The Entertainer | Black Books | Series 2 Episode 1 | Absolute Jokes

Fran engages an elderly Russian teacher to help her learn to play the piano, but Manny is better at it than she is; Bernard snags a date with an attractive woman..
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[@jaymiller5669]

Glad the writers made use of Bill Baileys AMAZING musical talents this episode

[@iconoclast137]

seriously! usually people just fake play the piano in comedy shows. he is ridiculous

[@beyondginger3051]

Manny: I want the weekend off. I want a life. Bernard: This is life! We suffer and slave and expire. That's it!

[@chofaimporovitch1543]

That had me crying. With laughter?

[@jimreily7538]

He's right

[@zephyrr108]

Absolutely right he is.

[@saturnight.3026]

Poor Manny, forced to play football all alone while all other children happily practiced piano...

[@planescaped]

The older I get. the more I relate to Bernard...

[@krispbacon3203]

Which as we were quite young at the time is unnerving yet quite settling in the knowledge it's normal.

[@clumsiii]

@PrinceBober prophets of the present are rare indeed. Future prophetting is so gauche

[@albatroce2324]

A little more everyday

[@CaptAlCaboose]

I hear you

[@jarnokokkonen2497]

Might be because of bacteroides strain of bacteria that causes all sorts of negative things in your body. Bacteroides eat animalproducts and processed sugar. If you switch to wholefoods strict vegetarian diet you nourish prevotella strain bacteria that produce dopamine and serotonin. Prevotella eat fiber and fiber is in plants only.

[@censusgary]

It’s worth watching “Black Books” just for the opening and closing theme music.

[@Plethorality]

That would be listening.

[@Likexner]

If you speed it up, youll find it sounds very Latin American.

[@EGlVM]

"I can only see out my ear." is a vastly underappreciated line. LOL

[@shotforshot5983]

I scrolled comments beforehand and absolutely expected that line to be about Bill not being able to read music, only play by ear!

[@PyrozPlayground]

The epic thing about this episode is that Bill Bailey actually played all that for real! Outside of the piano of course! ^_^

[@FutureChaosTV]

PyrozPlayground Bill Bailey is absolutely amazing.

[@CaptainLumpyDog]

I refuse to believe he did not play it inside the piano with spoons.

[@censusgary]

Bill Bailey really is a good musician, but he probably didn’t learn the way that’s shown here.

[@franksinatra9579]

Gary Cooper well sorta. He’s got perfect pitch

[@beachcomber2008]

He's lovely. Bless him.

[@GooseMcBruce]

"i have to go along with all this reclusive genius stuff, she's gonna be very upset when she finds out i'm a reclusive wanker"

[@danielcropp8553]

Great stuff.

[@oliverholmes-gunning5372]

"Do you eat? I do. Do want to do it in the same room sometime?" is my new favourite pickup line

[@jensasbjrnbgen4038]

Please let us know, if it works

[@cleanclean4031]

@@Dducksquad as an ace I would take that quite literally and be FUCKING excited.

[@aayush6751]

Like is for him , not for u mate😝

[@tunatiuh]

mine too, i'm not even kidding

[@ShunkopleX]

Doing it for several years, it works

[@censusgary]

That’s Nina Conti, one of the best living ventriloquists, playing Kate.

[@jaclynscott2588]

ah thank you so much!! I was trying desperately to figure out where I’d seen her before! (She appeared on QI!)

[@LednacekZ]

If she is one of the best then the art is dead.

[@oliverholmes-gunning5372]

@@jaclynscott2588 Same here!

[@BiffChunksteak]

I thought I recognised that face

[@shirleysavoury5638]

@@LednacekZ So, who is your favorite?

[@eddiegness]

Easily my most favourite episode of Black Books ever.

[@ManiacallySmithing]

Must be funny to Bill, pretending he hasn't spent a lifetime practicing. How he just acts amazed at actually playing this wel...

[@rankador]

Fran being so cute when she asks about chips

[@imokin86]

Stereotypically, a music teacher in Russia is exactly this kind of person. Hitting your fingers with a ruler is you miss a note. Don't know if they are still like that IRL. The yurt bit is just pure random humour though, musicians are more like lower middle class here, urban dwellers definitely.

[@lunatic5162]

No, they not. Cause kids nowdays knows that "you can't physically hurt children". So. They just yell 😂

[@twisted_nether373]

I'm sorry to break it to you, but you just had shit teachers lol. When was that, 1915?

[@LadyMngwa]

"I call it Flight of seven million bumblebees" Died here, lol.

[@pippa_peg]

"This is life. We suffer and slave and expire. That's it." Found a new motto.

[@Iloveflowers2024]

I only recently discovered this show on Tubi and it's over 20 years old. I really needed a laugh, and this hit the spot perfectly. I love all the characters. This episode is hilarious and it got me laughing out loud.

[@BeautifulGoodbye13]

Excellent sunglasses in this episode

[@misterroboto9999]

8:29 I wish something like that would happen to me. It's the funniest, awesomest moment in any TV show.

[@patavalttia]

That was even funnier when this show was first time on tv. Then I didn't know Bill Bailey was (also) a musician :)

[@konigstephan]

For those who might be interested in that sort of thing, the *edited* performance of Albeniz's Castilla goes like this: - 20:27 One, Two, Three, Four - Piece is in triple metre but anyway... - Bars 1-14 - Bars 54-69 (3rd beat bar 56 an octave higher) - Bars 86-101 - Bars 126-129 - Bars 144 (1st beat bar 144 an octave lower, root position)-148

[@Wertical93]

"Do you eat? I do, do you want to do it in the same room sometime?" is my go-to phrase when asking someone out :D

[@carolyn9758]

I always forget how amazing at piano he is

[@JomAndoo-m2h]

He has mad skills with any musical instruments. I enjoyed seeing all of his comedy standup shows too very much. Aswell.

[@watergolf100]

Bernard has the best style

[@anthonyhaylock6655]

The scene with manny on the piano is hilarious , love it

[@maximillianford9301]

Josef is supremely underrated. 'Neither was my first wife' has to be one of the best lines in the whole show

[@Besat]

My favourite is "It's a tent made of beaverskins, it's not so good".

[@howardkerr8174]

Have been watching the series in order, this episode was excellent. And how generous? Bill Bailey had all the best bits.

[@mimidp2649]

Thanks so much for putting these up. Re-watched all of series one yesterday and had a great time. And thanks for the very clear titles :)

[@jonathandahlquist4137]

Still absolutely the most hilarious show I've ever watched.

[@renehenckens]

When Manny is playing for Fran and Bernard for the first time, just after he stops and says "It's good, innit? It's sort of relaxing"...He completely switched off his character and became Bill Bailey again

[@zcvxs]

Anytime I want a smoke I'll just watch this.......

[@cityhawk]

Anytime I want a glass of wine, I watch this.

[@mathildejensen3285]

One of the best episodes- I watched it first time over 15 years ago and it's still incredible funny 😂😂

[@iknowme]

Feathery strokes! Damp feathers!

[@LaNombre]

Good thing Bill is involved as an absolute god at the piano

[@DavoidJohnson]

My favourite episode if I had to choose. The fact that Bill is this talented had to be used at some point. Incidentally he was recently seen building a nest in a Scottish Highland pub.

[@MelissaZDunn]

I just love this show! I love it's It's characters and it's script!

[@Syphonfllter]

What'd you say to Kate, she thinks I'm the Renai-ssance!

[@DodderingOldMan]

One of my favourite lines from the entire series.

[@CatLady999]

I just recognized the old man...he is the "Blind man in the desert playing hoop-a-loo with the wind", in The I.T. Crowd.

[@michaeln7305]

Actually Hoopaloo guy was played by the actor at 6:14 in Black Books episode Manny's First Day.

[@cerabellums.f.835]

Ooooh yes!!! You know and watch The IT crowd too?!! I love that series too!!! It’s also brilliantly hilarious. Like this series they all have well written and acted characters that blends well together. The chemistry and well brought jokes that come out right on cue!!! Like this series

[@adamlark8631]

8:15 My favorite part of the whole series. F'n hilarious and awesome!

[@Sybridge0210]

the most episode ever i'm watching it every morning afternoon and night

[@bethgrinnell1164]

I don't know when they added a "watch next season" button to the bottom of playlists, but I'm proud to say it was this series that led me to find it.

[@martinlagrange8821]

"Three blind mice, three blind mice....."

[@liljoe8952]

Feathery strokes! Feathery strokes!

[@tippyandfriend]

why is there only 3 series of this :(

[@graytonw5238]

"Fran will fail, you'll toil your life away, and I'll die alone, upside down on the floor of a pub toilet." That line pretty much summed up Bernard's take on life throughout the entire glorious series.

[@LawlFrank]

Hahahaha that ending! Brilliant

[@SUPER_WOLFMOON]

Bernard is my spirit animal! Watching with my husband finally. I feel his gaze between laughter. I take it sort of personally when my husband says, why is he(Bernard) so mean. I honestly didn't think he was that mean. Oops, re-evalute self? Hmmm................ what's for lunch?

[@Phaota]

Definitely one of the best episodes.

[@Awesome2844]

4:59 😂😂😂 I always loved Bernard's descriptions 😂 and despite being usually bitter, we see that he's quite a romantic and platonic ☺️

[@lamecasuelas2]

The timing in this episode Is remarkable!

[@Squatch_needs_no_heroes]

The one and only time Bill got to play in the series.

[@smile-qj1pz]

This show is gold. 😃

[@EnoVarma]

The scene you want begins at 8:04

[@geordiewalker2102]

Thanks

[@MrSmithers]

"Aaaah I can play!!"

[@maryelkhair9608]

This is my favorite episode :D

[@alyssajoyblack5007]

And then Grieg’s Piano Concerto for hungover Fran and Bernard

[@Demiglitch]

Thanks for the hacked subtitles RavyDavy.

[@chalk4change224]

This is when Channel 4 did some excellent stuff ..... i missed most of the episodes on the first run .... Dylan Moran .... brilliant!

[@daz_gibowski348]

Nina Conti is a Gem.. 💕

[@MrUndersolo]

Saw her live once. Amazing woman...

[@cashxbw90]

Best episode of all

[@beng1603]

Ah! I can play!

[@krispbacon3203]

Thank you. Love this show!

[@Capillus]

The duet piece is Suite Española (Castilla) by Albéniz.

[@taracarroll4218]

Now imagine Manny playing the death waltz with the spoons.

[@nancybrown8338]

Loved researching this episode. So many funny things going on.

[@breakfastattiffanys741]

God damn this show isn't helping my wine addiction.....Flash back 4 years when I drank for 2 days watching every episode.

[@corvuscrow5485]

...3 blind mice...😆😂🤣

[@hannaftw3684]

Easily one of my fav episodes :)

[@YukoValis]

If only manny went to like a talent agency after finding out this skill. He would have been rich.

[@idunno420]

11:31 well, i did practice all night. 🤣🤣🤣🤣👌

[@marygrigorian_]

The ending 😂

[@cinovcovatana93]

AHHH I CAN PLAY!!!!

[@maisiesummers42]

"He taught the Tsar before the revolution." Let's see... the Russian revolution occurred in 1918. Let's assume he was 30 or so (best guess as to minimum age before being allowed to teach). This episode aired in 2002... which would make the eldest of them about 120 years old.

[@saraheffort3587]

best episode ever

[@HonestlyAnnaFun]

I didn't know she was an actress before ventriloquism!!!

[@angelinebrasier9882]

Love this episode

[@hop-skip-ouch8798]

Bill monologuing how he can't play the piano

[@atheistpower5659]

The sad fact of the matter is Fran would be my first choice for the perfect woman .

[@komal6773]

i m so thankful to 🥰 someone who sent me this way back, to 🥳cheer me up.

[@lanigirt.2392]

I luv it. Its so normal...

[@meshzzizk]

Real friends are the ones who’ll spot you a quick $100 as you head out the door on a hot date. Fran’s not so bad 😂

[@hiranya17]

Oh poor manny

[@spannersrpg1506]

In which Fran fails to practice 40 hours a day, Manny is a prodigy who ruins it all by kicking piano stools, and Bernard is the classic actor-pretending-to-be-a-musician-but-clearly-can't-play. TwoSet heaven.

[@sait_koca]

18:03 People in Instagram vs people in real life

[@mandoville]

Well there you are

[@bob8776]

…and I’ll die alone, upside down on the floor of a pub toilet

[@Lauralinkola]

Is flight of the bumble bee actually something that sounds more impressive to non musicians lolllllll this is a twoset moment

[@Awesome2844]

5:43 I wish that was me 😅

[@Cuppamilky]

Can someone tell me the name of the two pieces manny first starts playing ?? I swear I’ve heard them before

[@Rawennnnn]

Three blind mice 😁

[@bezzaderbane9890]

You feel really sorry for Manny in this episode they exploit him all through it and then he gets two black eyes from the thug while Bernard and Fran don't give a damn. Bill Bailey sure mustve liked playing a dogs body.

[@justinreyes5042]

To be fair it was Three Blind Mice just dissonant

[@keithleeuwen877]

GREAT !

[@dawggonevidz9140]

Such a crush on Nina Conti.

[@Mbnewman087]

Do you eat? I do. Would you like to do it in the same room sometime?

[@kevinmi42]

Tomato prop were good

[@juneryah]

Is there a chance to hear a clear whole thing on 14.53? I believe there's got to be a record 🤷‍♂️

[@alyssajoyblack5007]

Once upon a time I was a classical clarinet prodigy (and burnt out spectacularly like so many prodigies) and one time I was playing principal clarinet in Beethoven’s 7th symphony (it has awesome parts for clarinet) and at the end when it had all gone great I turned to the 2nd clarinettist who was about 3 times my age (I was 14) and I went ‘aaah! We can play!’ But she didn’t laugh. Either because she hadn’t watched enough Black Books or she was pissed I was principal. Or both. But I thought it was hilarious.

[@ne12bot94]

i though William should give a chance manny to explain through words , not useless violence. 😊

[@frogsoda]

It's kind of weird seeing both of her hands.

[@ikagura]

Piano is really hard to learn or it depends of the person?

[@chriskaprys]

Nina Conti is so. friggin. cool. 😎