Ronn Lucas meets Bob Monkhouse

[@kali3665]

Doing the ventriloquism is one thing. Doing a PATTER song *in character* is incredible. "George? I'm not going to talk to a hand - it's very weird." "Don't think of me as a hand." "Oookay! What are you?" "A naked puppet." "NO!" 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I love Ronn Lucas - he is one of the greatest vents working today.

[@Majorhappysaccount]

Ronn Lucas was all over children's TV at this point, usually with Scorch the dragon. The routine where he duets with his puppet, both singing "Row Row Row your boat", is absolutely incredible, everyone should see it.

[@RaphaelChan888]

A ventriloquist so good, he doesn't even need a puppet

[@PestilentAllosaurus]

"I think I know him." Regarding the hand and another body part. That had me absolutely in tears, my face still hurts from all the laughter.

[@michaelgoble8200]

I have never been particularly interested in ventriloquists but this guy is amazing, skillful and funny all at once.

[@rock8465]

This is insane! I have now seen every ventriloquist act with this one.

[@GabiKiner]

I⅞ĝs²

[@DeborahBest]

I never heard of this guy. Boy, did I miss out.

[@JJmoony]

That’s totally amazing! The head dancing was hilarious, also does anyone else here, like me miss the great Bob monkhouse.

[@RogerBentley-be3mr]

Bob monkhouse took comedy seriously. "When I was young and said I wanted to be a comedian, everyone laughed. Well nobody is laughing now!"

[@KenGombold1104]

I'm going to say that for a ventriloquist doing the part of an auctioneer is on top of the game, he is very good at what he does and that would be an understatement.....

[@vartankerasimian4768]

Thank you for posting this. I remember seeing this performance in-person in the US. He’s still my favorite ventriloquist.

[@shahi348]

This guy is totally different!!! He is amazing and so entertaining 😍

[@shirleymenta9599]

He is incredible. I would like to see more of his shows.

[@mightyquinnproductions8672]

Simply a Genius by far the best Venriloquist I had ever seen back then si funny.

[@paulhenshall2221]

Look for Ray Allen. Best venture list Britain ever produced.

[@Gamertrix117]

The best at that art form, even still today. Some come close, but Ronn was the best.

[@larryadams636]

So much fun to watch and learn from. Great creativity.

[@MrThe1234guy]

Same exact jokes in 2024 , amazing.

[@rammie1976]

haven't seen this for years, we recorded it on vhs and watched it so many times when I was a kid. pretty sure this was his introduction to the UK public, he then went on to have his own tv show and so on.

[@Guppyta16]

Omg did I just found out where Boo Burham get his personality from… a puppet 😭

[@cooperman78mc]

I usually hate stuff like this but this guy is a genius. I wonder if this is where Rob Brydon got his man in a box from

[@VideotapeFTW]

That's the first thing I thought - this must be a couple of decades before Rob Brydon did it on TV.

[@Majorhappysaccount]

It's a standard for throwing your voice, I don't think either copied from the other.

[@rogerprice7704]

Excellent performance and no doubt an inspiration to many others who followed the craft

[@dakotahstr]

Brilliant .

[@barrybegley5379]

Most IMPRESSIVE.

[@manarharche8734]

He's a damn Artis!!!

[@JacknVictor]

Bob Monkhouse was a very selfless comic, and gave comedians such as Robin Williams and Jim Carrey a leg up in the early days of their careers, he was always happy to see talented comics get a good start, and was happy to do his part. Both Jim and Robin, amongst other comedians, have talked about their love for Bob and what he did, and because of him, throughout their careers, they tried to do the same thing he did, and to give new, deserving talent help and advice if and where needed.

[@pieterhollenberg1092]

UNBELIEVABLE GOOD !! Could not stop laughing. wow.

[@MrScottsearles]

This guy is really good!

[@adnenjemai9099]

Im gonna see what the little guy is up too 😂

[@doriWyo]

LOL...COL...LOLOL. Endlessly hilarious!

[@catherinejoly8687]

Sensationnel !!!!!!

[@Maundervision]

A superb entertainer. John Fisher - producer of this show, as well as Parkinson, The Paul Daniels Magic Show, and many others - evidently thought he (and Billy, of course!) had the potential to be a big star here; when he left the BBC to become Thames' head of variety in 1988, he made him the MC of a series done from the London Hippodrome (the former Talk of the Town), as well as giving him his own series on the network. Don't know how effective they were at spreading his fame here, and I'd love to know if he's still out there, performing (many of the turns Fisher featured on his shows over the years still are, so there's definitely hope!).

[@VideotapeFTW]

I've only got very vague memories of Ronn's Thames show, so finding this (even older) VHS recording was quite an eye-opener in terms of how good it was. I suppose having a highly-refined 15-minute stage act doesn't necessarily translate to being able to carry a full-blown television series, but I'm still surprised he didn't become much better known here in the UK. Hopefully full recordings of the series will show up somewhere sooner or later. Ronn's website seems to still be taking bookings, and he also has a fan site: www.ronnlucas.com www.ronnlucas.net

[@Maundervision]

@@VideotapeFTW That's good to hear. He's a marvellous act, no question. Makes me think of Kelly Monteith a bit; goes down a storm on Des O'Connor's show, gets asked by the BBC (in the person of Jim Moir, I'm guessing?) to do his own sitcom (with the help of Neil Shand), does very well on BBC2 (with repeats on 1, as was then usual), but never *quite* breaks through to the front rank here, so ends up going back to the States, and Vegas, etc. Until his recent (sadly early) death, he'd been revisiting some of his old shows here on KZbin ('reacting' to them, as it were), so it was lovely to see him again, still at it. This is why it's always important - not to say fun! - to dig through old VHSes, as you do here, to find stuff that's either been completely consigned to the dustbin of history, or else stuff that touches a vague nerve, and that sends us all off down little rabbit-holes, looking for further signs of something we might've seen years ago, but completely forgotten about. That, and celebrating the talents involved, both in front of and behind the cameras!

[@VideotapeFTW]

@@Maundervision Oh, you're _so_ right, and that's exactly why I do what I do. There's a wealth of material that will simply never be released or repeated, so I always encourage anyone who has a stack of VHS tapes to digitise them before it's too late. You just never know what long-forgotten gems you might stumble across!

[@familylove5412]

Classic

[@anhtunguyen1724]

"Some of you don't get this, do you?"

[@hollubaloo]

This is hilarious and incredibly original! I can see this being where Bo Burnham got his inspiration from.

[@gfmundial]

Genial!

[@shanefrance5071]

Pure talent 😮 Work on the things your good at and master it life's about self improvement 😂😂

[@xristiannak.98]

The turtle puppet i believe was the inspiration for zootopia's sloth..😅😊

[@VideotapeFTW]

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[@thetravellersboots]

Ignored

[@VideotapeFTW]

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[@119wolverine]

paul zerdin is copying this man. i think. the jokes are similar. now i know who is the genius

[@Doctor180185]

Whilst he was a good vent, he wasn’t great at different voices. Most of his puppets sounded the same … like him

[@OzzTheWizzard]

Did the puppet say the n word when singing ?

[@VideotapeFTW]

Is there any way that would actually make sense in context?

[@andrewdevita629]

He's saying hog

[@pigeonman1134]

@@VideotapeFTWauction

[@davida4559]

Did he just say the n word?

[@VideotapeFTW]

During the auctioneer song? How in the world would that make sense?

[@davida4559]

@@VideotapeFTW 3:01 IDK, maybe he's racist

[@joedent3323]

Black people LOVE auctioneering ​@@VideotapeFTW

[@marianobotindari5362]

really really bad crowd

[@VideotapeFTW]

This is a cultural difference that noticeably tripped up a fair few American performers who appeared on the show, causing them to think they were going down worse than they were: British audiences tend to wait until everything is definitely finished before reacting, while American audiences need no second invitation to burst into spontaneous applause even in the middle of something.

[@ms.mustlovecats1556]

This was too bloody funny ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 😀😃😄😆😂🤣