Morecambe & wise | Heatwave: The 20 best songs about summer & sunshine - Music Music Previous slide Next slide 18 of 21 View All Skip Ad No 4: MORECAMBE AND WISE, BRING ME SUNSHINE Bring Me Sunshine was written in 1966 by the composer Arthur Kent, with lyrics by Sylvia Dee (who wrote songs for Elvis Presley). Willie Nelson had a hit in 1968 with a version produced by Chet Atkins. A year later the song was adopted by comedians Morecambe & Wise as their signature tune in their second series for the BBC. Need a smile in the hot weather? Just think of Eric and Ernie dancing as they sing 'Bring me fun, bring me sunshine . . . bring me love'. And who can argue with that? Credit: Rex Features Morecambe and Wise Morecambe and Wise 2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection . Related subjects: Television Morecambe and Wise were a famous British comic double act comprising Eric Morecambe OBE and Ernie Wise OBE. The act lasted for 43 years until Morecambe's death in 1984 .

They are widely considered to be the most successful double act in Britain for generations. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, The Morecambe and Wise Show was placed 14th. In September 2006, they were voted by the general public as number 2 in a poll of TV's Greatest Stars. History Eric and Ernie first joined forces in 1941 when booked separately to appear in Jack Hylton's revue, Youth Takes a Bow. War service broke up the act but they reunited by chance in 1946 when they joined forces again. Initially appearing in music hall, they made their name in radio, transferring to television in 1954. Their show, Running Wild, was not well received and led to a damning newspaper review: "Definition of the week: TV set - the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise." Eric apparently carried this review around with him ever after and from then on Eric and Ernie kept a tight control over their material.

In 1956 they were offered a spot in the Winifred Atwell show with material written by Johnny Speight and this was a success. They had a series of shows that spanned over twenty years, during which time they developed and honed their act, most notably with the original move to the BBC in 1968 where they were to be teamed with their long-term writer Eddie Braben and it is this period of their careers that is widely regarded as their "glory days". Their shows were:- Two Of A Kind (1961) ( ATV, 1961-1968. Writers: Dick Hills and Sid Green). The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968) ( BBC , 1968-1978. Writers: Hills and Green for one series and thereafter Eddie Braben). The Morecambe & Wise Show (1978) ( Thames Television, 1978 until their final show together at Christmas 1983. Writers: themselves, Barry Cryer, John Junkin, and from 1980, Eddie Braben).

During the 1960s the pair starred in three feature films ( The Intelligence Men (1965), That Riviera Touch (1966), and The Magnificent Two (1967)) but these are not generally considered a great success. However, they also starred in Night Train To Murder in 1983 . In 1976 , they were both awarded OBEs. Collaborators In the later and most successful part of their career, which spanned the 1970s, they were joined behind the scenes by Eddie Braben, a script writer who generated almost all their material (Morecambe and Wise were also sometimes credited as supplying "additional material") and defined what is now thought of as typical Morecambe and Wise humour. Together Morecambe, Wise and Braben were known as "The Golden Triangle". Morecambe and Wise are considered by many to be one of the UK's all-time favourite comedy acts. John Ammonds was also central to the duo's most successful period in the 1970s. As the producer of the BBC TV shows, it was his idea to involve celebrity guests. He also came up with the duo's familiar dance.

The Show A typical Morecambe and Wise show, as scripted by Braben, was effectively a sketch show crossed with a sitcom, although shows could also include the duo appearing "as themselves" on a mock stage in front of curtains emblazoned with an M and W logo (this was usually to open the show). Braben gave the duo characterisations—Wise egotistical but naive, Morecambe child-like and cocky—although at other times they relied on their acting ability to appear as characters in sketches. Wise was essentially the 'straight man' of the duo, with Morecambe usually given the funnier lines, usually bouncing them off Wise. Wise's contribution to the humour is a subject of an ongoing debate (to the end of his life he would always reject interviewers' suggestions that he was 'the straight man', preferring to call himself 'the song-and-dance man'); but as the manager of the duo he worked hard to ensure their success.

A central conceit was that the duo lived together as close, long-term friends (references to a childhood friendship were legion) who shared not merely a flat but also a bed -- although their relationship was innocently platonic and merely continued a tradition of comic partners sleeping in the same bed that started with Laurel and Hardy (Morecambe, one gathers, was initially uncomfortable with the bed-sharing sketches, but changed his mind upon being reminded of the Laurel-and-Hardy precedent. Even so, he still insisted on smoking his pipe in the bed scenes "for the masculinity"). The front room of the flat and also the bedroom were used frequently throughout the show episodes, although Braben would also transplant the duo into various external situations, such as a health-food shop or a bank. Many references were made to Ernie's meanness with money and drink. Another conceit of the shows during the 'Braben era' was Wise's utterly confident presentation of amateurishly inept plays. This allowed for another kind of sketch: the staged 'historical drama', which usually parodied genuine historical television plays or films (such as Stalag 54, Antony and Cleopatra, or Napoleon and Josephine).

Wise's character would write a play, complete with cheap props and appallingly clumsy writing ("the play what I wrote" became a catchphrase), which would then be acted out by Morecambe, Wise and the show's guest star. Guests who participated included many big names of the 1970s and 80s, such as Flora Robson, Penelope Keith, Laurence Olivier , John Mills, Vanessa Redgrave, Eric Porter, Peter Cushing and Frank Finlay - as well as Glenda Jackson (as Cleopatra: "All men are fools. And what makes them so is having beauty like what I have got..."). Jackson had not previously been known as a comedienne and this appearance led to her Oscar winning role in A Touch of Class. Morecambe and Wise would often pretend not to have heard of their guest, or would appear to confuse them with someone else (former UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson returned the favour, when appearing as a guest at the duo's 'flat', by referring to Morecambe as 'Mor-e-cam-by').

Also noteworthy was the occasion when the respected BBC newsreader Angela Rippon was induced to show her shapely legs in a dance-number (she had trained as a ballet dancer before she became a journalist and TV presenter), and when Richard Greene of Robin Hood fame played a lost aviator called 'Miles Behind'. Braben later said that a large amount of the duo's humour was based on irreverence. A running gag in a number of shows was a short sequence showing a well-known artist in closeup saying "I appeared in an Ernie Wise play, and look what happened to me!". The camera would then pull back and show the artist doing some low-status job such as selling newspapers, streetwalking, driving a bus, or some other ill-paid employment. However, celebrities felt they had received the highest accolade in showbusiness by being invited to appear in "an Ernest Wide play" as Ernie once mispronounced it during a show's introduction involving 'Vanilla' (Vanessa) Redgrave.

As a carry-over from their music hall days, Morecambe and Wise sang and danced at the end of each show (poignantly, this tradition was abandoned when Eric's heart condition prevented him dancing: the comic solution was to present him walking across the stage with coat and bag, ostensibly to 'wait for his bus', while Ernie danced by himself). Their peculiar skipping dance was an improvised form of the Groucho Marx walk that involved putting alternate hands behind the head. Their signature tune was Bring Me Sunshine. They either sang this at the end of each show or it was used as a theme tune during the credits (although in some of their earlier shows they used other songs as well, notably "Following You Around", "Positive Thinking" and "Don't You Agree"). A standard gag at the end of each show was for a large lady (Janet Webb) to appear behind the pair, walk to the front of the stage and push them out of her way. She would then recite: "I’d like to thank you for watching me and my little show here tonight. If you’ve enjoyed it then it’s all been worthwhile.

So until we meet again, goodnight, and I love you all!" Webb was never announced and never appeared in their shows in any other context. Another running gag involved an old colleague from their music hall days, harmonica player Arthur Tolcher. Arthur would keep appearing on the stage in evening wear and would play a few bars of his mouth organ only to be told "Not now,Arthur!" During a theatrical tribute to the duo, The Play What I Wrote, many members of the audience wept when their "Bring me Sunshine" theme tune was played. This indicates the popularity and special place Morecambe and Wise hold in the hearts of many British people. In June 2007, the BBC released a DVD of surviving material from their first series in 1968 , and the complete second series from 1969 . The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968) The Morecambe & Wise Show (1978) Christmas Specials With the exception of 1974 , the show had end-of-year Christmas specials, which became such an institution during the 1970s that few British families would dream of missing them.

Braben would comment that people judged the quality of their Christmas experience on the quality of the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special. From 1969 until 1980 , 1974 apart, the shows were always on Christmas Day. The 1977 Christmas Show attracted 28 million viewers, around half of the total UK population. It was a record for a single light entertainment broadcast in Britain, and one which still stands. Famous Sketches Singin' In The Rain One of the famous Morecambe and Wise routines was their recreation of the scene from the film. " Singin' in the Rain", where Gene Kelly dances in the rain, and sings the song " Singin' in the Rain". This recreation featured Ernie exactly copying Gene Kelly's dance routine, on a set which exactly copied the set used in the movie, and Eric performed the role of the policeman. The difference from the original was that in the Morecambe and Wise version, there is no water, except for some downpours onto Eric's head (through a drain, or dumped out of a window, etc.).

This lack of water was initially because of practical considerations (the floor of the studio had many electrical cables on it, and such quantities of water would be dangerous) — but Morecambe and Wise found a way to turn the lack of water into a comic asset. The Stripper As remembered as the above is The Stripper routine where Eric and Ernie are seen listening to the radio at breakfast time. David Rose's tune The Stripper comes on and the duo perform a dance using various kitchen utensils and food items, including Ernie catching slices of toast as they popped out of the toaster, and finally opening the fridge door to be bathed in light, as if on stage, while they pull out strings of sausages which they whirl around to the music. The sketch demonstrates their brilliant dancing and timing and Eddie Braben's wonderful comic invention. In December 2007, viewers of UKTV Gold voted the sketch the best moment of Morecambe and Wise's shows .

Tribute To Flanagan & Allen Eric and Ernie often cited the earlier comedy team Flanagan and Allen as influences on their own work; although Morecambe and Wise never imitated or copied Flanagan and Allen, they did sometimes work explicit references to the earlier team into their own cross-talk routines and sketches. In the mid-1970s, Eric and Ernie recorded a tribute album, Morecambe and Wise Sing Flanagan and Allen (Phillips 6382 095), in which they performed some of the earlier team's more popular songs in their own style, without attempting to imitate the originals. Fans of either comedy team may be slightly disappointed by this album, since all of the selections are performed absolutely straight, with no comedy except for a brief amount of banter after one of the songs. Grieg's Piano Concerto Classic sketches from such shows revolved around the guest stars, such as André Previn (referred to as "Andrew Preview or Privet") in 1971.

This sketch showed Eric attempting to play Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto, and after much comic business between Eric, Previn and the orchestra ("Is this the band?"), Eric reduces Previn to exasperation because he is playing it in a jerky, out-of-tempo manner. Eventually Previn tells Eric he is playing all the wrong notes, to which Eric responds by seizing Previn by the jacket lapels and menacingly saying to him the classic line "I'm playing all the right notes... but not necessarily in the right order." This line is still used today by musicians and choir members when humourously responding to critical conductors. (André Previn reminisced later that he was conducting a concert in Britain and the Grieg concerto started but had to be stopped because the audience was giggling.

He said he knew what they were thinking about and had to give them several minutes to calm down.) Catchphrases & Visual Gags Some of the duo's catchphrases include: "What do you think of it so far?" (said by Morecambe, who would use a prop—such as a statue or stuffed toy—to answer: "Rubbish!") Morecambe said later that whenever he was in the directors' box when Luton Town were playing away, and Luton were behind at half-time, the home fans would shout 'What do you think of it so far?' "More tea, Ern?" (a pun on "tea urn", a vessel for serving hot drinks used in workplaces) "[He's got] short,fat,hairy legs" (said by Morecambe of Wise) "You can't see the join!" (said by Morecambe of Wise's alleged wig) "The play what I wrote" (said by Wise of his literary works) "Arsenal!" (said by Morecambe), dating from a Mastermind sketch in which Morecambe is an incompetent 'Mr Memory' unable to remember anything without unsubtle prompting from Wise.

It developed into a running gag, so that whenever Wise coughed, Morecambe would shout 'Arsenal!' "He's not wrong, you know!" (said by Morecambe) "Wahey!" (said by Morecambe after what he considers is a particularly good joke) "He's still got it, you know" (said by Morecambe, referring to himself, after what he considers a particularly good joke) "There's no answer to that!" (said by Morecambe after anything which could be construed as innuendo; he also said "Pardon?" in a similar way) Making fun of the singer and entertainer Des O'Connor in various disparaging ways, e.g. "If you want me to be a goner, buy me a record by Des O'Connor" "That's easy for you to say!" (Morecambe) if anyone fluffed their line. Morecambe deliberately getting guest stars' names wrong, e.g.

Andre Previn = Andrew Preview, Elton John = Elephant John "Just watch it, that's all!" (said by Morecambe when grabbing Wise by the lapels) "You said that without moving your lips" (said by Morecambe if someone said a line whilst he was looking at somebody else).

Eric to Ernie: "I see your fan's in!" Eric: "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" Additionally, there were many repeated visual gags: Morecambe dressed in an overcoat and cloth cap and carrying a shopping bag, walking across the back of the stage as Wise sings the duo's theme song, "Bring Me Sunshine" Morecambe affectionately slapping the top of Wise's shoulders and then cheeks with both hands Wise's hair supposedly being a wig (also the catchphase said by Morecambe: "You can't see the join") Morecambe deliberately making his glasses wonky and/or upside down Morecambe pretending to bully people, usually the star guest, by grabbing them by the collar and pulling them to his face Morecambe reading The Beano , eating crisps, smoking a pipe etc Wise appearing on stage and Morecambe joining him from behind the stage curtain but being unable to find the opening and then trying to fight his way out The duo's dance at the end of each show, which would see them exiting the stage by skipping and putting alternate hands behind their heads and backs Fake title sequences for Wise's plays which satirised current events or popular personalities of the time Visual jokes about Lut

on Town F.C., a football club of which Morecambe was a director.

Eric's prop - be it a mop, cuffs, a cane or trousers - getting progressively longer during dance sequences. Often, it got so long it became ridiculous (more laughs!), such as when his cane had reached such a length, he knocked Glenda Jackson from the stage. Eric would throw a pretend ball in the air and catch it in a real paper bag, watching the invisible ball during its supposed flight and making a sound as though the ball had landed in the bag.

Eric putting a paper cup over his mouth and nose and performing a brief impersonation of Jimmy Durante; 'Sitting at my pianna the udder day ...' Eric noticing the camera and putting on a cheesy grin Eric standing in front of stage curtains and pretending an arm comes out from behind the curtain and seizes him by the neck Famous Guest Stars Guest Stars & Personalities Michael Aspel, Richard Baker, Peter Barkworth, Shirley Bassey, Frank Bough, Peter Bowles, Patricia Brake, Bernard Bresslaw, Richard Briers, Richard Caldicot, Ian Carmichael, Roy Castle, Diane Cilento, Margaret Courtenay, Harry Corbett, Gemma Craven, Peter Cushing, Allan Cuthbertson, Suzanne Danielle, Anna Dawson, Robin Day, Judi Dench, David Dimbleby , Diana Dors, Michele Dotrice, Robert Dougall, Clive Dunn, Paul Eddington, Dick Emery, Trevor Eve, Fenella Fielding, Frank Finlay, Bruce Forsyth, Grazina Frame, William Franklyn, David Frost, Jill Gascoigne, Hannah Gordon, Anita Graham, Hughie Green, Richard Greene, Derek Griffiths, Alec Guinness, Deryck Guyler, Susan

 Hampshire, Robert Hardy, Anita Harris, George Harrison, Nigel Hawthorne, Denis Healey, Glenda Jackson, Gordon Jackson, Derek Jacobi, Philip Jenkinson, Diane Keen, Felicity Kendal, Ludovic Kennedy, Penelope Keith, Burt Kwouk, Bonnie Langford, John Laurie, Ian Lavender, John Lennon , Rula Lenska, Valerie Leon, Jenny Linden, Arthur Lowe, Joanna Lumley, Fulton Mackay, Magnus Magnusson, Francis Matthews, Paul McCartney , Yehudi Menuhin, Penny Meredith, John le Mesurier, Valerie Minifie, Keith Michell, John Mills, Juliet Mills, Royce Mills, Patrick Moore, Patrick Mower, Barbara Murray, Nanette Newman, Barry Norman, Rudolf Nureyev, Des O'Connor, Ian Ogilvy, Sir Laurence Olivier , Kate O'Mara, Hugh Paddick, Michael Parkinson, Eric Porter, Andre Previn, David Prowse, Michael Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, Angharad Rees, Cliff Richard, Ralph Richardson, Arnold Ridley, Diana Rigg, Angela Rippon, Flora Robson, Leonard Rossiter, Leonard Sachs, Anthony Sharp, Isla St Clair, Donald Sinden, Wayne Sleep

, Ringo Starr, John Thaw, Percy Thrower, Jackie Trent, Frankie Vaughan, Peter Vaughan, Richard Vernon, April Walker, Michael Ward, Eddie Waring, Dennis Waterman, Dilys Watling, Colin Welland, June Whitfield, Richard Whitmore, Barbie Wilde, Harold Wilson , Terry Wogan, Edward Woodward, Susannah York, Jimmy Young, Robert Young, Lena Zavaroni Musical Guests The Beatles , The Small Faces, The Hollies, Tom Jones, Lulu, Elton John , Shirley Bassey, Cliff Richard and The Pattersons.

Most of the singers also took part in sketches — (for instance, The Beatles acted in a comic version sketch of " Pyramus and Thisbe", as performed within the Shakespearean play " A Midsummer's Night Dream"). Retrieved from " " The 2008 Wikipedia for Schools has a sponsor: SOS Children , and is a hand-chosen selection of article versions from the English Wikipedia edited only by deletion (see for details of authors and sources). The articles are available under the morecambe &Wise - YouTube morecambe &Wise Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Feb 26, 2014 When Eric Morecambe died in 1984 so closely associated were the pair with the song that it was the title of the Bring Me Sunshine tribute show at the London Palladium held in his memory. Ten years later, the BBC ran another 3-part tribute, also titled Bring Me Sunshine.

Lyrics to the song were also read at Morecambe's funeral by Ernie Wise,When Morecambe & Wise defected from the BBC to Thames Television in 1978, directly after their record-breaking Christmas Special the previous year, the signature tune was dropped. It was however used in later installments of these shows. Category The Woman Behind Morecambe and Wise - morecambeandwise.com Fans know, but have you ever thought what makes them so popular? The Woman Behind Morecambe and Wise 2009 Article Eric and Sadie Based on an Article first published in the Daily Express on July 4th 2009 and written by Dominic Utton. This is an edited version of the article, updated for this website by Paul Jenkinson. A second-class train ride from Coventry to Birmingham is not the most obvious starting point for the best-loved double act in British comedy history. And yet it was on this dreary, 21-mile journey in 1940 that the seeds of future greatness were sown. Travelling were one Sadie Bartholomew, her 14-year-old son Eric, and his friend Ernest Wiseman.

The teenagers had been performing in a touring youth theatre – singing, dancing, telling jokes – though always individually, never thinking to combine their talents. As usual, the boys were over-excited after the show and Sadie, who was trying to sleep, made an off-the-cuff suggestion that would change showbiz history for ever. “Can’t you two find something to do?” she asked. “Why don’t you rehearse some gags for a double act?” Behind every great man, so they say, is a great woman. And in the case of Eric Morecambe, once voted the funniest British star of the 20th century, that great woman was his mum. As a play celebrating the early careers of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise tours the country after a critically acclaimed season at the Edinburgh festival, the extraordinary role which Eric’s mother Sadie played in shaping the double act is only now beginning to emerge. Playwright Tim Whitnall has worked closely with the Morecambe family and the centrepiece of the play is an emotional letter written to the 21-year-old Eric by Sadie in which she calls her son by her favourite nickname: Sunshine.

Bring Me Sunshine would later become Eric and Ernie’s signature tune. But the influence of Sadie went far beyond a spontaneous remark on a train or even inspiration for Morecambe and Wise’s most famous song. It was Sadie who drove Eric into showbusiness, her tenacity that saw him continue to plug away at it, and her keen vision that saw just what her son and his friend could achieve. “Considering how enormous her contribution to Morecambe and Wise was, there’s surprisingly little known about Sadie,” says Paul Jenkinson, who runs website morecambeandwise.com. “It’s a shame because she really was instrumental in both Eric entering showbusiness and in the coming together of Eric and Ern. “She nurtured Eric’s talents from a very early age. She spotted something in him that no one else at that time really saw. "His school reports generally said he wouldn’t do well but she encouraged him to enter talent contests, to become an entertainer. “She was fiercely ambitious. She wanted a better standard of living for her son than she and husband George could give him. “There are comics and comics. He was just naturally funny, that’s not something you can teach.

Sadie saw that, though she encouraged him to develop his own natural funniness.” Eric Morecambe was born John Eric Bartholomew in May 1926 in Buxton Street, Morecambe. It would be years before he would name himself after the town and when he did, inevitably, it was Sadie’s idea. Eric in later years with father George and mother Sadie He was brought up the only child of Sadie and George and life in the Bartholomew household was tough. This did not deter Sadie, however, who once claimed that even as a three-year-old, Eric was a born entertainer, never passing up the opportunity to perform a song and dance at family gatherings. George was a labourer with the Morecambe Corporation and his meagre income was supplemented by Sadie’s work as a cleaner. She was determined, however, to forge a better life for her only son, declaring she didn’t want him “tied to a factory whistle” like his father, and so she took on extra work as an usherette in order to pay for her child to take dance classes and lessons in piano and clarinet.

Her energy and determination is still remembered by Eric’s daughter Gail who recalls: “Sadie was a fascinating character. She was tiny but she had a raucous laugh and a sharp tongue, would always call a spade a spade. I think in another era she would have been famous for something herself. She read and read. She didn’t really watch television at all. She was always immersed in a book. “She was a real character. People refer to my Dad as a genius - and that word does get bandied around a lot now - but I’ve often thought that being a genius can be due to the fact of having certain other individuals around that enable it.” B y the age of 10, the investment was paying off. Eric was indeed showing promise as an entertainer, even securing paid gigs at the working men’s clubs. As word began to spread, Sadie entered him for talent contests and in 1939 he won the local leg of a nationwide competition organised by music magazine Melody Maker. The prize was an audition with the legendary Jack Hylton, whose shows were the top attraction of the day.

Sitting with Hylton as the 13-year-old Eric Bartholomew went through his act, was his latest child star - one Ernest Wiseman, a short, confident Leeds boy. It was the first time the future double act had laid eyes on each other and the initial signs were not promising. Ernie was impressed enough, so impressed, in fact, to be worried. As he later remembered: “The boys in the band turned to me and said, ‘Bye then, Ernie. Things won’t be the same with this new kid around. What are you going to do now?’” The wariness was mutual. “At the same time, Eric wasn’t too keen on Ern at first,” explains Jenkinson. “Ernie may have been Hylton’s big star but to Eric he was just a boy of his own age and he was thinking, who are you to sit there and audition me? "There was a definite rivalry there. Of course later on, when they toured together as individual acts, they became best friends and in a way that was down to Sadie too.” Within a year the two were performing separate acts in a touring revue called Youth Takes A Bow and quickly laid aside their initial rivalry.

Sadie, who travelled everywhere with her son, invited Ernie to share their digs, the two boys often even having to share a bed, and the three became a team. It was during this period, after a show in Coventry, that Sadie first suggested that they pair up to form a double act. The initial remark may have been born out of her desire for a bit of peace and quiet on the train journey back to Birmingham but for the boys it was an obvious way to combine their talents. They immediately started rehearsing, putting together sketches, song and dance routines, even the semi ad-libbed flights of fancy for which they would become so famous. Bartholomew and Wise became a hit but for Sadie there was still one problem. After a gig in Nottingham, Eric later remembered how his mother put the final piece of the jigsaw together. “My mother was talking to Adelaide Hall, the coloured American singer on the bill,” he recalled, “and explaining to her how nobody liked the name Bartholomew and Wise. "Adelaide’s husband, Bert Hicks, overheard and said that he had a friend who called himself Rochester because he came from Rochester, Minnesota.” Bert asked Sadie where she came from.

“Morecambe,” she replied, before thinking for a moment. “Morecambe and Wise. That has a ring to it.” Eric later said that he always preferred Morecambe and Leeds, but Sadie thought it sounded too much like a bus tour. The newly-named fledgling double act was put on hold, however, as both boys were conscripted in 1943: Ernie went into the Merchant Navy, Eric became a Bevin Boy, working in a coal mine in Accrington, from which he was invalided out after 11 months due to the discovery of a heart defect. After the war, Sadie was determined that Morecambe and Wise should once again take to the stage. Working from her council house in Morecambe, she acted as their agent, tirelessly pestering theatres and promoters to find them work, then accompanying the boys on endless trips to London to perform. “Sadie was totally unusual for her era,” says Eric’s widow Joan Morecambe. “She spotted their talent and just went for it.

[Eric’s father] George was unusual for that time too because he was happy for his wife to do that.” Paul Jenkinson agrees that her energy and ambition were extra­ordinary. “Women simply weren’t like she was in the Forties,” he says. “They were supposed to stay at home and look after their husband and children. "But she was very smart, very dynamic and very ambitious. Her attitude was that she was going to do everything she could to make sure Eric fulfilled his potential. “She acted as their agent throughout their early career, booking them gigs, travelling round all the theatres with them, taking them to shows, sharing digs. And she kept it up right until the double act really took off and they were getting exposure on the radio and TV.” By 1950 the boys had secured a professional agent and within two years were regulars on the BBC radio show Variety Fanfare. It was only then that Sadie allowed herself to relax. “Once they were really established it was like she felt her contribution was over. She’d done all she could,” says Jenkinson.

Gail Morecambe remembers that her grandmother, still fiercely protective of her son, felt she had one more duty to perform before letting go of Eric’s career completely. “I think Sadie handed him over to Ernie,” she says. “Like she was saying - here you are, now he’s your responsibility.” Many thanks to Dominic Utton for allowing us to use this article. © Daily Express / Dominc Utton 2009 Morecambe and Wise - iSnare Free Encyclopedia Morecambe and Wise This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

(September 2008) Morecambe & Wise in their classic "skip dance" pose, performed to "Bring Me Sunshine" Born Film, television, stand-up, music, books Years active Marriage , everyday life , current events , pop culture Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (also Eric and Ernie), were an iconic British comic double act , working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. The show was a significant part of British popular culture , and they have been described as "the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced".

[1] In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, The Morecambe and Wise Show was placed 14th. In September 2006, they were voted by the general public as number 2 in a poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars and in 2011 their early career was the subject of the television biopic Eric and Ernie . In 2013, the two were honoured with a blue plaque at Teddington Studios where their last four series were recorded. [2] Contents 9 External links History Morecambe and Wise's partnership began in 1941 when they were each booked separately to appear in Jack Hylton 's revue, Youth Takes a Bow at the Nottingham Empire Theatre. War service broke up the act but they reunited by chance at the Swansea Empire Theatre in 1946 when they joined forces again. They made their name in variety, appearing in a variety circus, the Windmill Theatre , the Glasgow Empire and many venues around Britain.

[3] After this they also made their name in radio, transferring to television in 1954. Their show, Running Wild, was not well received and led to a damning newspaper review: "Definition of the week: TV set—the box in which they buried Morecambe and Wise." Eric apparently carried this review around with him ever after and from then on Eric and Ernie kept a tight control over their material. In 1956 they were offered a spot in the Winifred Atwell show with material written by Johnny Speight and this was a success. In 1959 they topped the bill in BBC TV's long running variety show The Good Old Days in a Boxing Day edition of the programme. In later years the pair would become a Christmas TV Institution in their own right. They had a series of shows that spanned over twenty years, during which time they developed and honed their act, most notably after moving to the BBC in 1968, where they were to be teamed with their long-term writer Eddie Braben . It is this period of their careers that is widely regarded as their "glory days". Their shows were: Running Wild (BBC, 1954.

Writer Leonard Fincham, Lawrie Wyman). The pair starred in three feature films during the 1960s— The Intelligence Men (1965), That Riviera Touch (1966), and The Magnificent Two (1967). In 1983 they made their last film, Night Train To Murder . In 1976, they were both awarded the OBE . Collaborators In the later and most successful part of their career, which spanned the 1970s, they were joined behind the scenes by Eddie Braben , a script writer who generated almost all their material (Morecambe and Wise were also sometimes credited as supplying "additional material") and defined what is now thought of as typical Morecambe and Wise humour. Together Morecambe, Wise and Braben were known as "The Golden Triangle". Morecambe and Wise are considered by many to be one of the UK's all-time favourite comedy acts. John Ammonds was also central to the duo's most successful period in the 1970s. As the producer of the BBC TV shows, it was his idea to involve celebrity guests.

He also perfected the duo's familiar dance, which was based on a dance performed by Groucho Marx in the film Horse Feathers . [4] Ernest Maxin started choreographing the musical numbers in 1970, and succeeded John Ammonds as producer of the BBC TV shows in 1974. Maxin, who won a BAFTA for the Best Light Entertainment Show for the Morecambe and Wise 1977 Christmas Show, was also responsible for devising and choreographing many of their great musical comedy routines including "The Breakfast Sketch", "Singin' in the Rain", and the homage to South Pacific, "There is nothing like a dame" featuring BBC newsreaders in an acrobatic dance routine. The other writers were Barry Cryer , John Junkin , Dick Hills and Sid Green during the ATV Two of a Kind series, Mike Craig and Lawrie Kinsley.[ citation needed ] The show A typical Morecambe and Wise show was effectively a sketch show crossed with a sitcom, although shows would also include the duo appearing as themselves on a mock stage in front of curtains emblazoned with an M and W logo (this was usually to open the show).

Morecambe and Wise's comic style varied subtly throughout their career, depending on their writers. Their writers during most of the 1960s, Dick Hills and Sid Green, took a relatively straightforward approach, depicting Eric as an aggressive, knockabout comedian and Ernie as an essentially conventional and somewhat disapproving straight man. When Eddie Braben took over as writer, he made the relationship considerably deeper and more complex. The critic Kenneth Tynan noted that, with Braben as writer, Morecambe and Wise had a unique dynamic—Ernie was a comedian who wasn't funny, while Eric was a straight man who was funny. [5] The Ernie persona became simultaneously more egotistical and more naïve. Morecambe pointed out that Braben wrote him as "tougher, less gormless, harder towards Ern." [6] Wise's contribution to the humour is a subject of an ongoing debate. To the end of his life he would always reject interviewers' suggestions that he was the straight man, preferring to call himself the song-and-dance man.

However, Wise's skill and dedication was essential to their joint success, and Tynan praised Wise's performance as "unselfish, ebullient and indispensable". [7] A central concept was that the duo lived together as close, long-term friends (there were many references to a childhood friendship) who shared not merely a flat but also a bed—although their relationship was purely platonic and merely continued a tradition of comic partners sleeping in the same bed that started with Laurel and Hardy . Morecambe was initially uncomfortable with the bed-sharing sketches, but changed his mind upon being reminded of the Laurel and Hardy precedent; however, he still insisted on smoking his pipe in the bed scenes "for the masculinity". The front room of the flat and also the bedroom were used frequently throughout the show episodes, although Braben would also transplant the duo into various external situations, such as a health food shop or a bank. Many references were made to Ernie's supposed meanness with money and drink. Another concept of the shows during the Braben era was Ernie's utterly confident presentation of amateurishly inept plays "wot I wrote".

This allowed for another kind of sketch: the staged historical drama, which usually parodied genuine historical television plays or films (such as Stalag 17 , Antony and Cleopatra , or Napoleon and Josephine). Wise's character would write a play, complete with cheap props, shaky scenery and appallingly clumsy writing ("the play what I wrote" became a catchphrase), which would then be acted out by Morecambe, Wise and the show's guest star. Guests who participated included many big names of the 1970s and 1980s, such as Dame Flora Robson , Penelope Keith , Laurence Olivier , Sir John Mills , Vanessa Redgrave , Eric Porter , Peter Cushing (who in a running gag would keep turning up to complain that he had not been paid for an earlier appearance) and Frank Finlay —as well as Glenda Jackson (as Cleopatra: "All men are fools. And what makes them so is having beauty like what I have got..."). Jackson had not previously been known as a comedian and this appearance led to her Oscar-winning role in A Touch of Class .

Morecambe and Wise would often pretend not to have heard of their guest, or would appear to confuse them with someone else (former UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson returned the favour, when appearing as a guest at the duo's flat, by referring to Morecambe as "Mor-e-cam-by"). Also noteworthy was the occasion when the respected BBC newsreader Angela Rippon was induced to show her legs in a dance number (she had trained as a ballet dancer before she became a journalist and TV presenter). Braben later said that a large amount of the duo's humour was based on irreverence. A running gag in a number of shows was a short sequence showing a well-known artist in close-up saying "I appeared in an Ernie Wise play, and look what happened to me!". The camera would then pull back and show the artist doing some low-status job such as newspaper seller ( Ian Carmichael ), underground guard ( Fenella Fielding ), dustman ( Eric Porter ), bus conductor ( André Previn ), or some other ill-paid employment.

However, celebrities felt they had received the highest accolade in showbusiness by being invited to appear in "an Ernest Wide play" as Ernie once mispronounced it during a show's introduction involving "Vanilla" (Vanessa) Redgrave. As a carry-over from their music hall days, Eric and Ernie sang and danced at the end of each show, although they were forced to abandon this practice when Morecambe's heart condition prevented him from dancing. The solution was that Eric would walk across the stage with coat and bag, ostensibly to wait for his bus, while Ernie danced by himself. Their peculiar skipping dance, devised by their BBC producer John Ammonds , was a modified form of a dance used by Groucho Marx . Their signature tune was Bring Me Sunshine . They either sang this at the end of each show or it was used as a theme tune during the credits (although in their BBC shows they used other songs as well, notably "Following You Around", "Positive Thinking" "Don't You Agree" and "Just Around the Corner"). A standard gag at the end of each show was for a large lady ( Janet Webb ) to appear behind the pair, walk to the front of the stage and push them out of her way.

She would then recite: “ I'd like to thank you for watching me and my little show here tonight. If you've enjoyed it then it's all been worthwhile. So until we meet again, goodnight, and I love you all! ” Webb was never announced, and seldom appeared in their shows in any other role. According to a BBC documentary, this was a parody of George Formby 's wife who used to come on stage to take the bows with him at the end of a show.[ citation needed ] Another running gag involved an old colleague from their music hall days, harmonica player Arthur Tolcher . Arthur would keep appearing on the stage in evening wear and would play a few bars of his mouth organ only to be told "Not now, Arthur!" At the very end of the show, following the final credit, Arthur would sneak on stage and begin to play, only for the screen to cut to black. In June 2007, the BBC released a DVD of surviving material from their first series in 1968, and the complete second series from 1969.

In November 2011 Network DVD released the complete, uncut 13 episodes of the first ATV series of Two of a Kind from 1962. The Morecambe & Wise Show (1978–1983) Christmas specials With the exception of 1974, the show had end-of-year Christmas specials, which became some of the highest-rated TV programmes of the era. Braben would comment that people judged the quality of their Christmas experience on the quality of the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special. From 1969 until 1980, except 1974, the shows were always broadcast on Christmas Day. Audiences The Morecambe and Wise's Christmas Show on BBC in 1977 scored one of the highest ever audiences in British television history with more than 20 million viewers (the cited figure varies between 21 and 28 million, depending on the source).

[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] The duo remain among the most consistently high-rating performers of all time on British television, regularly topping the in-week charts during their heyday in the 1970s and early 1980s. Famous sketches Grieg's Piano Concerto Classic sketches from such shows often revolved around the guest stars. One example is the 1971 appearance of André Previn , who was introduced onstage by Ernie as Andrew Preview. Previn's schedule was extremely tight, and Morecambe and Wise were worried that he had very little time to rehearse, but the final result was described by their biographer as "probably their finest moment". [16] The sketch was a rework of one which appeared in Two of a Kind (Series 3, Episode 7) [17] and written by Green and Hills.

Previn is initially enthusiastic as a guest, but he is perplexed by the news that he will not, after all, be conducting Yehudi Menuhin in Mendelssohn 's Violin Concerto , but Edvard Grieg 's A minor Piano Concerto with Eric as piano soloist: “ Previn: It's in Chicago. [18] ” At this point in the sketch Morecambe punches the air with his fist and ad-libs the line "Pow! He's in! I like him! I like him!". [19] The television executive Michael Grade has observed that it was Previn's expert delivery of his lines that caused Morecambe to visibly relax: "Eric's face lights up as if to say, 'Oh, yes!

This is going to be great!" [19] Since Previn hadn't time to rehearse, his comic timing was a surprise to Morecambe, who said to Previn just "None of the three of us should believe that this is funny."[ citation needed ] Eric goes on to treat Previn and the orchestra with his customary disdain ("In the Second Movement, not too heavy on the banjos") and produces his own score ("autographed copies available afterwards, boys") but consistently fails to enter on the conductor's cue. This is because, when the orchestra begins, Eric is standing right next to Previn. During the introductory bars, Eric has to descend from the conductor's rostrum, down to his place at the piano. This he cannot do in the time available—or rather, deliberately meanders so as to miss his cue. After failing twice to reach the piano, they decide he should be seated there at the start. [20] Even then, he cannot see Previn when the conductor gestures for him to begin playing, because the piano lid obscures his view. Previn has to leap in the air at the appropriate time, so that Eric can see him.

When he finally manages to enter on time, Eric's rendition of the piano part is so bizarre that Previn becomes exasperated and tells Eric that he is playing "all the wrong notes". Eric stands up, seizes Previn by the lapels and menacingly informs him "I'm playing all the right notes—but not necessarily in the right order." [20] Previn demonstrates how the piece should be played but Eric, after a moment's reflection, delivers a verdict of "Rubbish!" and he and Ernie walk off in disgust. Previn starts playing Eric's version and the duo rush back, declare that Previn has finally "got it" and start dancing ecstatically. [20] The sketch's impact can be assessed by the fact that twenty-five years later, London taxi drivers were still addressing André Previn as "Mr. Preview". [21] Singin' in the Rain One of the famous Morecambe and Wise routines was their 1976 Christmas Show parody of the scene from the film Singin' in the Rain , where Gene Kelly dances in the rain, and sings the song " Singin' in the Rain ".

This recreation featured Ernie exactly copying Gene Kelly's dance routine, on a set which exactly copied the set used in the movie, and Eric performed the role of the policeman. The difference from the original was that in the Morecambe and Wise version, there is no water, except for some downpours onto Eric's head (through a drain, or dumped out of a window, etc.). This lack of water was initially because of practical considerations (the floor of the studio had many electrical cables on it, and such quantities of water would be dangerous)—but Morecambe and Wise found a way to turn the lack of water into a comic asset. The Breakfast Sketch This 1976 sketch has become one of the duo's most familiar and is a parody of a stripper routine where Eric and Ernie are seen listening to the radio at breakfast time. This sketch was not an original but was adapted from an earlier one Benny Hill performed on his own show during the mid 1960s.

David Rose 's tune " The Stripper " comes on and the duo perform a dance using various kitchen utensils and food items, including Ernie catching slices of toast as they popped out of the toaster, and finally opening the fridge door to be bathed in light, as if on stage, while they pull out strings of sausages which they whirl around to the music. The sketch was choreographed and produced by Ernest Maxin . In December 2007, viewers of satellite channel Gold voted the sketch the best moment of Morecambe and Wise's shows. [22] Propellerheads parodied the sketch in the video for their 1998 single "Crash!" [23] and, in 2008, the sketch was parodied in two UK television commercials, for PG Tips and Aunt Bessie's Yorkshire Puddings . Tribute to Flanagan & Allen Eric and Ernie often cited the earlier comedy team Flanagan and Allen as influences on their own work; although Morecambe and Wise never imitated or copied Flanagan and Allen, they did sometimes work explicit references to the earlier team into their own cross-talk routines and sketches.

In the mid-1970s, Eric and Ernie recorded a tribute album, Morecambe and Wise Sing Flanagan and Allen (Phillips 6382 095), in which they performed some of the earlier team's more popular songs in their own style, without attempting to imitate the originals. Catchphrases and visual gags Much of the material of the Morecambe and Wise shows consisted of their well-worn catch phrases that recurred like motifs throughout their career. Barely a show would go by without Eric referring to Ernie's "short, fat, hairy legs", [24] or pointing out that "you can't see the join", where Ernie's supposed wig was attached. Perhaps this was to deflect attention from Eric's own receding hairline. [25] Eric never seemed to tire of offering his partner some "Tea, Ern?". This was a pun on " tea urn ", a vessel for serving hot drinks used in workplaces. If anyone fluffed their line, Eric would usually say, "That's easy for you to say!" or "You can say that again".

When Ernie disagreed with him, Eric would say, "Just watch it, that's all!"; often said by Eric when grabbing Ernie by the lapels. [24] If someone said a line whilst he was looking at somebody else, Eric would say, "You said that without moving your lips"; as if the non-speaker were a ventriloquist throwing his or her voice. Another ventriloquial allusion (probably quoting Arthur Worsley ) was made when Eric said, should his intended listener be looking away, "Look at me when I'm talking to you!". Some catch phrases developed from earlier sketches. When Eric played an incompetent 'Mr Memory', unable to remember anything without unsubtle prompting from Ernie, Ernie prompted Eric with "Arsenal!" disguised very badly as a cough. Later, whenever Ernie, or anyone else, coughed or sneezed, Eric would shout "Arsenal!". [26] The catchphrase "Hello folks, and what about the workers?" was developed by Eric from a similar saying by Harry Secombe in The Goon Show .

[24] For Secombe this was a simple greeting, while for Eric it expressed his great sexual interest in some pretty girl or female guest. It was often accompanied by him slapping the back of his own neck to recover his concentration. Their treatment of their guest stars was terrible for effect. Eric and sometimes Ernie would often call an invited guest by the wrong name. So André Previn was "Andrew Preview", Ian Carmichael was Hoagy Carmichael , Elton John was Elephant John, Vanessa Redgrave was "Vanilla Redgrave" and when The Beatles appeared, Ringo Starr was "Bongo". Alternatively, one or both would seem not to recognise the famous guest artist at all. The pair would frequently make fun of their old friend, the singer and entertainer Des O'Connor in various disparaging ways. [27] A rhyming example was: "If you want me to be a goner, get me an LP by Des O'Connor". Another typical example was "There's only one thing wrong with Des O'Connor records. The hole in the middle isn't big enough". O'Connor would actually appear on the shows and eavesdrop on these insults before Eric and Ernie noticed him.

Many of their catch phrases entered the language. Particularly when they were at their peak, people could be heard using them for humorous effect. The question: "What do you think of it so far?", said by Eric, who would use a prop—such as a statue or stuffed toy—to answer: "Rubbish!", was frequently heard. [24] Morecambe said later that whenever Luton Town were playing away and he happened to be in the director's box, if Luton were behind at half-time the home fans would shout, "What do you think of it so far?". Other examples were: "There's no answer to that!", which was said by Eric after anything which could be construed as innuendo. [28] He would also say "Pardon?" for a similar effect. Schoolboys could be seen holding an open hand underneath a friend's chin while saying, "Get out of that!". When Eric did this to Ernie, it was meant to be a karate move that incapacitated the victim. It was often followed by "You can't, can you?". Also common was, "They can't touch you for it" (i.e.

it is not illegal); a comment following a slightly obscure word, turning it into a double entendre . In addition, Eric would say "Be honest" directly to the audience if they had carried out what he thought was a particularly successful routine. If Ernie received a little applause for something, Eric would say "I see your fan's in", and whenever the doorbell rang in their shared flat, Eric would say to Ernie, "How do you do that?" During the shows in which Ernie's execrable plays were shown, a catch phrase for Ernie was developed. This was, "The play what I wrote", which also was used commonly elsewhere. [29] Guest stars were conned into taking part in these plays and made to utter such grammatical monstrosities as when Glenda Jackson (at the time a noted Shakespearean actress) had to say, "All men are fools and what makes them so is having beauty, like what I have got", to the obvious smug satisfaction of the words' supposed author. [30] There were also several visual gags that were often repeated. Very common, and copied by the public, was Eric slapping the shoulders and then both sides of Ernie's face.

A particular affectation of Eric was him putting his glasses askew or waggling them up and down on his nose. As with André Previn, if they appeared uncooperative, Eric would grab any guest by the lapels and pull them to his face in a threatening manner. He would also grimace like Humphrey Bogart (or so he thought) if Ernie or a guest was particularly challenging. Eric would often hold an empty paper bag in one hand, throw an imaginary coin, or other small object, into the air, watch it during its flight and then flick the bag with his finger giving the impression that the item had landed in the bag. Again, he would hold a paper cup in his mouth and over his nose to perform a brief impersonation of Jimmy Durante , singing, 'Sitting at my pianna the udder day ...' Ernie would appear on a curtained stage expecting Eric to join him from behind the curtain, but Eric would be unable to find the opening and have to fight his way on. This gag could be reversed with Eric trying to fight his way off, often asking Ernie if he had a key to unlock the curtain.

Another curtain gag would have Eric standing in front of the stage curtains or at the side of the stage and pretending that an arm (his own) comes out from behind the curtain and seizes him by the throat. If Eric had his back to a guest, he would jerk his body as if the guest had goosed him. Often, Eric would suddenly notice the camera and put on a fixed, cheesy grin. Ernie would frequently notice him doing this, stand behind Eric and grin a similar grin into the camera, over Eric's shoulder. Eric and Ernie would introduce the special guest facing stage-left with their arms out. However, the guest would enter from stage-right. Also, at the end of several shows, the duo would exit the stage by skipping while putting alternate hands behind their heads and backs. Notes Bring Me Sunshine - morecambeandwise.com Eric and Ern decide to try their luck in America, but things did not go to plan. Bring Me Sunshine 2002 Article The front cover Review of 'The Play What I Wrote' from an American view point. Taken from The New Yorker magazine 2002.

The big hit of this theatrical season in London is the quick-witted comedy team The Right Size - the lanky Sean Foley and the stocky Hamish McColl, who scored Off Broadway a couple of years ago in a bit of slapstick merriment called "Do You Come Here Often?" Now, at the Wyndham's Theatre, they are back at their stock-in-trade with some cunning hokum entitled "The Play What I Wrote," a sort of anti-homage to the late, great English double act Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, who teamed up in the early forties and who, from 1954 to 1984, primarily through a variety of television shows, corrupted the English public with a pleasure that made them among the most beloved comedians of the postwar era. The show - which includes nonsense songs, surreal dance numbers, a visit from a mystery guest, and the staging of a terrible play ostensibly penned by McColl ("A Tight Squeeze for the Scarlet Pimple") - takes its energy and much of its shape from the arsenal of Morecambe and Wise's genial flimflammery, and it brings the antic spirit of English music hall into the twenty-first century.

"There are funny lines, but no funny men," Eric Morecambe told Kenneth Tynan in 1973. But Morecambe, who died in 1984, was a funny man. He was tall, bespectacled, rambunctious, and swift. Rubber-legged, he had the extra advantage of looking goofy in almost any costume, especially a posh one. He had the clowns rogue gene. Wise, who died in 1999, did not. He was short, conventionally good-looking, and somewhat vacant. Where Morecambe was incorrigible, Wise was sedate. Light needs shadow to intensify its brilliance, and so it is with comics, which is why Dame Edna employs the deadpan Madge, and the blowhard Oliver Hardy was partnered by the Milquetoast Stan Laurel. Wise’s pretensions to artistic and intellectual authority impelled Morecambe to take liberties; his gravity showed off Morecambe's grace. In other words, Wise was the prose that allowed Morecambe's poetry.

Everything that Morecambe touched with his exaggerated gestures - his thick black glasses, his hat, the curtain (especially the curtain) - became an occasion for zany upstaging and for an exhilarating mockery of decorum. Together, like all great comedy teams - Martin and Lewis, Burns and Allen, Abbott and Costello - Morecambe and Wise cut a risible silhouette: they were a collection of physical and psychological opposites, which combined to present the world with a single comic psyche. The brashest and most interesting conceit in "The Play What I Wrote" is that neither of the contemporary clowns wants to be Wise; both vie to be the madcap, scene-stealing Morecambe. The opening of Act II simulates the finale of the long-running TV series "The Morecambe and Wise Show," with Foley and McColl in top hats and tails dancing backward down neon-lit stairs to the signature tune "Bring Me Sunshine." When they turn to face us at the end of the number, both Foley and McColl are wearing Morecambe's black glasses. It's a great sight gag.

"The Play What I Wrote" also raises the knotty issue of which member of The Right Size is funnier, who is the ticket and who the passenger - an inevitable undercurrent both of a double act's curious symbiosis and of its neurosis. In this battle of nitwits, McColl, who apparently hasn't raised a laugh since 1997 (the legendary titter was caught on tape and is played for us), is the loser. He decides to throw in the towel and break up the team, which provides The Right Size with its own opportunity to send up theatrical artifice. McCOLL: Sean, I'm retiring from show business. FOLEY: You're only saying that to cheer me up. MCCOLL: Its true. FOLEY: Where are you going? MCCOLL: I don't know yet. FOLEY: Say your next line and find out. MCCOLL: Eastbourne. FOLEY: There you go.

But before he leaves, The Right Size - with the help of Toby Jones, a pug-nosed jack-in-the-box who bobs up variously as the show's producer, David Pugh, Daryl Hannah, and the people of France - manages some rollicking moments. As McColl gnashes his teeth about his inability to get more than "inaudible laughs" - "I am not funny, and I have no hope of ever being funny" - Foley keeps popping up behind him with cue cards to undermine the shaggy sob story: "PROFESSIONAL SUICIDE," "PATRONISE HIM," "BLOND GIRL . . . STALLS . . . ROW C . . . PIZZA HUT . . . FIVE MINUTES." Every laugh is Foley's, but McColl magnanimously thanks the audience. "I am even grateful to Sean for giving me this moment alone with you, and not using it as an opportunity to make another cheap gag," he says. It's wonderful vaudeville folderol.

Such exercises in liberty are hard to pull off, but the level of oxygen that this evening generates is greatly increased by the deft direction of Kenneth Branagh, who has borrowed from such far-flung sources as James Thurber's lurking behemoth animals and Buster Keaton's collapsing house in "Steamboat Bill, Jr." And Eddie Braben, who wrote much of Morecambe and Wise's trademark daft cross talk, has been imported to add authentic dopiness to Foley and McColl's punning badinage. "The time is 1759," McColl says, as he introduces his awful play. Foley interrupts: "Call it six o'clock." For Morecambe and Wise, whose only higher education took place on-stage, comedy was business (they referred to playing the provinces as "bank raids"). They had nothing else. "For Ernie and I to play one minute without a laugh is murder. It is fear" Morecambe told Tynan. The urgency of their commitment was what sometimes elevated their act to the purity of metaphor and made them poetic. McColl and Foley, on the other hand, are university wits - men with options.

They aspire to art, and at times they strain for the resonance of metaphor, which is why their shrewd act, even when it succeeds, seems a little earthbound. This self-consciousness is apparent from the first beat. Taking a page from Morecambe and Wise's book, "The Play What I Wrote" begins and ends with the pair together in bed - a neat correlative for their comic interdependence. At the opening, as Foley strums a ukulele, they sing a nonsense song that concludes, "I'm dreaming of a hope / Hoping for a light /To finish a ridiculous song / About a song / About a dream." The song, which is uncharacteristically oblique, is an attempt to deconstruct Morecambe and Wise's high jinks - their dreamscape of caprice, in which gestures become a semaphore of joy, and ignorance, insult, humiliation, and ambition have no consequences but delight. At the finale, as the men get comfortable under the covers, they ponder McColl's play and the performance of the mystery guest (the week I saw the show, it was George Cole, the hatchet-faced star of "Minder," playing the Comte de Toblerone).

The show ends with McColl planning yet another wretched play; the moment works as both sentiment and its antidote, a testament to two hapless souls bound together and killing time. FOLEY: YOU know what you are? Brave beyond words. MCCOLL: That's a good title, that is. I'm going to start on that in the morning. It's going to be about a Red Indian who can't speak. (A police siren. They turn to each other.) MCCOLL AND FOLEY: He won't sell much ice cream going at that speed. "God they were funny," McColl and Foley add. Yes, they were. And so are The Right Size. But, no matter how hard they try to sidestep the issue, they are still lumbered with the impossibility of impersonating an incomparable act - they are neither quite themselves nor quite the act they honor. The audience is entertained but not, finally, inspired.

At the curtain call, McColl and Foley surrender to the imperatives of nostalgia: they sing the song that was the simple and profound contract Morecambe and Wise made with the public and with each other at the end of every show—"Bring me fun / Bring me sunshine / Bring me love." Morecambe and Wise spent a lifetime defining their uniqueness; this remains the biggest challenge facing McColl and Foley. "The Play What I Wrote" is their greatest success so far, but not, I'd like to think, their greatest accomplishment. © The New Yorker 2002

Question: What was Morecambe and Wise's signature tune
Answer: Bring Me Sunshine