The British and Irish Comedy Appreciation Thread (incorporating The Shirley Ghostman Thread)

DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
edited March 11 in General Movies & TV Posts: 17,728
Note: Thread retitled and expanded on 21st June 2022.

The subject of this thread is something of a long-shot in nature, but here goes anyway as I'd really like to see the TV show in question again some time. :)

Does anyone here recall a TV programme that was either a one-off sketch or show or part of a series where there was a parody of the late Colin Fry-type of TV psychic medium that was very popular at this time and afterwards. To be more specific the sort of thing I'm referring to here is just the sort of audience that a psychic medium like Colin Fry stands before and says he's getting a dead person that someone in the audience will know coming through with messages for them.

In this spoof I recall the psychic had long hair down past his shoulders, was wearing a suit and kept getting details about the dead person wrong with the relative or friend arguing with them that they were wrong. He then comically tried to correct them to show he was right. It was really very funny indeed and I'd love to know what the show/programme was called so I could possibly find a copy of it. I've looked online to no avail but this US TV sketch showing a parody of the late TV psychic medium Sylvia Brown gives a bit of an idea of what this UK show was like:

Comments

  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    edited May 2016 Posts: 13,384

    ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4464175.stm
    this might be the character ?
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Yes, that's him! How did you find that? Thanks so much!
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384

    one from Phoenix nights. :D
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    I really can't thank you enough, TP, for finding this for me again. I look forward to watching this series in full - it's a real shame that the BBC felt the need to cancel it after one series.

    Thanks for those little extras, TP.

    I'm delighted to see this series is available on DVD on Amazon. I'll be ordering it tomorrow! :)

    Also, I see there is this DVD release too:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Land-DVD-Marc-Wootton/dp/B003H4QV5E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463506754&sr=8-2&keywords=SHIRLEY+ghostman
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    No problem @Dragonpol, I remember watching it when it was first broadcast.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    No problem @Dragonpol, I remember watching it when it was first broadcast.

    Yes, I saw that one episode I was referring to then too and I thought it was hilarious. Looking forward to seeing it again. :)
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited May 2016 Posts: 17,728
    For the uninitiated here are two short scenes from High Spirits:





    :))
  • ThunderpussyThunderpussy My Secret Lair
    Posts: 13,384
    I remember an interview with a magician ( who all hate mediums) who
    Said he was on a radio phone in with a psychic, who with one caller
    Got everything wrong, not one right answer, but wasn't phased by it
    Simply telling the caller " When you put the phone down and think about it
    You'll see I'm right !" :))
    So Ghostman is not so outlandish a character.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Shirley Ghostman fishing around for a connection with the word "unit":



    Very funny, especially as this is exactly the sort of cold reading technique used by the late Colin Fry that this show parodied to within an inch of its life! :))
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Shirley Ghostman channels Col. Sanders (KFC):



    And Lady Diana:



    :))
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    In the same vein as Shirley Ghostman, here's Bo Selecta featuring the late Most Haunted psychic medium Derek Acorah:

  • Posts: 12,506
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    In the same vein as Shirley Ghostman, here's Bo Selecta featuring the late Most Haunted psychic medium Derek Acorah:


    This show made me laugh so much! :))
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    In the same vein as Shirley Ghostman, here's Bo Selecta featuring the late Most Haunted psychic medium Derek Acorah:


    This show made me laugh so much! :))

    Yes, it was great! I love the way the camera focuses into his face so close as if they're taking it really seriously and then he lets rip! :))
  • Posts: 12,506
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    In the same vein as Shirley Ghostman, here's Bo Selecta featuring the late Most Haunted psychic medium Derek Acorah:


    This show made me laugh so much! :))

    Yes, it was great! I love the way the camera focuses into his face so close as if they're taking it really seriously and then he lets rip! :))

    Who was your favourite spoof character? Mine has to be the Bear! Although Mel B is a very close second! :))
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited January 2022 Posts: 17,728
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    In the same vein as Shirley Ghostman, here's Bo Selecta featuring the late Most Haunted psychic medium Derek Acorah:


    This show made me laugh so much! :))

    Yes, it was great! I love the way the camera focuses into his face so close as if they're taking it really seriously and then he lets rip! :))

    Who was your favourite spoof character? Mine has to be the Bear! Although Mel B is a very close second! :))

    Mel B was brilliant, especially when she was trying to promote her "new book"! That's hard as there were so many good ones. I have the whole series on DVD. Always good for a laugh. I think my favourite spoof characters would have to be Richard and Judy though they weren't in it an awful lot unfortunately. The dynamic between them with Richard being so patronising and bombastic always made me laugh:





    Other characters I liked were Trisha and Kelly Osbourne, especially when her accent changed from American to English when she got angry!
  • Posts: 12,506
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    In the same vein as Shirley Ghostman, here's Bo Selecta featuring the late Most Haunted psychic medium Derek Acorah:


    This show made me laugh so much! :))

    Yes, it was great! I love the way the camera focuses into his face so close as if they're taking it really seriously and then he lets rip! :))

    Who was your favourite spoof character? Mine has to be the Bear! Although Mel B is a very close second! :))

    Mel B was brilliant, especially when she was trying to promote her "new book"! That's hard as there were so many good ones. I have the whole series on DVD. Always good for a laugh. I think my favourite spoof characters would have to be Richard and Judy though they weren't in it an awful lot unfortunately. The dynamic between them with Richard being so patronising and bombastic always made me laugh:





    Other characters I liked were Trisha and Kelly Osbourne, especially when her accent changed from American to English when she got angry!

    =)) Priceless!!!!
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    RogueAgent wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    In the same vein as Shirley Ghostman, here's Bo Selecta featuring the late Most Haunted psychic medium Derek Acorah:


    This show made me laugh so much! :))

    Yes, it was great! I love the way the camera focuses into his face so close as if they're taking it really seriously and then he lets rip! :))

    Who was your favourite spoof character? Mine has to be the Bear! Although Mel B is a very close second! :))

    Mel B was brilliant, especially when she was trying to promote her "new book"! That's hard as there were so many good ones. I have the whole series on DVD. Always good for a laugh. I think my favourite spoof characters would have to be Richard and Judy though they weren't in it an awful lot unfortunately. The dynamic between them with Richard being so patronising and bombastic always made me laugh:





    Other characters I liked were Trisha and Kelly Osbourne, especially when her accent changed from American to English when she got angry!

    =)) Priceless!!!!

    It was a truly mental show. The characters often looked and sounded nothing like the celebrities they were spoofing but I think that's what made it so hilarious. They all wore the same big googly NHS style glasses too, though I gather that was to cover where the top and the bottom parts of the latex masks met!
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited January 2023 Posts: 17,728
    Now this is great news for any Bo' Selecta! fans out there:

    https://www.nme.com/news/tv/leigh-francis-filmed-bo-selecta-reboot-pilot-3369763

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited January 2023 Posts: 17,728
    According to Leigh Francis himself on his official TikTok account (@keithlemonreal) Bo' Selecta isn't actually coming back but he has made a pilot for a new show and the clip above is from it. The pilot hasn't been released as yet. I did wonder myself about Bo' Selecta returning after he made the following apology back in June 2020 in response to accusations of using blackface for certain celebrities in the latex mask caricatures on the show:

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    @DewiWynBond - here's the thread.

    In a similar vein to Shirley Ghostman here's Clinton Baptiste, the psychic from Phoenix Nights:

  • Dragonpol wrote: »
    @DewiWynBond - here's the thread.

    In a similar vein to Shirley Ghostman here's Clinton Baptiste, the psychic from Phoenix Nights:


    Haha great, never seen this, I'll have to watch it proper. So funny he cracks me up
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    @DewiWynBond - here's the thread.

    In a similar vein to Shirley Ghostman here's Clinton Baptiste, the psychic from Phoenix Nights:


    Haha great, never seen this, I'll have to watch it proper. So funny he cracks me up

    Yes, I love psychic medium spoofs. Such a worthy thing to parody. I see Clinton Baptiste's on a comedy tour currently.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited January 11 Posts: 17,728


  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Chilli sauce! - Bo Selecta at its maddest:

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    From I'm Alan Partridge, Series 2:

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 17,728
    Not British comedy but Irish comedy but still very funny:

  • Posts: 14,800
    Anybody shared that one already:


    On a side note, I want one of these insurances for my father-in-law.
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