On behalf of my sister and I, thank you SO much for posting this. We have quoted from this ever since we saw it all those years back on Saturday Live. Quality!
When you are driving on A or B roads (not motorways) in Britain, they usually pass through towns. When this happens the speed limit decreases until the town ends and then it increases again. So if the speed limit signs were back to back that meant the speed decreased and then increased right up. Ie. It was a small town.
Can't really decide which was better of Hugh Laurie's catchphrases, this one or the "Excellent sermon, vicar" presented during the "Hugh Laurie memorial tribute" in the second series of A bit of....
It was a Frankie Howerd sketch they were sending up. Howerd could make seemingly slight and not obviously funny material hilarious through precision timing and playing of an audience. Check him out!
They're both so intelligent, it's hard to believe they both made their starts as comedians... It's like they reason you into laughing. The satire on old fashioned style British comedy here is lovely.
Hehehe, I am in love with a man who's 31 years old than me! But seriously, I don't even think there are enough words in the world to describe how amazing Hugh Laurie is! (And Fry of course!)
Actually, the joke is supposed to be that the city limit signs are back to back. Not speed limit. (Unless maybe that's the British way of saying city limits. I don't know.)
i find it bizarre that people cant believe that hugh laurie did this before house - i grew up with hugh laurie being part of fry and laurie! its weird to me seeing him as house, with an american accent...being serious.
Speed limit signs? There was an old joke from one of those old timey one liner comedians that was something like "I'm from a small town. Very small. Both city limits signs were on the same post.". Not incredibly funny but at least it made sense. What does the speed limit sign have to do with it?
Oh really? I thought you guys just crammed down the accelerator and to go full speed through the center of town. Of course aiming to run down any little children or elderly people. No, I know there's generally going to be speed limit signs on either end of a town but that fact doesn't seem to help with the joke. If you're speed limit signs are anything like ours, you start out going 55 mph. Then, as you get a little closer you have to slow down to 45. Then, when you're in town, you have to go about 35. Plus, all these signs are preceded by a sign warning you of the impending speed limit change creating a series of signs in and throughout every small town. Not to put too fine a point on it but even if the town was the size of an anthill, you'd still need time to slow down and thus the signs would need some distance between them. But the city limits signs show the city limits.
The way to get knighted nowadays is to make your big American fortune, but stay a citizen of the empire and pay your taxes. (That's not snarking, it's true.) Hugh will get a proper knighthood before Stephen, but they both most certainly deserve the recognition.
