Peter Cook & Dudley Moore - One Leg Too Few (1964)

From "Beyond the Fringe," their complete 1964 gala farewell performance

[@flower2364]

"Your right leg I like, '... lolol..."I've got nothing against your right leg Mr Spiggot. The trouble is neither have you... Pure genius. Love this sketch.

[@RobertRFalk]

An old teacher of mine came up with the perfect punchline to this sketch: After Mr. Spiggot exits, our casting director calls once again to the receptionist: "Stella, my love, would you send in the first auditioner for the part of Long John Silver?"

[@jaywalker1233]

@Rob Falk it seems your old teacher misremembered the sketch versions (there were various) in one of which, after Dudley Moore has left, a two-legged actor then walks in normally on two legs and Cook says: “Ah, good morning. Now I believe you are applying for the role of Long John Silver...”

[@user-yn4sl2dd3l]

That's brilliant

[@teamdawson1]

Brilliant!

[@rickrose5377]

It never gets old. We are bereft of two geniuses. We are deficient in the category of geniuses to the tune of two. I, for one, miss 'em.

[@steenthorse8579]

Yes miss them 😞 And now as time goes by we are getting old

[@harveyperkoff6325]

I could not agree more...'bereft... and deficient' sums this comical duo up perfectly. We will never ever find a couple so akin ....agin HP

[@MrKaywyn]

I think it's Peter Cook's best sketch.

[@Arareemote]

​@@MrKaywynPeter said too a few times this was probably the best thing he ever written.

[@MrKaywyn]

That's pretty much what I said.@@Arareemote

[@davidharrison6615]

i only have one leg and i find this amazingly funny plus the strength needed to keep hoping like that and the balance was fantastic . god bless you both .

[@judepower4425]

Thank you! I was laughing and laughing but feeling guilty in case anyone watching with only one leg would be offended!

[@LikeMothsToAFlame]

Have you ever thought of auditioning for the part of Tarzan?

[@TheRowlandstone73]

I possess not one shred of doubt and an absolute lack of hesitation in exclaiming that this is undeniably my favourite use of the word, 'telephonically'.

[@daveherres3374]

Love the bright smile on Dudley's face the whole time.

[@Smithjones12]

Dud did well not to fall over

[@robinlambert3917]

Prescient could be yesterday comment on Woke rubbish

[@philshort7801]

"The trouble is ... neither do you." Cracks me up every time. Comic genius.

[@ENGABU1]

Such a beautifully written and performed sketch...almost 60 years old and it's still fresh and funny

[@vern521]

Saw them do this in New York in 1974.. Will never forgot it.. totally brillant

[@bfreesun]

Behind the Fridge if memory serves. London early 70s

[@steviesindahouse4903]

No matter how many times I watch this it always makes me laugh (😆), and brings a tear to my eye (😢) .. miss you Pete n' Dud ...

[@madnessbydesign1415]

The brilliance of this cannot be overstated...

[@mercut1o]

Cook's brilliant writing in this sketch (at the age of 18 too) is justly praised, every word is pitch perfect. But when you *see* it, Moore's physicality takes it to another level.

[@lauramalek3128]

Holy cow! 18? Seriously?? Color me impressed!

[@andrewpepper4071]

when I first saw this (around 1963!), after Moore left, another actor - looking exactly like Tarzan - came in and Cook's character said, "Ah, you must be auditioning for the role of Long John Silver."

[@AnnabellaRedwood]

What a romp. So joyous. My goodness what a gem! Bloody brilliant.

[@upoint2]

Brilliant! Cheers for showing this gem from a sadly missed duo.

[@Robbie63]

That is so funny. They were a brilliant comic duo.

[@opensourceintelligence]

Absolutely brilliant! Classic English humor!

[@markywellsboy2182]

English humour

[@marnfulda1758]

I remember seeing these sketches when they were transmitted. I am 75.

[@ianwebster3489]

Deficient in the leg department to the tune of 1. Beautiful writing.

[@InParticularNobody]

@Beth Drury *you're

[@paulsheldon4057]

Absolute comedy genius 🤣

[@BruceWayneOfOz]

I had to come back and see this again...I'm writing a book about my time in the Biz, and am at the part about Peter Cook on the TV show "The Two of Us" in 1981.

[@jlewis31510]

Loved the way the two of them did this skit in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

[@DavidSumeray_BassGod]

I grew up with Pete & Dud! They were fantastic!

[@andyjordan79]

No other country in the world could produce genius like this

[@bluedogdan]

A very funny skit. Sent it to a manager friend who has been handed limitations on who he can interview and/or hire for a job.

[@JasonKatsanis]

One of the greatest comic teams ever!

[@lauramalek3128]

I VIVIDLY recall checking this (BTF) album out of our local library to revel in this magic. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TIMES INFINITY PHOENIX AZ PUBLIC LIBRARY SYSTEM back in the 1980's for having this gem (among others) available for common folk like me.

[@paulb1988]

Loved that they used the name George Spiggot for the Devil in 'Bedazzled'!

[@davidangel5927]

According to Moore, Cook first wrote this sketch aged 18 while still at school.

[@williamross2579]

Pete wrote it at 15, I believe...

[@reenarawat5537]

18!? Well, bugger me with a fish fork!

[@stephencowley8968]

I feel really sorry for the two dozen folk who gave this clip a thumbs down, how can they not find this so absolutely funny☺☺

[@lauramalek3128]

Clearly they have no what in layman's terms is called "a soul". Just honestly how is this not funny?

[@pukcar]

Absolute class!!!!

[@ledeyabaklykova]

My landlord’s father saw them with J. Miller and A. Bennett in NYC in the early 60s, in the second leg of their Beyond The Fringe revue tour.

[@22libby77]

love it !!

[@OeditpusRex]

I hadn't thought of it either until I was writing that. :) Yeah, that's a big thing to me about Python and a few others, like Stephen Wright and Eddie Izzard. I love cerebral comedy, the kind that makes me go, "How did they think of that??" I wish I knew the inspiration for all of them. ("Silly Walks" was inspired by a neighbor of - I think it was Chapman. He lived on a hill, and the neighbor was an old guy whose gait on the hill was rather odd.)

[@ManCave1972]

Word for word perfection.

[@shimradavis7735]

I've got nothing against your right leg, Mr. Spiggot. The trouble is, neither have you.

[@GuyFaux2007]

+Shimra Davis One of the greatest comedy lines ever written.

[@ahmadalrefal2007]

one of the best comedy scetches ever ,i won't resort to , they don't write 'em like that anymore, but they dont !

[@ahmadalrefal2007]

a uni-dexter..

[@Smithjones12]

Speaking as a unidexter this is hysterical 😁

[@joserafaelzepeda-garza9971]

Beautiful

[@OeditpusRex]

I always wondered about that. :) First time I saw him was his debut on the Tonight Show in the early '80s. When he did the "microwave fireplace" joke, I sat agape at his amazing mind.

[@ericmanning7083]

Love them all .

[@alexhh880]

And almost 60 years on comedy becomes reality.

[@pauldockree9915]

RIP both these wonderful people. Derek and Clive.

[@Vikanuck]

I was already smiling so big, but when he comes out with “The leg department, you are deficient in it to the tune of one”, I just burst out laughing haha. You will be hard pressed to find a Canadian more in love with British/English humour lol. I’m 34 now and my mom has had me watching Monty Python since I was at the boob lol. My first words were literally “Stop it”, and my mom is convinced to this day that I got it from hearing Graham Chapman as the colonel coming in to stop sketches by shouting “STOP THAT, STOP THAT!!! This sketch is over, it’s getting far too silly” haha 😂

[@Ichioku]

Leg division, not dept.

[@zerenyusuf3532]

Fantastic

[@steenthorse8579]

Priceless 🙂

[@andrewz3318]

dry wit and the absurdity of the situation - nice. Truly this couldn't be done today because of those who are permanently offended.

[@Garramedia]

+Andrew Z Today I avoided putting this piece in social media as a comment of a video of a handless Russian pianist...I know that is a bit callous of me but I found the paralel quite uncanny

[@johnmalcolm9980]

Even more so "Grooving the Bag"

[@billybronco4223]

What if he was auditioning for the role of WWII pilot Douglas Bader in the film 'Reach for the sky'. "A role for which no legs is the maximum requirement for the role."

[@jamespasifull3424]

Ironically, played by Kenneth Moore, in the biopic 'Reach for the sky', where Moore, as a biped, did a sterling job!! 🤣

[@pr4442]

I've only got one leg and I'm hopping mad about this skit.

[@thekierongiles]

This sketch is 24ct comedy gold, In the pantheon of British comedy it's right up there with Eric and Ernie's Andrew Preview piano sketch and Monty Pythons "fetchez le vache" , your mother was a hamster , and your father smelt of elderberries....😂

[@shaunpatrick8345]

It's now 2021 and Hollywood is reaching out to the under-represented unidexter community, who need to see themselves in positive roles.

[@OeditpusRex]

Yeah. In "Dr. Strangelove," Sellers was supposed to play *four* roles, including Maj. Kong. He was game - in fact, he broke an ankle when he fell out of the B-52 cockpit mock-up in rehearsal as Kong (allegedly while arguing with Stanley Kubrick) - but he was having problems getting the Southern accent right and was stressing over that. The broken ankle was the excuse for Kubrick to cast Slim Pickens. Madness takes its toll. :)

[@neilmacdonald9843]

Pete & Dud....icons

[@bobjames1992]

Yes, Chapman came up with 'Norwegian Blue'. I think Eric had tried to write several times with Chapman but then did that as an experiment out of frustration. You really should look into that book. It's full of quote's and stories from all the Python team and also entries from Palin's diaries. There's some great stuff, especially on the making of the Holy Grail about Cleeses frustration with Gilliams directing style. Cleese out of frustration could really give a good tongue lashing.

[@arwelp]

I seem to recall that in the original sketch the next candidate was a two-legged man auditioning for the part of Long John Silver!

[@2468pebble]

Even more relevant

[@jayfranklin4791]

:if you would come and perch over here.." oh, once in a lifetime dream sketch for a comedian.

[@Smithjones12]

I'm a proud unidexter 😀😀

[@steviesindahouse4903]

Genius

[@OeditpusRex]

(con't) That got them thinking of someone trying to buy cheese at the chemist's, but as they began to write it, Cleese thought, wait, why would anyone do that? He understood that for satire to work, it has to have a reasonable premise. So, it morphed into a cheese shop that has no cheese, which seems funnier than a chemist's shop that has no cheese, since you wouldn't expect it to. Weird that both sketches were in the same episode, but I checked and it was filmed 10 months before it aired.

[@bobjames1992]

The Genesis of every Monty Python sketch!

[@lauramalek3128]

Oh snap! Where Spiggot goes chasing him around at the start of the skit, finally gets close enough to "tag" him on the shoulder, then darts away....like "Haha I win!"😂

[@OeditpusRex]

Yes! In fact, the Britain-born Pythons were great fans of "BTF." Much of "One Leg Too Few" is evident in the Python bit "Gorilla Librarian" (episode 10), as well as their many bits with authority figures extraordinarily tolerant of absurdity. Their initial inspiration, though, and Peter Cook's, was Spike Milligan's "The Goon Show." Indeed, it sparked the absurdist/satirical comedy that took off in the '60s, led by Python and Firesign Theatre.

[@MrShikaga]

Yep, and the Goon Show had some great leg jokes too: “I trudged through the snow, one leg in front of the other, which I found was the best way of walking”. Pure genius.

[@vitorinobarcelona6990]

At the risk of offending anyone with any kind of phobia or disability regarding SELF HUMOR, remember that, ? laughing at YOURSELF??this was damn funny, funnier than when i sat in front of them the first time they did this scene

[@LukeReed627]

I don't think you could make this sketch now, can you imagine the flood of complaints from the permanently 'offended' ?!

[@davereeves454]

Lman Rman sad but true

[@ddebenedictis]

pfft...that would not get in the way, there are plenty of sketches made today without regard to that. There is always somebody waiting in the wings to be offended at anything so you just have to go ahead and try to be funny without being mean.

[@1964mourad]

ddebenedictis .زةيسبءشؤاتcgrsvkhkhyfbkugkkujkougsxzdghjh

[@ftalker11]

Lman Rman Political Correctness is only a problem for Caucasians.

[@Malkmusianful]

you still could the joke's not so much on Mr. Spiggot/Dudley, though he does get quite a bit of the laughs, but at the lengths the casting director will go to tell him that he only has one leg. the joke's more enhanced by how happy-go-lucky and utterly determined Mr. Spiggot is in getting this part.

[@OeditpusRex]

I'd forgotten that. His role wasn't scripted, either. He happened to be on holiday in Tunisia, visiting a WWII battlefield, when he ran into Cleese. He certainly made the most of his scene - far more than George Harrison did. :) The truly classic part is, Milligan disappeared when the scene wrapped. As the cast were returning to their hotel after the day's filming, they chanced to spot him pulled over by police, still wearing his robes. Idle told the police, "It's all right; he's with us."

[@bournemouthisshit]

Just exquisite!

[@vulcanvoyager]

The ironic and terrifying thing is, if he were to apply for the job now, he would get it!

[@bobjames1992]

Ha! That's a great story! I did hear the bit about him wondering off but being pulled over by the police still in his robes, that's classic! I'm not at all surprised though, Spike was as mad as it gets. Although I think Peter Sellers was probably even madder. He was Always playing a character because he literally had no concept of who he really was.

[@bobjames1992]

True, The Goons were the first to send up the authority figure which at the time was very controversial making it all the more hilarious! Some of the Goons (if not all of them) had survived the war and had come out the other side with very low opinions of authority. They wanted revenge and the best thing to do was to use their comic skills to degrade them. Also Spike was very pissed at Python because he though they were just recycling the absurd humour he pioneered. He was in Life of Brian tho.

[@j.dmetalhead7517]

Pure genius 😅🤣😂😆😅🤣😂🤣😅😆

[@bobjames1992]

I've been busy but thanks for the story. It's interesting how these things 'evolve' instead of just popping out of thin air like most people assume. I always hear 'How do they think of that?' and I bet there's a story behind all of them. I never saw the similarities between the "Bookshop" and the "cheeseshop" sketches but now that you mention it. Cleese did quit the series after the 3rd because he thought they were repeating themselves, so there you go.

[@OeditpusRex]

After "Strangelove," Kubrick said of him, "I got three for the price of one." :) Another certifiably mad genius was Graham Chapman. Once, at a cocktail party at someone's house, he sat in a chair with his pants around his ankles, acting as if nothing were amiss.

[@charlesgurr4073]

There is a lot of talk these days about certain actors not being suitable to take on certain roles due to not having experienced things they are portraying. I think they really need to remember this 😂😂

[@eltayeron]

Keegan brought me here

[@bobjames1992]

Palin would pick him up in the morning when they were filming sketches. I think it's in the book "Monty Python an Autobiography by Monty Python". And both Graham and Ian (the director) would be pissed after lunch so they would all have to rush to get things filmed in the morning. Also, Eric tried writing with Graham once and he decided not to say anything until he did, so the both sat there and stared at each other all afternoon and got absolutely no writing done at all!

[@foghornleghornii5480]

Auditioning for the part of Tarzan , brilliant brilliant A one legged Tarzan . Your right leg , I like 😂😂 Political correctness has killed this style of comedy.

[@margaretroselle8610]

Foghorn Leghorn ii You are so right!!

[@grahamlive]

Came down for the "political correctness gone mad" comment. You didn't disappoint. 🙄

[@M0jibake]

It’s nothing to do with political correctness, it’s just the dumbed-down culture that thinks four-letter words are funnier than clever writing. Most of today’s comedy audiences wouldn’t even understand half the words in this sketch. Too many syllables.

[@bobjames1992]

That would be right! I guess he was the first comic method actor but in this case he would have to say in character 4 times over. What a nightmare that would have been to work with! He was a Genius but by the sounds of it Kubrick got much more than he bargained for. Having said that the results are worth it.

[@judepower4425]

"Jungly fronds"!

[@bobjames1992]

Oh you got "At Last, the 1948 Show"! I'd love that. I know Python redid some of the sketches. I got "Do Not Adjust Your Set." but was a little disappointed (it was a kids show after all). Tell me about the Cheese Shop, that's easily one of my favourite sketches. I have the Secret Policeman's Ball version (which is excellent).

[@anonUK]

I got this on DVD years ago. There are many excellent sketches on the 1948 show but there are notable absences (no Bookshop sketch!) and the picture quality (even allowing for the 405 line video of the time) is absolutely dreadful. DNAYS was a kids's show and it shows. There are nice bits with the band and with David Jason as Captain Fantastic (hints of Dangermouse?) but most of it was pushing the limits of kids' humour for the time rather than providing deathless comedy for the ages. The late Terry Jones misfires more in this than he did for Python.

[@OeditpusRex]

I really should get *all* the books on Python and all the albums, since I am a certifiable geek. :) I do have virtually everything they ever did on film, including the surviving episodes of the pre-Python "At Last, the 1948 Show" and "Do Not Adjust Your Set." The only albums I have, though, are "Matching Tie and Handkerchief," "Monty Python Sings" and the "Holy Grail" soundtrack. Chapman also inspired the "Cheese Shop" bit. Have you heard that story? It's on the "Lawyers Cut" DVDs.

[@johnmalcolm9980]

Be sure to check the other great non-PC sketch "Grooving the Bag"

[@ahmadalrefal2007]

yeah.. there's plenty there to offend , i'm outraged ! on behalf of whoever the fuck..

[@anonUK]

The joke there- for anyone too woke or freelance offended to see it- is that here's a media personality "intellectual" pontificating on things he knows less about than anyone else while preferring to ignore the elephant in the room, which is that the song is purely about sex.

[@OeditpusRex]

(Now that I think of it, shopping for cheese at the chemist's would be pretty close to the "Bookshop" sketch from "At Last, the 1948 Show" and Cleese's "How to Irritate People," with a customer trying to buy books that the seller has never heard of, like "Rarnaby Budge" by Charles Dikkens [with two k's]. If the customer played it straight and the chemist got all frustrated, it could work. I dunno why they didn't think of it like that, but...)

[@rosbarrett-lennard1061]

Does anyone have a link to the Train Conductor sketch, in which Dudley Moore, who has worked on the rail all his life, speaks in the rhythm of a train?

[@pr4442]

Nah.

[@edd2615]

Now, we have Celerity Juice!!!!

[@briodyjohnsean]

Tell me why all amazing comedians and musicians are first or second generation Irish ?

[@johnday6392]

They are not, thats why!!

[@bobjames1992]

There's as simple explanation for Stephen Wright .... He's not from this planet!

[@OeditpusRex]

(con't) "Here we are, five for them and five for HMS Eagle." But, he was seasick and kept throwing up before he could get the line out. Finally, he did it, and on their way home, Chapman, who was an M.D., suggested Cleese should have something to eat after throwing up so much. Cleese said he was in the mood for cheese, but they couldn't find a cheese shop, so Cleese wondered if a chemist's shop would have some. Chapman said, "It'd be medicinal cheese; you'd need a prescription." (con't)

[@LULUBELLEIII]

'Unidexter' HAHAHA!

[@pauldockree9915]

The trouble is - neither have ewe? Against the Right Leg Ends 😮😊

[@julielevinge266]

“A unidextor”

[@OeditpusRex]

Ah, okay. I have five or six books about Python, but that isn't one of them. That doesn't surprise me about Chapman, though. Cleese said he didn't contribute much until he was asked to comment on something. Then he might say, "Pretty good, but how about if..." I always figured Idle to be more talkative, though. Maybe it's because he was used to writing alone.

[@bobjames1992]

Ha, you're full of stories! I like that one ..... did you hear also that Graham Chapman used to crawl around on his belly at parties and bite strangers on the ankles? The other Pythons were quite sane in comparison. I think Spike, Sellers and Chapman are probably the holy trinity of loonies!

[@GuyFaux2007]

Dud the Unidexter. Hilarious.

[@caroleholland4198]

Those were the days when we actually laughed at comidy

[@OeditpusRex]

Yeah, it's not as good or as Pythonic as the 1948 Show, which had the original "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch; they re-did that for one of the Secret Policeman's Balls, too. (I have "The Secret Policeman's Private Parts," which is sort of a "best of" the first few balls.) Okay, when they were filming the "Old Lady Snoopers" bit in episode 33, in the part where the pepperpots sell cakes from a lifeboat at sea, Cleese was supposed to come up on deck through a hatch and say his only line (con't.)

[@pauldockree9915]

Best Defence cameo? Do I really have to? I have nothing against your RIGHT WING..... The trouble is neither have you.

[@pauldockree9915]

Bo. Derek and C live

[@OeditpusRex]

Palin? Not Cleese? Chapman and Cleese wrote together for the Flying Circus, as did Palin and T.J. Cleese has often said that he did 90 percent of the writing among the two of them, but the 10 percent that Chapman contributed was often what turned a bit from "funny" to "hilarious." To be fair, I *am* a certifiable Python geek. (Thus the avatar.) :)

[@ianallan8005]

Is unidexter the right word? Shouldn’t it be unipod?

[@paulcrewe3125]

I always thought these two were much funnier than Peter Sellers.

[@bomber610]

It's the right leg that's missing