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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

First Class Scamp

Harry Hill

Vision Video · 1998 · 62 min

An early, deeply strange theater set from the big-collared British comic.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Harry Hill operates on a completely different frequency than anyone else, treating the stage as a playground for precision-engineered nonsense. First Class Scamp captures him right as his Channel 4 cult following spilled over into mainstream success, long before his clip shows made him a family-friendly fixture. The set opens with an overhead announcement canceling the heavily anticipated Badger Parade due to industrial action, while asking the owls in the audience to quietly exit via the stage door. From there, he delivers a barrage of surreal non-sequiturs that somehow knot together into actual punchlines.

Filmed at the London Palladium in 1998, the performance is a time capsule of his strangest impulses. He shares the stage with his live backing band, the Caterers, alongside appearances from actor Burt Kwouk, a puppet named Stouffer the Cat, and his chief scientist Finsbury Park. He breaks off into routines about supermarket checkouts and rhyming memory systems, wearing his signature oversized collar. He paces the stage with erratic energy, occasionally yelling at his own props.

The set list

5 bits

  1. T. Rex and Marc Bolan spoof

    Opens the performance impersonating Marc Bolan, singing a medley of T. Rex songs while wearing a white swan

  2. Shoe repairers and key cutting

    Expresses ongoing bafflement that shoe repairers also double as key-cutters, repeatedly revisiting the topic throughout the set

  3. Humpty Dumpty

    Surreal one-liner wondering what species of bird Humpty Dumpty would have hatched into had he lived

  4. Holes in biscuits

    Ponders why there are tiny holes on top of biscuits as a recurring running gag

  5. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    The Badger Parade closer

    After a mock PA announcement at the show's start claiming the parade was cancelled due to industrial action, the strike is lifted and puppet badgers parade across the stage

How it plays

Tone
Surreal, silly, absurd, and daft
On stage
Surreal, eccentric, and energetic 'self-styled supervarmint' dressed in his signature oversized-collar white shirt and black suit with pens in the top pocket
Pace
Extremely high-energy and physically demanding, characterized by intense sweating, rapid nonsensical delivery, and interactions with backing musicians and puppets
About
absurdist observations, everyday minutiae, television and popular culture, music parodies

What the critics said

Praised by The Independent for its infectious daftness, dazzling panache, and mesmerising use of running gags and callbacks, calling Hill one of the most hardworking and sweat-drenched performers in comedy.

In the room: Enthusiastic and engaged crowd swept along by the show's in-jokes, catchphrases, and surreal atmosphere

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, thetvdb.com, independent.co.uk, cinemaparadiso.co.uk, welleyenever.com, allmovie.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Filmed during the run of The Harry Hill Show on Channel 4, incorporating regular characters and elements from the series including Burt Kwouk, Stouffer the Cat, and the badger parade

Details

Released
Taped
London Palladium
Runtime
62 min
Where
Vision Video
Director
Charlie Hanson
Honors
British Comedy Award Winner for the Best New Comedy Show
Topics
Before
Man Alive (1997)

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