Spike Milligan - Black Postman gag

[@TheSeafordian]

I knocked on Spike's door one day and his housekeeper answered to sign for the package. I then heard Spike shout " Who is it?" The housekeeper said it was a delivery, then Spike shouted "Well tell him to fuck off". I felt honoured. (The package was from Eric Sykes by the way)

[@zuluwarrior1648]

And it had a penny black stamp on it too.

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

Liar! You lie about something as basic as your real bloody name. Piss off, you fraud.

[@smedleyfarnsworth263]

@@zuluwarrior1648 Not a fourpenny dark?

[@johnferry7778]

@@zuluwarrior1648It could be true, I worked as a motorcycle despatch rider in London and used to deliver packages all over the place to all kinds of people.

[@ingridredfern5065]

🤣🤣🤣🤣👌

[@martinh5402]

Haha I've just seen this! The postman is my mentor in the gym & good friend Lincoln Webbe he is a very well educated guy who hails from Neves in the West Indies moved to London in his teens then Australia in his 20's he appears in Carry On movies also. The best trainer of all time an ex weightlifter & European Bodybuilding champion. As of 2024 he is 80 and looks and sounds the same so good!

[@ItsWhat__]

That’s very cool ….

[@nigeldocker7701]

I remember the South Coast fitness centre in Wollongong very well, Lincoln had the place filled with the old blue nautilus machines, such a great place to train!

[@martinh5402]

@@nigeldocker7701 No way Nigel, that's awesome! Yes, a great place to train especially when his daughters convinced him to play music haha! I loved his Nautilus machines, his 3rd & last gym site in Denison street is now the South Coast Blood Bank I was there to see a Haematologist recently how the world turns LOL!

[@adeosinowo3197]

I instantly recoqnized him as the Zulu that charles Hawtrey catches in the bush in carry on up the jungle! he grimaces because he was about to get busy with his bird. 😅

[@martinh5402]

​@@adeosinowo3197 haha that's awesome, I haven't seen that since I was a kid.

[@billbeare1513]

I have a Jamaican mate. His motto is. If no offence is intended. Then none is taken !.🤔🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@macpdm]

Exactly and I feel just the same

[@jannuary831]

Indeed. Racism is ok as long as it’s purely casual.

[@jonsmum5552]

bill beare There was a Jamacian man used to wander around the shopping centre where I live, he was always singing “don’t worry, be happy” I used to see him so often he would sing don’t worry and I would sing back be happy.

[@billbeare1513]

West Indians have a natural rhythm on life in general. My mate previously mentioned could grin to Olympic standards !. Teeth like a row of white tombstones !.☺️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@markcherriman6136]

Somebody with some sense .

[@63Baggies]

I love the way the actor play the postman just played it straight...pure class.

[@frompyramid5twoprojects925]

Yes because he loved doing that.

[@johnthehumanist2333]

@@frompyramid5twoprojects925 yes he had a sense of humour.🤨

[@DudeSilad]

​@@paulhenry7 was it? Quite possibly.

[@davebritton7648]

@@paulhenry7 No. Doesn't look remotely like him.

[@NudePostingConspiracyTheories]

Isn't it true! Its the straight man, that makes any gag

[@anthonyclarke5579]

They both play it for laughs...brilliantly. The punch line is made all the funnier by the postman staring directly into the camera. Two thumbs up for the pair of em.👍👍👏👏

[@stevebayfield6128]

...the "postman" was paid to be humiliated by the then current level of humour - he wasn't smiling - whoever wrote the script did not care about people....

[@AlanBrown-d8w]

@@stevebayfield6128😂

[@anthonymitchell6216]

​@@stevebayfield6128I am having a party Saturday . Do come along I'm sure you will be rollicking fun.

[@Alfred5555]

The actor of the postman volunteered, auditioned, and wanted to play that role. I wonder if youve ever seen Spike's "waiter, theres a fly in my soup" sketch? In that one Spike plays all the people getting humiliated himself.​@@stevebayfield6128

[@pgw1977]

@@stevebayfield6128I’m pretty sure the Postman wasn’t offended, as he willingly shared in the humor!

[@ozzmanzz]

When Spike first came under fire in WW2 he said it confirmed everything he’d thought about himself, that he was a craven coward but what surprised him was that he had hero feet that refused to run away. RIP Spike.

[@gavinjames1145]

Even Spike Milligan was impressed by that young man's comedic improvisation. Very good!

[@stevecarter8810]

@incogneto right. Because in character he's standing politely waiting for thank you, then he goes to leave, realizes what was said and goes into shock, all while as an actor he's holding still so the attention is on spike for the line, then putting in a lot of movement so that you're looking at him so that the double meaning of "black mail" lands properly, and then he gives you the facial expression that says "I can't believe that was the gag" and holds it for the applause. In other words, craft.

[@guitarmike1125]

As a long time fan of the Goons, I can tell you that nothing or no one was safe from Spike's humour, he treated all and sundry equally .

[@joesmoke9624]

Not even Prince Charles. Grovelling bastard lol

[@NZLatic]

This is a typical Ray Ellington style gag which Spike used almost every week in The Goon Show. Ray always played along with it and they often had the whole cast laughing as well as the audience.

[@mysteriesconspiraciesandmi5534]

I met Spike once at a charity do. I asked him to sign the Goon Show scripts for my daughters, which he did. He even wrote their names "To...from Spike Milligan. I told him one of my daughter's was named Leah. He said "That's Jewish isn't it?" I said "Yes, we are part Jewish" He looked at my crotch and said..."Which part of you is Jewish." I cracked up and the old ladies waiting behind me went bright red.

[@joesmoke9624]

@@mysteriesconspiraciesandmi5534 😂 The guy was hilarious and you are so lucky to have met him

[@guitarmike1125]

@@mysteriesconspiraciesandmi5534 How brilliant that you met the great man - and he obviously didn't disappoint

[@shamteal8614]

What makes this especially funny is the reaction of the black guy, he plays his role to perfection.

[@donaldcunningham2386]

Absolutely! Looks like he's in total shock!

[@robshearing2131]

they wouldn't like this sort of joke nowadays would they! probably because it's ''offensive'' or bloody ''racist'' pure comedu Spike Milligan

[@shamteal8614]

@@robshearing2131 In my day it would be called being oversensitive, but nowadays being of a sensitive persuasion is a virtue to aspire to.

[@loungejay8555]

@Kieran Dillon Come on, there wasn't a lot for him to do in this quick short sketch, but what he had to do he did superbly, his reaction made the sketch for me.

[@robshearing2131]

@@loungejay8555 well said, kieran must be brain dead 👍

[@steveballinger9643]

Interviewer: I hear you’re writing a book, what’s it about? Spike: it’s about 300 pages.. 😂classic Milligan

[@jjdecani]

"How long were you in the army?" "About five foot ten". He was brilliant.

[@sanchoodell6789]

Thanks for *POSTING* this.

[@alanjm1234]

Spike was funny right to the end and even beyond.Engraved on his gravestone is : "I told you I was ill!"

[@exkingjohn]

I believe his children made them write in Gaelic rather than English against his and his wife’s wishes. It may have been changed in the end.

[@Rafabenitez01]

I remember seeing the gag in the dandy or beano in the 60s . Spike obviously seen it too .

[@tomkent4656]

@@exkingjohn Because the cemetery wouldn't accept it being in English.

[@ultimatesparky1924]

There are restrictions as to what can be written on headstones. This is why it was written in Gatwick

[@ultimatesparky1924]

Bloody spellchecker Gaelic

[@stephen227]

We should be able to laugh at our differences, especially our mutual and/or differing stupidities.

[@likklej8]

The other actor is trying hard not to corpse,a small grin is appearing on his lips! Spike wrote many of The Phantom Raspberry Blower sketch’s for The Two Ronnies

[@spitharoo6750]

That'll make the snowflakes faint all over the place.

[@weaponofmassconstruction1940]

@BLOGAN BURGESS Yellow snowflakes!

[@82892869hi]

Why do people feel the need to rant about snowflakes any time offensive humour exists near them. Like without fail “if this was done today... snowflakes” It’s 2020 and people are still hung up on snowflakes, I think these people who cannot see anything without preemptively getting mad at their own imaginations are the real snowflakes.

[@christrinder1255]

😅😂🤣

[@dw2062]

@@82892869hi what an incredibly well made point. Becoming outraged by imagined outrage. Good observation.

[@jeffstone2136]

It might, but given that you'll never see them do said fainting, it is meaningless.

[@keithmccormack9182]

Postie's face is priceless

[@donaldcunningham2386]

At a time when "comedians" feel they have to swear every 30 seconds to get the audience to laugh, this is refreshing..

[@neilmccormick2064]

Jesus. So casual racism doesn't bother you, but the queen's fucking English does. Have a word with yourself. Prioritise ffs.

[@normancurragh768]

@@neilmccormick2064 FFS get over yourself, SNOWFLAKE.

[@andypaterson1639]

@@neilmccormick2064 Well said. Luckily, the reactionary onanist cultural dinosaurs are moribund 😉

[@DarrenHarrison7160]

@@neilmccormick2064 Awww bless are your feeeeewings hurty hurty.....

[@NUBBY39]

@@neilmccormick2064 So it was ok for the female black comic to say "Kill Whitey" that's funny in your opinion then, ya cry baby snowflake. Oh another thing Spike Milligan was one of the most none racist person around back then ,well before you leftist snowflake types was even born, Ill speak in your language now, So fuck off.

[@marquonuk]

This works really well as as very simple skit, with both participants playing their part to deliver the self-aware gag. Spike, like many comedy writers, just loved playing with words, word combinations, and sounds, to create a silly situation and laughter from an audience. He didn't mind what a joke or quip or sketch was like as long as it was funny. The Goon Show was probably his finest work as writer (ably aided by Eric Sykes, who wrote some of the scripts in the Spike style) and as a performer, because it's really a series of metaphysical aural comedic twists and turns that defy normal logic and physics. Perfect for radio, but impossible to stage visually (unless you used animations, perhaps, as it featured very cartoon-like logic). One very funny example of circular logic is the "What time is it, Eccles?" sketch where Eccles doesn't have a watch, but instead has the time written on a piece of paper in his pocket, and if someone asks him the time he takes it out. Bluebottle, spotting the obvious flaw in this plan, asks Eccles what happens if when someone asks, it's not the same time as what's written on the piece of paper. Eccles replies that in that case he doesn't get the piece of paper out. Wonderful. Another idea employing illogical logic is where Gryptype-Thynne suggests burning some important documents to ashes before a journey, because ashes are much lighter to carry! I'm less keen on his "Q" stuff, much of which was very experimental with the "not ending sketches but just walking off set sideways" gag very overused. It's not as funny as his earlier stuff, but by then he'd already proved himself as a writer, performer and wit, so it was less important, and it did prove to those who followed that it wasn't always necessary to end a sketch on a punchline to make it funny. :-)

[@StephenBoothUK]

Not sure about the Daz gag but the initial “This is blackmail “ one is a great example of absurdist humour.

[@JohnStanworth]

Yes. You think he meant the detergent brand?

[@martinhartecfc]

Yeah, the Daz joke might be racist I suppose. It's hard to be sure of the exact intentions behind their including it but that's the initial impression, at least for me. The blackmail one was hilarious though. He was still a genius regardless.

[@gerryb6264]

@@martinhartecfc It’s not racist, it’s a joke. To claim that’s racist diminishes the true meaning of ‘racist’ and the term means nothing serious anymore.

[@martinhartecfc]

@@gerryb6264 For my money, it depends on exactly how he meant it. It's DEFINITELY posible that it was meant in a "white is better" kind of way: ("I'll give you a tip. Daz" Why is that a "tip"? Because it gets things whiter as per their ads???) ; it's also entirely possible that you are right and it's just a joke and we shouldn't read too much into it. That's why I said "might be racist" and not "is racist. I think we'll never know now.

[@daveluck5717]

Typical derogatory term back then ,, 'Daz' as in ,, 'it will wash off' .. should have left it at 'blackmail' ... that was the core of the joke.@@gerryb6264

[@Alanpat01]

Right! Spike is now officially blacklisted. It’s a black day for all of us when a great comedian’s name is blackened like this.

[@llan64]

Spike Milligan was a devoted socialist and so was Warren Michelle. They both brought up these sensitive topics in their roles, to mock the establishment and prejudices at that particular time. They were actually making fun of society and I loved them for it ..

[@deanpd3402]

"devoted socialist"...no wonder he had so many mental health issues.

[@primalconvoy]

If true then good for him!

[@postscript67]

Spike Milligan appeared on the Billy Cotton Band Show just after one of the Cassius Clay/ Sonny Liston fights. He was holding one of those small rubber rings that are given to dogs to play with. He said after Liston punched Clay, the latter bent down and picked it up, saying (at this point Milligan held the ring on front of his mouth, squeezing it together and working it like a pair of lips) "Don't you do dat again!"

[@waynepinnock5874]

A true East India Company man wasn't he?The side of Milligan I deplored. Where would the world be had we continued in the all brown skinned people are auxiliary and thereby risible philosophy.

[@vespadavidson2315]

@@waynepinnock5874Ssshhhhh! It's a joke. You Woke🤡.

[@clouddog2393]

@@waynepinnock5874 Lighten up . No offence was intended . Just a joke . You've heard of them have'nt you ?

[@waynepinnock5874]

I'm not gonna dignify a reply so riddled with tropes, with a response.

[@kevinshanahan6064]

Love Thy Neighbour worked as the lead characters Jack Smethurst and Rudolph Walker were friends and Jack made sure everything line of the script in the read through portrayed his character as daft/foolish and that Rudolph always came out on top.

[@frompyramid5twoprojects925]

Right is that why most black children around that time were called Nig nogs at school, because all I remember from school is hearing the racist words From Love by neighbour

[@paulgilson2347]

Perfect play on words joke. Classic Spike.

[@OggyGTA]

Except for the "Daz" referenence, which was (no denying it) racist. Different times, I know.

[@marleypumpkin4917]

I haven’t seen Spike in many many years until this popped up. I remember Q, in fact I have the book!

[@christopherlawley1842]

You are lucky. I only have the letter. And it isn't signed

[@illaveyoubutler3588]

The Q series is out now on dvd.... the episodes that remain

[@Slashkamr]

@@christopherlawley1842 I have the next letter... 'R'

[@christopherlawley1842]

@@Slashkamr This is a code isn't it?

[@freespeechoneeach]

reading his memoirs and biographies all spike wanted was to laugh with all the world.

[@aarthoor]

I'm fairly positive that wouldn't make the edit these days.

[@stevebayfield6128]

...you're right....I think humanity has just moved on a couple of notches.....

[@ericwinnert]

Spike's delivery is spot on.

[@jeremybanks9007]

I went to a comedy festival not long ago and every comedian was gay or lesbian but not funny whats happened to society?

[@brettwilkinson9529]

They lost their imagination and real life experience.Technology has killed the young generations.

[@Shagyamum]

Snowflakes happened

[@jahno7154]

@Chris Collins There just copying what white comedians did in the 70s.

[@namelesscynic1616]

Humour has been hijacked by left wing activists disguised as comedians

[@peternoble3691]

Maybe LGBTQ comedy festivals just aren’t your thing after all

[@flipper2392]

When comedy was funny.

[@markthompson1819]

Only if you have a brain tge size of a sparrow's.

[@profesitter-rohl4159]

@@markthompson1819 With that comment you are in no position to judge what is and isn't funny

[@markthompson1819]

@@profesitter-rohl4159 having just scrolled through the incredibly dated shite on your page I don't think you're in a position to criticise. This is the 21st century you pillock, see if you can get your moribund brain around Stewart Lee.

[@profesitter-rohl4159]

@Joe Public What witty repartee

[@profesitter-rohl4159]

@@markthompson1819 Ive watched Stewart lee many times and enjoy him. Sorry if that doesn't fit your narrative. Now go toddle off.

[@donaldcunningham2386]

If you want pure, non-swearword, intelligent fun, try also Tony Hancock.

[@kezkezooie8595]

Don't forget Dave Allen too. A very funny man.

[@paddyk3079]

@@kezkezooie8595Best comedian ever

[@geoffpoole483]

Steptoe and Son is very good too although the language is cruder at times. Both written by Galton and Simpson.

[@guitarmike1125]

Agreed, my favourite radio show is "The boring Sunday"

[@kezkezooie8595]

@SlotGrinder This is true, although I was thinking more of his TV show Dave Allen At Large in the 70s, which may have had the occasional "bloody" in it but that was about it.

[@johnlewis3358]

Brilliant! :)

[@thepharcyde5239]

Black postmen mattered!

[@loddude5706]

@ - wow, that must have taken both of your brain cells, well done!

[@johnconner7394]

It's called sending you up I laughed at the joke very funny

[@Shagyamum]

@Alexander 😂😂😂😂😂

[@The58stupot]

Ah yes, I remember now, those days when we were allowed to have a sense of humour. God bless Spike.

[@DaveInBridport]

Oh jesus h, that old tried and tested comment. Comedy is more diverse now than it ever was.

[@Straightshooterx71x]

Touchy subject for a lot of people.

[@chitekwe]

@@DaveInBridport He/She obviously hasn't viewed Sacha Baron Cohen.

[@CastlesForEyes]

@@DaveInBridport funny’s still funny though

[@DaveInBridport]

@Andrew Balletto boring.....

[@misst.e.a.187]

Black people laughed at this back in the day, because it was funny

[@fmartin1811]

Lots and lots of funny parts with an appeal to all. We all laughed at these but cringed at the occasional few skits, that really haven't aged well. A number of sketches would rightly cause offence these days. Portraying ethnic minority citizens as backward and less intelligent also doesn't work anymore - we live in a world crammed full of brilliant black, asian and non Anglo Saxon scientists, billionaires, politicians and academics.

[@feckerse]

I laughed today as it is still funny.

[@samosa_boy9594]

Its not funny. The pun is weak, and the Daz reference is offensive. Spike has been better than this.

[@tonybates7870]

@@samosa_boy9594 Agreed. 'Daz' obviously means 'clean that blackness off your body with washing powder' and it's definitely racist. This "wasn't it great when we could take the piss out of black people with impunity" attitude disgusts me. Things are far better now and this wasn't even funny.

[@anthonywhelan5419]

Spike was English but of Irish heritage. He poked a lot of fun at the Irish, even on Irish television. His Dubliner/macaw joke is funny and had the Irish audience in hysterics. His skit on the Irish space program and Irish astronauts could only be done about the Irish because we are the only race that wouldn't be upset about it.

[@redcelt3113]

How can he have been English, when English isn't a nationality? If he had any connection to these islands, he could be called British. Not English.

[@anthonywhelan5419]

@@redcelt3113Most Irish don't consider themselves British. Many Scots and Welsh don't consider themselves British. Your British argument is just an imperial, pompous piece of shite. Britain hasn't had it's empire since WW2.

[@Thecrazyvaclav]

Anthony Whelan actually spike was Indian, born there so technically Indian

[@redcelt3113]

@@anthonywhelan5419 It isn't "imperialism" to point out that Spike wasn't born on these islands, so could hardly have magically been assigned as an Englishman, when (if he wanted to choose... and he didn't, he favoured his Irish ancestry) he'd be called British... not English. As for the British Empire comment, allow me to award you the "No Shit Sherlock" prize for stating the fucking obvious.

[@smedleyfarnsworth263]

@@redcelt3113 Not that well versed in geography are you?

[@funjuror]

Its a funny joke. A play on words, that is what jokes are.

[@gerryburns9090]

if it is funny then have a laugh , too many people take offence at almost everything!

[@stevenclubbeer9831]

I know. Bloody people writing to Ofcom because of a dance routine or a bracelet. It's ridiculous.

[@JamesAlexander14]

Steven Clubbeer I’d complain because it’s just crap tv. When I pay a licence fee I really do not want that shite rammed down my throat!

[@MELLYBOY58]

(Choose) ✌✌🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@stevenclubbeer9831]

@@JamesAlexander14 you pay a licence fee to ITV? Have you been keeping up on your fish licence too?

[@jonathonlivingstonelemming1024]

"take offence". You got that right. Offence cannot be given, only taken.

[@jamesbarr5170]

Thanks for that. Makes sense now.

[@vipertwenty249]

We live in a better world now. I would go so far as to suggest Spike Milligan was one of the people whose contribution helped make it so. I'm thinking of his war books and how they helped me understand what my own father went through (very similar to Spike in both where they went and what happened to them) and how it must not happen again. Spike was a good man who never meant harm to anyone.

[@geoffpoole483]

Milligan's comedy could be very erratic. His war books are probably his best work.

[@john.highheels.3244]

We certainly don't live in a better country that's for sure; back then it was but not now our country has gone to the dogs.

[@vipertwenty249]

@@john.highheels.3244 That's a matter of personal perspective. I'm a child of the late 1950's and grew up during the '60's. Even from that recent perspective life is better now.

[@john.highheels.3244]

@@vipertwenty249 At least back then our country didn't look like a foreign unrecognisable one.

[@vipertwenty249]

@@john.highheels.3244 That's our fault for not better encouraging cultural integration. I don't give a stuff what colour a person's skin is but like many including you I think, I do object to immigrants refusing to adapt to a completely different culture they're moving into. If they don't like it they should not come.

[@ivanrainbird2416]

Spike is a comic genius without doubt

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

I saw a fascinating interview with Spike a few years before he died. He was referring to black people using the ‘n’ word. The interviewer said “you can’t say that, surely?” Milligan replied “why not?” The interviewer replied “but it’s racist isn’t it?” Milligan replied “But I think it’s a funny word. It makes me laugh” The interviewer responded with “but aren’t you worried it may offend or upset someone?” And Spike said this “listen, if I got upset every time someone called me a silly bastard I’d be getting into a fight a day”. That’s food for thought.

[@andypaterson1639]

Keep telling us about Milligan NOT being a racist. It's funnier than he was.

[@richard.featherstone]

A comedian getting a negative reaction because people don't think he's funny is not the same as someone receiving the same reaction based upon an immutable characteristic.

[@GrilloTheFlightless]

Richard Featherstone I don’t think he was commenting on people who don’t find him funny, but more the fact that people insult him on a daily basis and it’s not worth getting upset about. It’s a point of view.

[@mrlesta]

Shows how ignorant he was

[@TheComputec]

@John Wheeler I never found him particularly funny TBH

[@davesmith2262]

If only we could go back 😪

[@FromtheHerts81]

It’s all in the delivery. 🤣🤣🤣

[@SirAntoniousBlock]

Bah-Dum-Tish.

[@TheWESTSIDE1967]

Back in the day when the world had a sense of humour,

[@clouddog2393]

Hear , Hear . This would be cancelled as soon as it was written these days .

[@alanfaulkner6329]

Daz! Brilliant.

[@johnclayden1670]

Missed by many a think ...

[@TheComputec]

If you can explain how this is funny or brilliant then I would be amazed... telling a black man he can wash himself white using daz? it wasn't funny then, and it hasn't aged well

[@garethtomkins5797]

Brilliant.oh for the time when we could laugh like this without everyone being offended over nothing.......

[@valeriewhite9224]

I think this is really funny and my neighbour who is black thinks it's really funny too.

[@djhillfinger]

And your white?

[@ostrichman]

Is your neighbour Pauline Black?

[@cliffbennett1658]

As you can see I am a black man and I can honestly say that I also find it amusing. I'm not in the least offended.

[@pappy9892]

condescending

[@dhalsim-1]

Glorious days when people could take the pizz out of each other, have a laugh and not get hysterical.

[@ingridredfern5065]

And yes this is humour.Brilliant 👌

[@jamesbarr5170]

What does Spike say at the end? Sounds like `Des` but I don`t get that??

[@kills26]

Daz, it used to be a washing powder.

[@kezkezooie8595]

While there are people in the comment section using this as an excuse to whinge about how they can't use certain insulting epiphets, I don't think this joke was meant in that way and had no derision or cruelty to it. I see this as no more offensive than if he'd made a situational pun joke with the word ginger or red in it to someone with red hair or the like. If he'd used a derogatory word then that would have been a different matter but I just didn't see this joke in that light. I loved the deadpan, "that was a terrible pun" reaction of the bloke playing the postman too. The joke in no way diminished the man playing the postman nor anyone else. I think it would also very much depend on who told a joke like that and, knowing Spike's style (extremely silly, at times quite mental, with no cruelty or malice ever meant and always off the wall) and attitudes, I know that he meant it with no racist undertones.

[@highdownmartin]

Err. Daz?

[@kezkezooie8595]

@@highdownmartin Sorry, what do you mean by Daz?

[@highdownmartin]

kez kezooie daz. The second punchline. Washing powder. Washes whiter than white I seem to remember the slogan saying. “Blackmail “isn’t that strong a joke ,with a big visual set up. Daz and the implications are probably suitable to leave back in 1967 or whenever this was shot. Milligan was a real comic genius, but curry and chips was shit.

[@highdownmartin]

B

[@kezkezooie8595]

@@highdownmartin Thanks for pointing that out to me as I'm not a Brit (I'm Australian) and, never having heard of Daz, I didn't pick up on that at all. To be honest, I did hear him say it but thought it was an aside to someone called Daz who was off stage.

[@patterdalezipsuzilil]

Never seen a black postman in my life

[@diamonddog4708]

Me neither 😆 why?

[@alanwilson1452]

Classic British comedy at its best lol 😁😁😁🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@fayyadh92]

I just thought of the word, thinking has people done this... And was not disappointed. Haha

[@jimgoodwin6294]

When we had a sense of humour - not the lifeless, leftwing bollox we have to endure now......

[@primalconvoy]

I think it's rather good.

[@Grahamgusbull]

Those were the days👍

[@chrissmart21]

You can't beat the classics. From a time when everyone could laugh at themselves.

[@stevelafferty4574]

You mean laugh at others

[@chrissmart21]

Steve Lafferty grow up

[@Splatdo]

Love it. Libs having heart attacks at that 🤣

[@christrinder1255]

Anyone else think Alf Garnett was funny too! What people so often fail to get is it’s the bigots that are the ones we all laughed at, and they were always put down by the others!!!

[@shauncummings2361]

As a gay black Jew, with Irish roots, I’m used to a few jibes. Times change along with humour and everything else- we’re getting better at getting along and in general we’re more tolerant.

[@stevecarter8810]

If they hadn't made Twitter and Facebook, we'd be in a paradise of tolerance by now

[@mashbury]

Now THAT wouldn’t be made these days .. Much of what Spike did would be considered racist these days ... but still funny .. so screw them ..

[@encoreunefois1X]

Who's "them"?

[@spikeybaby1735]

@@encoreunefois1X I think he's talking about the 'PC' brigade

[@encoreunefois1X]

@@spikeybaby1735 I see.

[@mashbury]

@@spikeybaby1735 yes

[@leebates7404]

How rude

[@Ghhyuttgg]

The black mail bit I suppose is not awful, but the bit about Daz is terrible

[@jeepsthetimebandit]

There's always one..

[@michaelsandford1015]

if you are feeling low down and looking for romance leap into a dustbin a dance

[@sanchoodell6789]

What a load of rubbish! I refuse to take that advice if I can! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha h.. h... ? ? ? !!

[@pauldevlin9111]

“I must go down to the shore again The lonely sea and the sky I left my vest and socks there I wonder if they’re dry” Or something like that - it’s been a long time 😂

[@leakoe3797]

Utterly BRILLIANT We need gags like this..& alot more.

[@nickj3368]

Innocent, love it.

[@hughjarrse]

" Innocent, love it." How the fuck is "Here's a tip try Daz" innocent?

[@chazmccord2523]

@@hughjarrse Because he's talking about the letter and not what you think.

[@hughjarrse]

@@chazmccord2523 Rubbish he says "try Daz" you know DAZ for whiter whites

[@chazmccord2523]

@@hughjarrse He's talking about BLACK-MAIL, My God you uptight, anal people see racism in everything, it's no wonder the world is in the state its in.

[@patriciahopewell5291]

@@hughjarrse so what? Misery.....

[@DOMSKYTRANCE]

What a gag ha ha. Imagine this being said now. What a world we are in

[@ostrichman]

You don't need to imagine it man, just watch the video again.

[@robsin2810]

A time when we had real comedy.

[@JohnSmith-ii9ci]

absolutely class

[@caeserromero3013]

Posted with a Penny Black 🤣

[@radioforeplay4492]

This is an interesting debate and a healthy one. Debate is necessary in dealing with our prejudices and perceptions of what is and is not acceptable. A difference of opinion is healthy in democracy and we have the freedom to be...or not to be offended. This joke can be seen as offensive or not offensive. Someone made the brilliant comment on here that “offence is often taken, even when it’s not given.” Since I’m not black, I cannot take direct offence to this but equally, as a comedy writer, I see this in the context of the time and place when it was written, by a man raised in India, who served in Africa, and had a deep knowledge of culture. This gag/joke has a silliness and a lightness that is worlds away from the hate-racism of the klu klux klan - and I think we can all agree that is the kind of hate that we need to collectively stamp out. I’ve read a lot of comments on here by black people NOT OFFENDED and by white people who ARE... this is what I term ‘offence-by-proxy’, taking offence on behalf of others when you really don’t need to. Censorship is its own form of Fascism and will make moderate bigots out and out racists because they will feel their free speech is being pushed into a corner and embolden the existing ones. People have to be free to make jokes and equally to be offended or not by them. This is the beauty of personal freedom. I’ve written a dystopian audio drama about this very thing.... if you’re interested let me know or check out some of my comedy on my page. “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery”. Bob Marley

[@vjab1108]

I rather have them days when the Marxist were not in Charge.

[@stevenclubbeer9831]

Boris Johnson / Donald Trump are Marxist? Blimey, one of us doesn't understand Marxism.

[@neilmccormick2064]

Spike was a lifelong socialist Labour voter Einstein. He'd be appalled at the overtly racist nature of that joke if he were alive today and in all likelihood apologise for it. You obviously know nothing about the type of man he was.

[@neilmccormick2064]

Harold Wilson was in charge of what you'd call a hard left socialist government at the time this was first shown on telly you dullard.

[@loddude5706]

Groucho?

[@beds139]

Fuck me Boris is a Marxist!!!!!!???????

[@turnitaround7344]

Class

[@leximusmaximus4593]

Dave Chappelle did a sketch with a black milkman, similar situation and the snowflakes were outraged and in uproar, until it was pointed out that the black milkman was Chappelle himself then they were happy with that. These are the double standards folks.

[@hedgehog1965uk]

And I bet most of the "snowflakes" were white, being offended on behalf of black people. Just virtue signalling to try and show how NOT racist they are.

[@johnrawlins6147]

Fantastic

[@nationalistyorkshireman3986]

Back when you could make a joke without everyone getting triggered

[@sztewe]

Ohh yes!

[@pippanicholas5003]

absolutely

[@eddiegraham485]

The good old days when it was ok to be racist in the UK

[@davidsomerset]

Idiotic statement. The first joke ('black mail') was ok, as it was merely a visual and word connection. The second implied the postman needed a wash, which was simply insulting, belittling, and ignorant. There IS a difference. Imagine being a black person watching that, and then having others laughing at your skin colour. Lovely, eh?

[@pastorflaps6819]

@@davidsomerset o God you sound like a right dull arse I bet you see evil all over the place you're a little bit of a snowflake

[@alexadey3413]

Priceless and where do we stand?

[@cloudfactory2000]

Hilarious. We need more of this type of comedy nowadays.

[@Shagyamum]

Snowflakes wouldn't allow it

[@MichaelKingsfordGray]

Then make some! Or are you bereft of humour?

[@Cozycountry1]

If you think using somebody's skin colour as "humour" is acceptable it says a lot about who you are. This is neither funny or clever, but a white comedian who back then thought they could say anything and damn racism or other's feelings, so long as it caused laughter. Comedy can make light of things, but continuing prejudice should NOT be one of them.

[@donaldcunningham2386]

The blinkered holier-than-thou woke mob won't let you enjoy it. Britain's got to change. And cheer up.

[@alangould1465]

​@@Cozycountry1Jesus,what a misery you are🤪😱😫

[@tbrowniscool]

RIP to this video surviving another 5 years

[@kingbeef5076]

Postman is thinking “Just say the line and take the money”.

[@frankduffy2413]

Brilliant 👍

[@TheTony70504]

Nowt wrong with that a time when we could laugh at ourselves and banter..

[@donaldcunningham2386]

Totally agree, mate..

[@cheeseskreist5654]

Im a brown Man. I love this humour because we can give it back...

[@SuperMikado282]

Exactly

[@probablynotmyname8521]

The postman does a good straightman.

[@stevebayfield6128]

...if you pay someone enough money, they will confess to being guilty....

[@SaltySeaQueen-nn8wm]

Loved Spike..😆😆😆

[@paulfallon7038]

Where's that bird with the gigantic melons???

[@TheTony70504]

Your eyes must be better then min e lol, I didnt see her🤣🤣🤣

[@donaldcunningham2386]

I beg your pardon..??!!

[@CIMAmotor]

I know who you mean, she was in Python sometimes as well.

[@thewomble1509]

@@CIMAmotor Julia Breck.

[@Behwyelzebub]

Paul Fallon. Have you seen the sketch called, The Met Police Caught With Their Trousers down Again. I think you might like it.

[@davejenvey3598]

I laughed my ass off.

[@jeffmcmahon3278]

Reminds me of an 'interview' by Shaun Micallef with a rep from Dept of Multicultural Affairs - Q: So I can't make jokes based on race? A: No. Q: What about ethnicity? A: No. Q: What about religion? A: No. Q: Based on creed? A: No. What about gender? A: No. Retort: But what if they're funny?

[@1961boogie]

It's just a bit of fun, anyone who thinks otherwise is a sad sad person

[@heathstjohn6775]

An old joke, but it was nice to see smartly-dressed people. Especially a Postman before the time when one tatooed calf, above plimsoles, and beneath his Son's shorts, (having left his unwashed, battered old van half-on, and half-off a yellow-lined kerbside), didn't represent 'Her Majesty's Royal Mail'; as long as they are wearing a light blue, shortsleeved shirt. I suppose Milligan could make a joke of that, too. He didn't, so I shall: in this second Elizabethan Age, make that 'Her Majesty's Royal Female'.

[@sallynolan4980]

I agree - and I'm a postie.

[@heathstjohn6775]

@@sallynolan4980 Hello. Thanks for taking the remarks in a good spirit, and for your interest. I stand by them. I long to see the return of the Ladybirdbook image of the Postman, and expect to remain disappointed. I've worked outside, in hot conditions, and know how uncomfortable it can be. Having done do, it's increased my sympathies. It's just that things have gone far too far. Thanks again, for your good humour. (All the rubber bands deliberately dropped on the path and driveway I post back in the Postbox).

[@TheBotleyBoy]

Light blue? Their uniform's red!

[@heathstjohn6775]

@@TheBotleyBoy Interesting. That's another thing here that they don't wear, then. The only clothing they don that's not recognisably beach wear, around here, is a light blue shirt. Casuality, anyway, is so affected, such a pose. There's something so laughably unmanly about the pretended slipshodyness of dress; it's just a new uniform, by people trying desperately to give the impression that they're devil-may-care; casuality is the new formality. If they really were so at ease with the world, so relaxed, then they, others, most too, shouldn't be so desperate as to hump a sack of papers around, in the rain. The very occupation, sometimes, exposes the falsity of it all. There's a Victorian painting of two street children, I think they're shown as huddled on a street bench : ragamuffins; they've holes in their leggings; it was meant to evoke pity in the Viewer; they had, even then, the children, I mean, the sense not to exchange a halfpenny for them, had they had one. To-day's University students, mothers, sons, they all know 'better'. Put an extra hole of your own next to an existing one, and they'd cry all the way to the next place selling rags. Thanks for your interest, and time.

[@TheBotleyBoy]

@@heathstjohn6775 You're among the last generation raised to be true gentlemen. When you're gone the planet will be left with just us self-entitled, instant gratification, social media approval seeking lot. On the plus side, we'll share lots of cool pictures and videos of the end times taken with our phones. Stay safe and all the best.

[@13c11a]

What did Spike say as the tip? I can't understand him. Thanks.

[@tanja8907]

Well they're painting the post boxes black now

[@THEJR-of5tf]

Tanja. They're selling postcards of the hanging, they're painting the passports brown, the beauty parlour is filled with sailors, the circus is in town. Bob Dylan Desolation Row. Circa 1964/5

[@patmccaffery1543]

The good old days when we could laugh at ourselves..!!

[@snowyowel7961]

Now we are not allowed our British sense of humour which I believe is known for being the best in the world, 😂

[@blastfromthepast-o1d]

Fantastic. The good old days.

[@ellisgarner6496]

Ah yeah them were the days , when you could be openly racist. Well lucky for you , thanks to Farage and his like you can have another go at it.

[@x-wingflyboy8177]

Spike was and is still, a fecking genius.

[@VeeBee23085]

Too funny 😂❤

[@llewellynwilliams1956]

love the bbc show that clip ha ha

[@lynne3124]

Got more chance of Boris being ashamed

[@exelchannel8806]

BBC...

[@ericmilligan3]

Gone but never forgotten. 👍👍👍❤️

[@seeingthepattern]

Goon, but not forgotten

[@janreznak881]

It’s all funny until you look around London 2024…

[@kills26]

It's not funny it's racist and if you look around the capital cities of most western cities you will see a similar picture. Conservative right leaning governments taking in cheap foreign labour and forcing prices up and the locals out. Can't blame people for wanting a better life. Can blame the tory scum who create the situations and then moan as if their not wining getting exactly what their masters wanted.. I hate the political right, they destroy then blame and repeat. One day the masses will wake up and the people will learn how to actually hold politicians to account, not just joining popularist twa* movements that do sweet fa. Totally include those who are here and tell the rest to go **** off.