I just can't seem to stop writing about the 2007 Red Nose Day and Comic Relief! After the anticipation of Peter Kay and Matt Lucas' 500 Miles video and then the actual viewing of it last night, there was also a very big surprise on top of that, and that was the Mitchell and Webb snooker comedy sketch.
Ted and Peter, also known as The Snooker Commentators are played by David Mitchell and Robert Webb and first appeared on the BBC Radio 4 sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Sound and the TV version, That Mitchell and Webb Look on BBC Two.
Over the last couple of years I have grown to become a HUGE snooker fan. It didn't happen over night, but once I began to understand how the game is played I slowly became hooked. The players are household names now, and I like to keep a close eye on my favorite snooker players Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty.
Jan Verhas is my favorite snooker ref who I saw give Ronnie O'Sullivan a yellow card last year - which I thought was pretty hilarious. A yellow card in snooker?! Who would have thought! He's great at controlling the crowd if a mobile phone goes off or people are too loud. Don't mess with JanVer or else!
Then there's the snooker commentators. John Vergo, Willie Thorne, Terry Griffiths, Dennis Taylor and Clive Everton are always fun to listen to. They do great commentating on the game of course, but then there's always the quirky comments that they make.
The snooker commentators have been known to point out familiar faces in the audiences from tournament to tournament, mentioning how many years a particular person has been attending. Usually older ladies! Also last October during the 2006 Grand Prix final in Aberdeen, I think it might have been Vergo who made quite a big deal about a butterfly that landed on the carpet by the table. I like to think that the butterfly might have had something to do with Paul Hunter who sadly passed away in 2006 right before the Aberdeen tournament. The commentators also like to include many statistical facts about the players as well as personal information.
David Mitchell and Robert Webb have captured all of that when they play commentators Ted and Peter on their sketch show. I was so happy to see them on Red Nose Day for Comic Relief in character and what cracks me up the most is their "Table of Reds" snooker theme song sung to the Chris de Burgh hit "Lady In Red". The lyrics are hilarious and it was great to see them perform "Table of Reds" with none other than Chris de Burgh singing, " ... table of reds is dancing with me, Cush to Cush ..."!
BBC sports personality and commentator Hazel Irvine made an appearance dressed up as a snooker table. Yes, you read that right - and the Snooker Chorus included snooker players Shaun Murphy and Dominic Dale amongst others.
That was by far the best sketch of the evening as far as I'm concerned!
Now I'm looking forward to the upcoming snooker tournament at The Crucible in Sheffield. Some day I'll have to go to a tournament, but until then, I'll just have to continue watching them on the Telly!
Comic Relief
BBC Sport: Snooker
By: Jenny May
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It surprising because I had completely the opposite view on the sketch. Maybe it's because I don't know much about snooker (I know the rules, but not the pro's or the commentators), but I didn't find that sketch funny in the slightest. I was cringing because the sketch was getting almost no laughs, which is a shame because Mitchell and Webb are fantastic in Peep Show, and That Mitchell and Webb Look was abit of a let down. David Mitchell only seem to be funny when his character is dry, sarcastic and dark, not when he's the Angel overlord or some guy who commentates snooker (he's funny in panel shows though).
I really hope "That's a bad miss" won't become a household catchphrase, because I don't find it funny at all. I guess everyone has their own tastes in comedy, but judging from the laughs in that sketch, it looks like the majority of the UK don't find it funny either.
George,
Dare I mention Numberwang?
Well, that's too bad you didn't find the snooker commentators sketch funny. I think why it's so endearing to me is that it's rare now a days to see spoofs on snooker - and any kind of acknowledgment to the game is better than none at all. I keep my fingers crossed hoping that more people start to watch the game and realize just how good some of these players are.
Mitchell and Webb in my opinion successfully picked up on the often times random banter between commentators during long snooker matches as well as what could be going on in their booth that we don't see. The beer, cigarettes etc. (which of course I'm sure isn't the case anymore).
The lack of laughs from the audience could have been due to the low percentage of snooker viewers that were there along with some that just didn't find it funny, regardless.
"That's a bad miss". Sorry, but I think it's pretty funny!
- Jenny