That Mitchell and Webb Look - Who is the captain ?

Some clips from Mitchell and Webb

[@markgearing]

Here in Australia we’ve got a state to the west called Western Australia, a state to the south called South Australia, a territory up north called Northern Territory, a state named for the queen called Queensland, another state named for the same queen called Victoria, a territory where we keep the Australian capital called the Australian Capital Territory, a bit off the bottom nobody remembers, and New South Wales. Really, NSW is the closest to imaginative that we’ve managed to come in terms of naming things.

[@chadmcqueen2456]

who is this "we've" you speak of?

[@kirklenagh3095]

Come on we have the Great Barrier Reef and The Great Australian Bight and The Great Sandy Desert as well as The Great Artesian Basin and The Great Dividing Range. Imagination abounds in our Great Southern Land.

[@derekmills5394]

Mr. Tasman is miffed that you forgot the bit he named after himself and to hell with the Monarchy!

[@patrickhector]

The thing that really annoys me is we have the north*ern* territory, west*ern* australia, and south... australia. Wtf, why is it not named southern australia??

[@kevinchappell3694]

I personally think that "Kangarooland" would fit the bill. For that matter Canada could be called "Beaverland".

[@stoprainingonme]

"If these are the indies... and incidentally that's something else I'd like to talk to you about at some point..." lol

[@hendrickx88]

I love how the New South Wales one has the Dover Cliffs in the background

[@kevg3320]

Don't you mean the white cliffs of Cardiff?

[@whophd]

They did pretty damn well, with the colour grading and fake plant placement, I have to say. As a NSWelshman it was amazing how far they could stretch a British beach.

[@eskimofireman]

@@kevg3320 we have a Cardiff in NSW too.

[@Lightw81]

Seven sisters.

[@markgearing]

What, you’ve never heard of the Sydney Harbour Cliffs?

[@cdname47]

Surprised they didn't do Newfoundland "It won't be new forever.....!"

[@ProjectRedfoot]

That's a good one lol

[@liquidsonly]

@Anastasia Seriously are you five?

[@philipleworthy7871]

@Ann, I fully understand where you are coming from, as they say "it's only easy if you already know it". But don't go assuming America knows squat about geography, they couldn't point out Greece on a map. Or A great many other countries.

[@philipleworthy7871]

@Ann, very true, but Americans only give a shit about themselves, so even Newfoundland is a bit of a stretch for them.

[@someguy3766]

@Ann I hate to dogpile but Newfoundland isn't part of America, it's in Canada.

[@marna_li]

"Greenland" deserves its own sketch since it was named so just to get people to move there. "Iceland" was named so to deter settlers to come. They are both very clever marketing schemes haha

[@ModeratelyAmused]

Half correct. Greenland definitely comes from Erik the Red trying to attract more settlers to join him. Iceland has many origin stories. Much more probable than trying to keep people away. It's not like Vikings were afraid of "visitors."

[@gordonlekfors2708]

in the case of Greenland, yes, possibly. Iceland on the other hand, no. that's a factoid.

[@anderspedersen7488]

I’m a captain and I think I have just found my new style of management - “Tell it to the hat”

[@11Kralle]

I shudder to think of your old style of management ;)

[@anderspedersen7488]

@@11Kralle “Whip and revolver”;-)

[@squick1842]

@@anderspedersen7488 "Who has the captains hat?"

[@anderspedersen7488]

@@squick1842 "You do"

[@DR-mq1vn]

I'm American and have just discovered today Mitchell and Webb! I love these guys!

[@LuizAlexPhoenix]

Lucky bastard, you get to watch it all afresh!

[@0ldFrittenfett]

you lucky bastard! I've been through all of their shows already twice. I recommend "Snooker Commentary".

[@esquilax5563]

Watch their sitcom Peep Show, it's one of the funniest comedies in decades!

[@memybikeni9931]

Essentially we are all like this. Most of us Brits just act like this all the time 🤣🤣🤣

[@grumpyoldman3458]

Virginia could be worse; he could have called it Maidenhead.

[@blatherskite3009]

Yep. They basically called a town Hymen. I guess the founding fathers were saying the place was extremely temporary ... or that, like so many things, it would only take one dick to ruin it.

[@bobrobertson394]

It would probably be New Maidenhead as there’s one in the uk already

[@grumpyoldman3458]

@@bobrobertson394 Good point.

[@lot24]

Leave it to David Mitchell to make "Welcome to Virginia" sound bad-ass!

[@jeremiahmuth9732]

Virginia is actually named after the fact that when it was discovered, it was a "virgin" land, which actually resulted in a similar problem to naming Newfoundland "Newfound land"

[@MrMasterCGO]

@@jeremiahmuth9732 That's not true at all.

[@jeremiahmuth9732]

@@MrMasterCGO You are correct

[@Bacopa68]

@@jeremiahmuth9732 Nope. Ask any kid from Virginia where the name came from and they will know it came from the "virgin queen" informal title of Elizabeth I. Kinda wild then that the tourism slogan of Virginia tourism has been "Virginia is for Lovers" for the last fifty years.

[@BBrecht]

@@jeremiahmuth9732 Wait, you're telling me none of these are accurate!?

[@b8nnytez]

being from South Wales, I'm looking forward to the challenge of meeting my first kangaroo

[@DieFlabbergast]

Welsh kangaroos are very secretive: there's probably one behind you right now, but when you turn round, it'll be gone!

[@lazarus9165]

Good luck, you'll need it

[@kampkrustysmrblack]

If it's happened in the past 7 years I hope you survived it - if it hasn't happened yet then just remember not to look it in the eyes because it'll getcha

[@glengraham7080]

What, you never saw the Attenborough documentary about the elusive Welsh cangarŵ ?

[@MrRelaxedanderson]

There were Kangaroos in South Wales but the Merthyr boys nicked them all and set them on fire up the Bogey Road.

[@Nullifidian]

"What, the vast terra incognita with flora and fauna hitherto undreamt of by science puts you in mind of nothing so much as Rhyl?" - I had to pause the video here because I was laughing too hard to hear any of the subsequent dialogue.

[@tedsmith6137]

Sure looks like New South Wales to me, too. Except our beautiful white beaches tend to a lot more horizontal than the rather upright ones in the background! LOL

[@DanGolag]

Middle management in a nutshell.

[@tomlxyz]

Is there still middle management nowadays

[@glengraham7080]

@@tomlxyz Yes, indeed there is. The workers may get made redundant, but there is always middle management. They are forever with the human race ....like tapeworms and hemorrhoids.

[@squick1842]

Looks lite top management in a nutshell also

[@buxxi90]

@@glengraham7080 as middle management, I concur.

[@richorichards4655]

Ah yes! The famously beautiful, white cliffs of Bondi

[@Ferdinand314]

There are so many great M&W sketches, but these might be the most original! I've never seen any other comedians tackle this subject before. And, the music is perfect.

[@LambyMcChop]

That was great, it was a slow giggle all the way through and a big laugh at the "Greenland?" at the end.

[@rhysepoos]

I do this to my brother when we have arguments in the car: 'Sorry, who's driving?'

[@8Rincewind]

2:20 "What news Number One?" "Borg ship incoming captain."

[@janesmith699]

Borg: Resistance is futile Captain: do u see this hat?

[@janesmith699]

@Bora George Well, smoke me a kipper! That makes sense. Jean Luc didn't even have hair.

[@DrZaius3141]

Fun fact: Greenland has it's name simply due to branding. The explorer who found it wanted it to seem like a nice place to live.

[@michaellavery4899]

I heard the Vikings deliberately named Greenland and Iceland the wrong way round to thwart invaders. Think it was on QI. Not saying that's gospel. Just what I heard.

[@damienjoseph7540]

All sounds like English bullshit and the people there didn't speak English or Spanish or Italian or Indian and so probably didn't give their land English names

[@jannerantanen5121]

@@damienjoseph7540 ....they didn't, they gave their places names in their native language, that were then translated similarly into other languages, thus for example in English, Greenland is Greenland. Is this not obvious to you?

[@weckar]

I like how all of these are technically accurate.

[@BulletMagnetOWI]

@Poultron In truth, it is unknown whether it was meant to be the new south Wales or the new Wales of the South, or if the fellow was simply in the grips of the Ocean Madness.

[@gamesbok]

@wratched What Columbus believed and what he said he believed were probably two different things. When Eristosthenes proved the world was round, he also calculated the radius. The University of Salamanca who opposed him knew how far China was, and knew he wasn't going to make it. Columbus had met a Portugese who had been to Dominica before, he knew a lot, but the politics and finances were complicated.

[@OrganDanai]

Eratosthenes.

[@Cujoh]

"GREENLAND" "Whatever" Thats so funny

[@tonybates7870]

"Does this mean you're gonna name it what I think you're gonna name it?" Hee hee . . .

[@mushthehill]

That ending was BRILLIANT.

[@simonatford1]

Despite what George Gershwin would have us believe Columbus did not need to prove that world was round....

[@esquilax5563]

@Marshall Carwood nobody laughed at him for that. He did, however, seriously underestimate the size of the Earth. Many educated people knew he was getting it wrong, which is why he found it so hard to get funding for his voyage

[@scottwallace5239]

@Marshall Carwood people knew the world was round in Columbus's day, the Greeks had discovered and proved that over a thousand years before Columbus and everyone knew the world was round

[@scottwallace5239]

@Marshall Carwood Columbus got laughed at because he thought japan was closer than it was and that the world was a lot smaller than it actually was

[@Simqer]

Surprisingly accurate xD

[@slinkerdeer]

2:36 The way he says * "Wales" * 😂

[@beeble2003]

0:28 "I thought the whole point is that we were proving the world is a globe." Popular misconception. At that time, "everybody" knew the world was a globe, and had done for a couple of thousand years. There was, however, some question about _how big_ the globe was. Columbus had asked several monarchs for money in the decade before his 1492 voyage and all of them turned him down because their experts thought that Columbus was significantly underestimating the distance to the Indies -- and they were correct, as we now know.

[@Gynra]

The ancient Greeks knew how big the earth was to within a few percent. Tragically, we have some people even now who refuse to accept the earth is a globe.

[@giggidygoo17]

greenland? WHATEVER!

[@lindahl458]

stedz bk it was a marketing strategy by the guy who found it to make more people want to move there so he wouldn’t be the only one. (Because if I remember correctly he was banned from Norway )

[@colinp2238]

@@lindahl458 Was that Erik the Red?

[@lindahl458]

colin Paterson i think it was hos son Leif Eriksson

[@colinp2238]

@@lindahl458 I think Leif was the one that sailed to Canada.

[@WiseAilbhean]

So good to watch when you need a laugh.

[@fsoto1969]

Thanks a bunch mate!! That was fast, and helpful!

[@HRHshirley]

It's not green, per se, but it was supportive of agriculture several centuries ago. Farming, crops.

[@GBart]

It's a compounding problem, too. Indiana is named after Native Americans, who were called Indians because Columbus thought he was in the "West" Indies.

[@WretchedNZ]

Does that mean someone from Indiana is an Indianaian?

[@WretchedNZ]

@Zero 01 That's not what I call them

[@thomascoppens8498]

He didn't think he was in India, he thought he found new islands off the japanese east coast. People those days thought asia was much bigger than it was. Also the word 'indian' doesn't come from the same origin of india but it's from the word for indeginous in spanish/italian.

[@scipioafricanus5871]

@Xero 01 because that makes perfect sense.

[@miguelangelsucrelares5009]

@@thomascoppens8498 Not quite in Spanish, it isn't. Using the word "indio(a)" in this context, although fairly common, is considered uneducated/low register. It is colloquially accepted, but widely considered etymologically incorrect. Children are specifically taught that this use of "indio(a)" comes from Colombus' confusion as to where he had arrived, and are advised to use "indígenas" instead.

[@lewis0705]

i like to think theyre not playing different characters, theyre just immortal explorers who are thousands of years old

[@trevorparker8686]

So true. Cheers

[@wratched]

The argument Columbus had with the authorities wasn't about whether Earth was round (everyone knew that), but about whether the Ocean Sea could be crossed. The circumference of the Earth had been known since ancient times, and anyone looking at a map of the world without America on it would conclude that the ocean separating Europe from the Indies was vast beyond navigation. Columbus believed Earth was 1/4 its true size. Luckily he was also wrong about America or his crew would have starved.

[@81Mace81]

I love that the resolution is so bad that even the Thumbnail is pixelated

[@susie9893]

The film industry was very different back then

[@gumunduringigumundsson9344]

Ahhh. Delightful. Thanks!

[@esquilax5563]

Webb needed to do a "Look at me. I'm the captain now"

[@100Bitgame]

the you refers to you having complete control and the tube refers to the tube in tubular televisions;meaning it's like a TV only you control what is played

[@Cujoh]

Loved how he pulled rank on Webb.

[@JohanDanielsson8802]

LOL, actually, Greenland was named that already in the Viking age, as a way to attract settlers.

[@starry_lis]

I'm positive Mitchell wouldn't make that kind of a mistake. Surely he must've been trolling then.

[@LordBhorak]

That's a myth, btw...

[@JohanDanielsson8802]

@@LordBhorak Really? How was it, then?

[@LordBhorak]

Oh wait... I had it backwards. That's the real deal 😅

[@magzire]

Should be called Iceland, much better name

[@lukeedwards8018]

I enjoyed all 10 pixels of this video

[@coralroper6876]

Some things never change.

[@MrHEC381991]

Britain: IT'S EVERYWHERE!

[@seaton125]

brilliant!!!!!!!

[@hollow6665]

lol the subtitles for this are hilarious

[@MajBlood]

ROFL great sketch for history lovers.

[@Dirkietje8]

IIRC when Greenland was discovered by the Vikings it was at a time where the temperatures on earth were slightly higher than now and there was a lot of green around.

[@QueenKatz8]

ROFLMFAO! One of the funniest comedy duos ever. Mitchell and Webb rock!

[@MrKohlenstoff]

I very much agree with your 8-year-old opinion!

[@jakubkrcma]

"Greenland" must be the single best geography joke on the planet! 🤣🤣🤣 Damned Erik the Red! He wanted to lure settlers by making the damned place sound attractive...

[@gamesbok]

@theForsling Colombus had a contract to find the 'Indies', and that was what he was going to find. He told his crew that he would rip the tongue out of anybody who said different. By the way, he signed the contract 'Xfer'.

[@shuster6015]

@MrWingman it's the theme song for "That Mitchell and Webb Look". I think it was written specifically for the show, but I could be wrong.

[@rgh1gg1ns1]

LOL so many sorts of Captain hats love the fedora too!

[@tempoaccnt570]

I AM THE CAPTAIN NOW

[@silverbiscuit]

I'm pretty sure there's no basis to the idea that the name Iceland is supposed to be a disincentive. Where did you hear that? Landnámabók just says it was because Flóki Valgerðarson saw ice on the mountains. Which makes sense. Another thing is that although Greenland was intended by Eirik rauði (Erik the Red) to be a pleasant name to encourage settlers (so says the saga, anyway), the global climate was coming to the end of a warm phase and it genuinely was a lot greener than it is today.

[@HaniiPuppy]

Tourism has been popular for far longer than that - earlier examples would be the popularity of Pompeii as a Roman holiday destination, or the ancient Greek interests in travel to Iberia and Britain. One thing that really set the Norse apart from other nations of Europe at the time WAS their interest in travel, exploration, and other cultures. It was part of the drive behind conquering and trading with nations as far apart as the Volgars and Alania, to the Irish nations, to the Mi'kmaq and

[@susie9893]

Yes but far more socially acceptable to say "I'm going on a quest" than saying "I'm going sightseeing". Less likely to piss off the wife too

[@justinmei4784]

Has anyone watched this with captions on? They need a bit of editing in the “Virginia” skit...

[@Maniceureka]

Surely you mean the "Chimney what" skit.

[@irishandirie]

ALL the captions are royally messed up!

[@markmarnell]

"Greenland.” “Whatever”

[@shahree100]

Outstanding

[@zeusosullivan]

genius!! "welcome to Virginia!!"

[@BekiiOxO]

Hahaha i love this, i'm from South Wales, it's soo amusing.

[@Furrrrsjer44]

Also where he settled in greenland is actually abundantly green during the summer. @Experiment47

[@summeliorquamtuum]

Actually, it was named Greenland by the Vikings because they wanted to attract people to it to live there; for it to be a new fronteir for the Scandanavien peoples.

[@Schralenberger]

It was the Norse ( back when they were still Vikingr) who named Greenland. And it was a deliberate lie, as to attract other settlers.

[@JJSPARROW1978]

They named New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and then left it up to the peasant class to name the rest. South Australia, Northern Australia and Western Australia. Done. Now back to drink rum and beer.

[@MajBlood]

I love this sketch and I am especially interested in the history of Empire building in the New World and exploration.

[@RycerzRL]

they are the best...

[@Rynewulf]

Has no-one realised the great in Great Britain actually relates to the fact it is the largest (or greatest in size) landmass in the British Isles? In that sense Ireland is Lesser Britain (in size) but it's only got a partial North/South devide so it's all Ireland- no point in stating land size for a name. And if it is great as in Greater Brittany, why isn't Brittany Lesser Brittany or Smaller Brittany?

[@masonharvath-gerrans832]

The name for Brittany in Latin (after Amorica faded and the Bretons settled in after fleeing Britain from the Anglo-Saxons) was Britannia Minor. The French name for Brittany is Bretagne, while for Great Britain it is Grande-Bretagne. So, to sum it all up, Brittany is the Lesser Britain, but the term has fallen out of favour, especially since the French education reforms of the 19th century in which local languages were stamped out for the most part.

[@rooseveltbrentwood9654]

Great britain refers to all of the british islands

[@Georgieastra]

The Romano/Greek geographer Ptolemy refers to Ireland in the astronomical treatise known as the Almagesthe gives the latitudes of an island he calls Mikra Brettania (Μικρὰ Βρεττανία) or "Little Britain

[@davidloeb4465]

@LordPercyTrollington Also, it was during a period of time when the Earth's average temperature was higher than today ( for example vinyards covered south england). The vikings lived quite happily there until there were forced out by the "mini ice age" that began early in the second millenium. This is why the Thames in London used to freeze solid 200 or so years ago and very rarely does nowadays.

[@kelsiemoses1914]

Greenland- of course!

[@CardShark989]

@KonijNx2 actually our textbooks tell use that we as americans wiped out the natives for land. it even mentions the death marches and the small pox blankets.

[@abbieb8130]

Today I learned there is a place called New South Wales.

[@talideon]

I think a better joke would've been: -Queensland? -It'll do.

[@peterc.1419]

LOL. Columbus never set out to prove the earth was round. It was a known fact for centuries.

[@esquilax5563]

Well over a millennium, by that point. I would hope Mitchell, who studied history, would know this, and that they were just going for what sounded funniest

[@peterc.1419]

@@esquilax5563 I suppose they're laughing at their own audience and people who find this sort of stuff funny. A deeper layer of humour.

[@rushhound]

"Welcome to Virginia!"

[@leadgenmagic4554]

Bill Himmler Barr: "History is written by the Winner."

[@80snessEj]

Lol especially the end xD

[@mikepict9011]

If you refuse to duel in front of your men ......... me

[@WasLilChrisnowbigish]

i live in south wales i can assure you the resemblance is uncanny right down to the kangroos

[@derekmills5394]

Those are Rugby players, you daft 'ap'orth

[@charlieackroyd3243]

This video has enough grain to feed a small village

[@TBustah]

In Nevada, we have a town called Genoa that is nothing like Italy, a town called Manhattan whose population could fit in an average New York City apartment, and Virginia City, whose only connection to the state is that a guy FROM Virginia once lived there. Oh, and Nevada itself means "snow-capped", despite the fact that it has the lowest annual precipitation in the country. There's a story behind each name (we have Congress to "thank" for Nevada), but still, none of them make sense.

[@theduke7539]

Ironically, the west indies is more accurate since they are closer to the western border of india than they are to the eastern border of india. But that's just because columbus was bad at math and thought the earth was actually half the size it really is.

[@GameArchiver]

"Greenland!?" "Whatever!"

[@syloh2121]

So just wondering.... Where is Old Zealand?

[@Hidole555]

Province in the Netherlands

[@Juscommentin1]

Most populated island in Denmark also.

[@Ulkomaalainen]

Juscommentin1 It refers to the Dutch Province, though

[@Herrieberg]

+SY LOH What Hidole and Ulkomaalainen said. Just so you know, Australia used to be known as "New Holland".

[@kyguy3242]

So they actually named it after the province in the Netherlands, but they spelled it like the Danish Island. Go figure.

[@mb87ish]

the netherlands, it's a province called zeeland wich translates as sealand since it's more sea then land and well below sea level

[@VAspeed3]

I have friends from South Carolina who claim that Elizabeth I was a lot looser than polite history advises us, and that my state's name ought to reflect that. Well, I don't even know where to begin.....

[@fleabag500]

@TBustah I think the point the Manaburn was trying to make is that there is quite a lot of snow in parts of Nevada. Still, he didn't have to be so rude, and the rest of your comment was pretty interesting.

[@BlazeMakesGames]

to be fair the whole Greenland Iceland bit was actually a bit of a joke from what I understand

[@cornishladx200]

@blackwolfcrystal11 Your right, but Wales England and Scotland, though all part of Great Britain, are individual Countries as well.

[@Karma8Kami]

Bloody brilliant XD

[@jhfh3112]

The real question is why on earth does Wales get the honorific, Cook wasn't Welsh nor did he ever live there. Was it the only English place he could think of that doesn't have a "new" version in America?

[@b8nnytez]

My guess is somewhere downwind a 4 week dead whale exploded. It was quite breezy you notice, so the snell would have easily got to the Captain's nose....

[@jussim.konttinen4981]

I feel like there is nothing east of Helsinki. This is the final land -Finland? -Bingo

[@TheBayzent]

Didn't know that lol, that's amazing, cheeky vikings.

[@Omega5729]

That one actually makes sense. It was called "Greater Brittany" when William the Conqueror took over I think.

[@Jdwest84]

I doubt that Eric the Red (950-1003) had tourism in mind.

[@philthy122]

@texasoilfields She's is actually a New Zealander by birth. Although Able Tasman discovered New Zealand and her parents are Dutch.

[@KerryPaulazzo]

I heard Greenland is called Greenland cause the guy who was there lied to others so that they ventured there as well so that he wasn't alone since he was exiled from iceland

[@Hjorth87]

Plus, it is assumed that big parts of the southern greenland was actually green at that time :)

[@biaendes]

"Bingo!" :)