There's quite clearly something different about Stephen Fry. He has something that no other actor/writer/comedian/director/broadcaster that I can think of possesses, that being the gift of Universal Likeableness.No one on Planet Earth dislikes Stephen Fry, no one, and even those who disagree with him on the various points of view that he has on topics as wide and varied as the environment, politics and the hell that is Twitter, do so politely and with a smile on their face. He has what I can only describe as an 'avuncular jocularity' (Miss Porteous, I bet you thought I wasn't paying attention in your English class!).
By my reckoning, Stephen Fry should offend huge swathes of the worlds population, after all he is obese, extremely intelligent, very posh, homosexual, successful and rich, any one of which could quite easily be used against him in the court of popular opinion. But popular he is, and rightly so.
I first remember watching the sketches featuring a very young looking Fry & Laurie that featured on the eighties 'youth' show 'Friday Night Live'.
In recent years the world of TV documentaries and game shows has kept Stephen Fry busy, but it's 'Blackadder' that will always be his finest achievement in my opinion. 'Lord Melchett' was a character that was clearly written with Fry in mind, but it's his portrayal of the Duke of Wellington that still cracks me up.
2 comments:
The bit where he absolutely boots Hugh Laurie - as the Prince Regent, but pretending to be Blackadder - over that table is just so fucking hilarious.
I'd love to see Fry return to sketch comedy. I never get tired of watching A Bit Of Fry and Laurie - even the much maligned fourth series. Saturday Night Fry on Radio 4 in the late 1980s was also a favourite.
Fry is superb in Blackadder III and Goes Forth but I must admit I find Hugh Laurie's George in both of these the funniest things.
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