The Two Ronnies - Mastermind Sketch

A vintage sketch from the two Ronnie's as they do the popular quiz show Mastermind from 1980

[@jimandjosie]

So funny. Very well done.

[@eternalextrapolations]

It's just so clever. You're so struck by how intricately written it is you kind of forget it's comedy.

[@user-ke3wc2lj5h]

2:57

[@vitamins-and-iron]

it was very well written but i did not forget it was comedy lol

[@minicle426]

This for me is far funnier than Fork Handles. Shame it gets overlooked as a result.

[@ImperialLoather]

"What sort of artist?" "Pass." "Yes, near enough."

[@TheDisplacerBeast]

Could you explain why that part got such a big laugh? I didnt get it

[@johnmartinez7440]

​@TheDisplacerBeast Meant to be "piss", as in "piss artist", slang for a drunkard.

[@TheDisplacerBeast]

@@johnmartinez7440 oh, i guess i just didnt make the connection. Is the artist known to be sloppy?

[@roguishpaladin]

​@@TheDisplacerBeastRemember, the comment was about Dean Martin.

[@peterfinn6098]

Dean Martin was definitely a piss artist lol, its just so cleverly written. The jock strap part nearly sent Ronnie Corbett off. I don’t know how they can keep a straight face

[@Steven-sq9ov]

This will go down in history as one of the best sketches of all time

[@TheGodParticle]

Don't forget, fork handles..

[@Berniewahlbrinck]

Ronnie Corbett is unbelievably good in this amazing sketch- he never bats an eye.

[@80sandretrogubbins25]

He does hesitate once or twice. Whether that's to add effect, or he almost slipped, is not clear.

[@fingersTitan]

@@80sandretrogubbins25 The art that is missing today. His pauses are allowing the audience to get their laughing out of the way so they don't miss a single detail. Barker holds off from asking a question for the same reason. A huge part of comedy is allowing the joke to be digested in its own time, that is lacking today. Cook and Moore are a prime example. Cook did it to Moore too. Cook broke Moore and let both the audience and Moore have every second they needed. Cook doesn't need to say a thing, yet he has them in the palm of his hands.

[@martinpye777]

I remember watching The Two Ronnie's with my grandparents as a little kid in the 80s 😊

[@thomashenrycomedy]

toulouse lautrec painted strippers is the best line is INCREDIBLE

[@martinhall60]

Truly first class. You can't get better than the best, and the two Ronnie's are the best.

[@YourCritic]

This sketch, and "Four Candles" are my favorites. Absolute classics.

[@biblybims9868]

Absolutely amazing duo,you will never see anything remotely close to being this clever,simply genius

[@keithyork8226]

This sketch was written by David Renwick. A different version appears in his earlier radio show “The Burkiss Way”.

[@LorettaGrace-kf7kh]

This never gets old.😅

[@Kimpotter-yt4ly]

This fantastic take off of Mastermind and the Two Ronnies fork handles sketch are timeless comedy classics, and not a swear word to be heard.😊.

[@tonygriffiths2485]

Cleverly done. Love the way he keeps a straight face after :)

[@Rat_Nasty]

It just doesn’t get any better than this. I can watch it over and again. Brilliant.

[@harrydeyong441]

British comedy is the best, and these two are some of the best,,,of the best. Hilarious.

[@sockmonkey22]

So simple an idea and yet so skillfully performed…and complex, too. I keep rewinding 30 seconds to link the answer to the question I’d already forgotten. 😮😂

[@steviejd5803]

Utterly off the scale brilliance.

[@johnconlon2344]

A Masterpiece!

[@GiratinaofFury]

This is one of the areas I think the Two Ronnies did very well in, putting conversations out of sync or lining up two different dialogues together. It plays a lot on messing up context.

[@GrouchoMarx-MaGeorge]

Timeless !! Bring back the 70's and 80's comedy, amazing and had me crying with laughter 🤣

[@davidsandler-kh8nl]

The best sketch ever

[@johnsr1975]

Incredibly done in one-take. Sheer brilliance

[@angusog5227]

This and the crossword on the train sketches are priceless.

[@fictionfactory7164]

Absolute comedy gold

[@ChristopheStrobbe]

Morecambe and Wise can't hold a candle to this, let alone four.

[@seaniek9175]

Very clever and delivered with perfect timing. Up there with four candles routine .

[@annmills5853]

So funny never get tired of watching them👏👍🇬🇧❤️

[@Shagger]

People today are under the impression that comedy needs to be provocative, negative and even offensive to work. Those don't know how good comedy used to be just by being clever. It doesn't have to about the reaction and instead rely on the intelligence of the audience.

[@Abx_Dkl]

This won't work in 2024... Gen Z minds are incapable

[@Lightertheif01]

Geniuses at work here nothing like this today!

[@guerino8945]

Absolute Legends!

[@elliottprice6084]

Two comic legends that made this sketch comedy gold. Special credit to David Renwick who penned this masterpiece

[@martinjasper7650]

Still of the great sketches in british comedy history along with 4 candles/Fork handles and the telephone call sketch

[@andrewsmith-cm9qw]

Wonderful 2 talented guys great British comedy bless them

[@aranerem5569]

It's brilliant

[@Aye-McHunt]

Way funnier than Morecombe and Wise's Mastermind sketch. Comedic gold.

[@johncairney6157]

Pure gold 🤣🤣

[@nigelkthomas9501]

Absolutely fantastic!

[@tam310]

Genius!

[@LD-bv1pm]

My word this is well done. Thank you YT.

[@phillipaugar2464]

Brilliant!

[@CrazyRev]

They don't produce that level of humour today! Sadly missed.

[@TheBT]

It probably exists, but no one watches the same thing anymore.

[@Beemer760]

we are lacking in intellectual capacity these days

[@johnmartinez7440]

​@@Beemer760 Speak for yourself.

[@Gardner0871public]

Cor blimey, that’s brilliant!

[@delbrown4143]

Great comedy this, so well written

[@bradhenaire180]

0:43 you can see how proud of that one he is with smirk and glasses adjust

[@TheWelwyn21]

Fantastic

[@BruceDanton-xw6eg]

So great too thank you of coursr.

[@RayhanAhmed-qr3vz]

They both were chief of comedians 😂

[@deanwalker9605]

Absolute genius

[@Andy-co6pn]

Boris at the Covid Inquiry

[@mervmervalot2296]

Master class in comedy... especially porridge and open all hours..... genius

[@davids82924]

Genius sketch

[@polystyrene7921]

Timeless 😂😂😂

[@georgesturdy7040]

Ronnie Corbett trying to stop bursting out laughing 😂

[@MrPlantpot20]

Up there with the Morecambe and Wise sketch with Andre Previn. . . comic genius both sketches.

[@ukdavepianoman]

Utterly brilliant. Wonder how many takes it took - I'm amazed Ronnie Corbett could keep a straight face.

[@jamesthecat]

Written by future 'one foot in the grave' writer David Renwick!

[@btisdall]

Indeed, and a reworking of a sketch that first appeared on The Burkiss Way, of which he was co-creator.

[@TheBT]

Yeah this is timeless. People might not know who Sir Geoffery Howe is. The nutcase joke is a bit dated, but no one really cares. But this could easily work today because its just clever wordplay. Honestly the only real flaw is the 'large flies'. Tarantulas don't eat large flies. Tarantulas can't spin webs so they eat stuff like locusts or beetles or other land based food.

[@peterfinn6098]

Considering a comparison with today’s rubbish, how come this was ultimately clever and amazingly written comedy with no foul language needed, just pure genius

[@SweetT79]

If I am correct this was done during a tour in London

[@karyldavidkidd7111]

Genius

[@-pjabrony7768]

So what was the completion of the Thatcher quotation?

[@Pooter-it4yg]

Not too many people know that Ronnie Barker was a prolific and extremely good writer for this show and others. This is one of his.

[@johnp515]

This sketch was not written by Ronnie Barker

[@CarFinanceSimplified]

David Renwick wrote this brilliant sketch.

[@Pooter-it4yg]

@@CarFinanceSimplified I stand corrected.

[@jerrysmith2360]

@@CarFinanceSimplifiedI believe this was a much improved and updated version of a sketch he wrote for the brilliant The Burkiss Way.

[@johnmc3862]

@@Pooter-it4ygYou didn’t say he wrote this one but he did write many for the show.

[@QueenAllTheWay]

Can anyone explain the Dean Martin joke?

[@michaelgibson4705]

Pass sounds like Piss ie Piss Artist vernacular for a heavy drinker

[@stephenchecksfield632]

Dean Martin was a singer and member of the Brat Pack in the USA with other singers like Sammy Davis junior the joke reference was to the fact that Dean Martin liked the wild lifestyle and women and liked his drink 🍻 like beers and wine etc and I think he had a reputation for being a alcoholic and the reference I think is to indicate the slang terminology for a alcoholic is a Piss Artist hence the reference what kind of artist? Where Ronnie Corbett replied pass and Ronnie Barker replied close enough 😂

[@QueenAllTheWay]

Thank you so much 🤣💀💀

[@plum80]

@@stephenchecksfield632oh my god thank you! I replayed it half a dozen times and just didn’t get it 😅

[@goldenboyproductions2740]

Something you just don’t see on tv these days: genuine wit.

[@johnmartinez7440]

What TV are you watching?

[@djpeekay25]

Their play on words was 2nd to none!

[@nez9751]

Just genius 😂

[@hellodavey1902]

Forgot the cleverness of this after the silliness

[@rainbowwarrior6452]

And it’s good night from me, and it’s good night from him. Good night.

[@kengall4580]

Such great talent very much missed on these very dull and bland TV days.

[@peterbergvall7752]

I miss the comedy of yesteryear, it truely was an artform then.

[@TheMattastic]

For anyone who (like me) likes to connect the questions to the answers but perhaps doesn't want to keep going back and forth on the video: 1. Q. What is palaeontology? A study of old fossils. 2. Q. What is the name of the directory that lists members of the peerage? A. Burke's. 3. Q. Who are Len Murray and Sir Geoffrey Howe? A. One's a trade union leader, the other's a member of the Cabinet. 4. Q. What is the difference between a donkey and an ass? A. They're both the same. 5. Q. Complete the quotation -- "To be or not to be..." A. "That is the question." 6. Q. What is Bernard Manning famous for? A. He is a fat man who tells blue jokes. 7. Q. Who is the present Archbishop of Canterbury? A. The Right Reverend Robert Runcie. 8. Q. What do people kneel on in church? A. Hassocks. 9. Q. What do tarantulas prey on? A. Large flies. 10. Q. What would you use a ripcord to pull open? A. A parachute. 11. Q. What sort of person lived in Bedlam? A. A nutcase. 12. Q. What is a jockstrap? A. A form of athletic support. 13. Q. For what purpose would a decorator use methylene chlorides? A. Paint strippers. 14. Q. What did Henri Toulouse-Lautrec do? A. He's a kind of artist. 15. Q. Who is Dean Martin? A. A singer. 17. Q. What make of vehicle is the standard London bus? A. British Leyland. 18. Q. In 1892, Brandon Thomas wrote a famous long-running English farce. What was it? A. Charley's Aunt. I can't find any information on the quote about Thatcher. Maybe it was made up for the sake of the joke, or maybe this sketch just so completely overshadowed it in the public memory that it's lost to time.

[@Orangeeclipse15]

Aunt and aren't are pronounced the same in an English accent ;)

[@bridgetchapman5985]

Innocent humour, great play on words.

[@brofenix]

Okay then.

[@robertbrighton9797]

Complete the quotation to be or not to be ………they’re both the same 😂

[@avinotion]

It's the opposite of Fry and Laurie's hedge sketch

[@865nov]

and not a vulgarity in sight...

[@kennykiller]

bwhahahhahahahahhaaaaaaaaaa

[@M4nvrs]

We'll never see this like again, especially with the last great generation now dying out!

[@Englishham]

This and the Morcombe and Wise Mastermind sketchs are best, the Russ Abbott one is terrible

[@petfan2948]

Nowhere near as funny as Morecambe and Wise doing Mastermind.

[@paddycable1723]

I have to disagree I’m afraid - this is in a different class.

[@Instasamps]

Perfection 😂😂😂😂

[@ianwood423]

Absolutely brilliant

[@andykid2007]

Genius