The Minister Who Falls to Pieces
Encyclopedia
Also known as "The Minister Who Falls Apart" and "The Disintegrating Minister," this was a surreal British comedy sketch. Though it was heard on radio in 1966 (with John Cleese
in the role of the interviewer), it is probably best known in the version performed by Tim Brooke-Taylor
and Graham Chapman
in the later 1960s on television, in At Last the 1948 Show
. The sketch can be heard on the original soundtrack album of At Last the 1948 Show, which has been transferred to CD. Video of the sketch does exist and has circulated but is not at present commercially available.
. Brooke-Taylor, playing the interviewer, welcomes Chapman, as "the Minister of Fuel, Mr. James Pemberton," to the "studio." As Chapman (speaking with a faintly Scottish accent and in a somewhat crotchety tone of voice), begins to answer Brooke-Taylor's first question, a clanging sound, as of a metal object hitting the floor, is heard (to giggles from the show's actual studio audience). "Good heavens," Chapman remarks. "My foot's dropped off." "It's gone to sleep," says Brooke-Taylor. "No, it's dropped off," reiterates Chapman. "It's fallen on the floor -- look. There it is under the table. It fell off!" A startled Brooke-Taylor attempts to continue with his questions but is continually interrupted by Chapman's cries (and more clanging) as he keeps losing body parts ("There goes the other one -- my feet have dropped off, both of them!...Oh, my thigh! My thigh's fallen off!") Brooke-Taylor becomes increasingly rattled and Chapman increasingly distracted by his own singular predicament ("I'm falling to pieces! Help!"); the interview itself falls apart and finally ends with Brooke-Taylor bidding Chapman, or what is left of him, goodnight.
tone in which Chapman first announces he is falling apart) and because the interviewer attempts so valiantly and yet in vain to put a good face on an impossible situation. (The British are often said to be inordinately concerned with decorum
and surface appearances.) Brooke-Taylor's role becomes more and more comically hapless, not only as Chapman's Minister continues to disintegrate but also as the "live" in-studio audience is heard to laugh louder and harder as the sketch becomes ever more absurd
.
Retrieved from The Four Sydney Lotterbies
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
in the role of the interviewer), it is probably best known in the version performed by Tim Brooke-Taylor
Tim Brooke-Taylor
Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE is an English comic actor. He became active in performing in comedy sketches while at Cambridge University, and became President of the Footlights club, touring internationally with the Footlights revue in 1964...
and Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
in the later 1960s on television, in At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show
At Last the 1948 Show is a satirical TV show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions , in association with Rediffusion London...
. The sketch can be heard on the original soundtrack album of At Last the 1948 Show, which has been transferred to CD. Video of the sketch does exist and has circulated but is not at present commercially available.
The Scenario
As heard on the soundtrack, "The Minister Who Falls to Pieces" takes the form of a TV news interviewInterview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
. Brooke-Taylor, playing the interviewer, welcomes Chapman, as "the Minister of Fuel, Mr. James Pemberton," to the "studio." As Chapman (speaking with a faintly Scottish accent and in a somewhat crotchety tone of voice), begins to answer Brooke-Taylor's first question, a clanging sound, as of a metal object hitting the floor, is heard (to giggles from the show's actual studio audience). "Good heavens," Chapman remarks. "My foot's dropped off." "It's gone to sleep," says Brooke-Taylor. "No, it's dropped off," reiterates Chapman. "It's fallen on the floor -- look. There it is under the table. It fell off!" A startled Brooke-Taylor attempts to continue with his questions but is continually interrupted by Chapman's cries (and more clanging) as he keeps losing body parts ("There goes the other one -- my feet have dropped off, both of them!...Oh, my thigh! My thigh's fallen off!") Brooke-Taylor becomes increasingly rattled and Chapman increasingly distracted by his own singular predicament ("I'm falling to pieces! Help!"); the interview itself falls apart and finally ends with Brooke-Taylor bidding Chapman, or what is left of him, goodnight.
Humor
The sketch's humor can be called typically British because of its understated character (note the deadpanDeadpan
Deadpan is a form of comic delivery in which humor is presented without a change in emotion or body language, usually speaking in a casual, monotone, solemn, blunt, disgusted or matter-of-fact voice and expressing an unflappably calm, archly insincere or artificially grave demeanor...
tone in which Chapman first announces he is falling apart) and because the interviewer attempts so valiantly and yet in vain to put a good face on an impossible situation. (The British are often said to be inordinately concerned with decorum
Decorum
Decorum was a principle of classical rhetoric, poetry and theatrical theory that was about the fitness or otherwise of a style to a theatrical subject...
and surface appearances.) Brooke-Taylor's role becomes more and more comically hapless, not only as Chapman's Minister continues to disintegrate but also as the "live" in-studio audience is heard to laugh louder and harder as the sketch becomes ever more absurd
Absurd
Absurd or The Absurd may refer to:* Absurdity, general and technical usage - associated with extremely poor reasoning, the ridiculous, or nonsense....
.
Source
At Last the 1948 Show. With Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Marty Feldman, and Aimi MacDonald. El Records, 2007.Retrieved from The Four Sydney Lotterbies
The Four Sydney Lotterbies
"The Four Sydney Lotterbies" was a British comedy sketch that was performed on an episode of the 1967-1968 sketch comedy TV series At Last the 1948 Show. The four main actors in the sketch were John Cleese, Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Graham Chapman, each of whom had a hand in writing...