hilarious words. Barker was the genius.

[@rodgrimes2293]

FAWLTY TOWERS / JOHN CLEESE IS A MUST.

[@Bjowolf2]

As well as all 4 series of Blackadder of course 😁 They have been rerun numerous times here in Scandinavia along with Fawlty Towers, and we are still laughing, even though we almost know most of the lines by heart by now, because they are so hilarious and brilliantly written. And then British humour with all its irony, sarcasm and crazyness usually go down very well over here ( many people don't even need to read the subtitles) - maybe because of the cultural similarities and the large number of basic words and grammatical structures that we share with you great folks - just somewhat disguised at times - ? Hav en god dag [day(gh)] alle mine frænder her(e) 😉

[@stevethompson1421]

Great watching you two enjoy something like this. This is my favourite sketch of The Two Ronnies. It's a very famous sketch over here. We tend to drop our H' ers (aichers) over here. So garden Hoe, becomes, "got any oe's", Hose becomes, "got any ose" and that's where the comic confusion comes from. Great play on words. The "Billhooks" ( ...Bollocks ?) thing at the end ... bit too vague and gets about the same reaction over here, but the sketch as a whole is brilliant. The Tins of Peas moment is inspired. Little Ronnie C as the shopkeeper makes it, because he plays it straight. Classic!

[@KeithGadget]

"Pumps" type shoes are an old sports type of shoe, also called plimsole

[@martinbovey1885]

we used to call them daps

[@lemsdarkapprentice2535]

the bill hooks reference at the end is meaning "bollocks" (as in "load of old bollocks") meaning ronnie corbett feels barker is taking the p155 out of him). They couldn't swear on tv, so they had to use things like euphemisms + rhyming slang etc. the 4 candles / fork handles sketch is one of the best in british comedy as it's all about these plays on words + richness of the english language.

[@whoflungdung1046]

He asked for O's not O's but he meant O's...

[@suedenym8666]

No apostrophe though!

[@zahrans]

No, he asked for O's.

[@donsharpe5786]

Ronnie Barker was a straight character actor who did comedy. He wrote a number of sketches under a pseudonym. He often wrote using the similarity of the sound of words or the same spelling of a word with two different meanings common in the English language.