My Comedy World

Swiss Toni. Everyone’s loveable, womanizing, bouffant haired, used-car dealer. A character that was sprung out of the collaborations between Charlie Higson of Fast Show fame, and Bob Mortimer, who is one half of the Reeves and Mortimer comedy duo. The character was actually first introduced to the public on the BBC series, “The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer”, before becoming one of the Fast Show’s favourite, regular rogues.

Not only does Swiss Toni possess the type of charisma, looks and personality that any woman would almost certainly die for (well, according to him), but he is also something of a wise and prudent philosopher in all things regarding the female of the species:

“Laying a carpet is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. You check the dimensions, lay her out on the floor, pin her down, walk all over her. If you’re adventurous, like me, you might like to try an underlay.”*

A typical scene; Swiss Toni is on the phone in his temporary, pre-fabricated office on the grounds of his used car dealership, “Swiss Toni’s Motors”, by the side of a busy roadway. (Something that has the appearance of being stuck in the 1980’s, along with his Flock of Seagulls style hairdo). Outside the window is a revolving sign with a luminous “Swiss” and “Toni” turning at a speed just slow enough to make out the letters.

The lot is decorated with parade-style flags, trying to entice customers for its out of date cars that look like they have never seen a test drive. Toni is always accompanied by a naive, young man, who thinks being his understudy will help him make a break into the big money world of car dealership. As Toni is in a position of authority, he passes on his worldly advice, especially when it has something to do with attracting the opposite sex.

Paul – ‘I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I’ve always wondered……. Why are you called Swiss Toni? I mean, you’re not actually Swiss, are you? Is it ‘cos Swiss things are reliable and all that?”*

Toni – ‘It’s partly that Paul, but it’s mostly because I am built like an Alp and rich like a Toblerone. Yes, when a lady has been with Swiss Toni, she doesn’t forget it in a hurry.”*

Swiss Toni was one of the most popular of the Fast Show characters in his hey-day. He even went on to have his own sitcom spin-off on BBC 3, which introduced other regular characters onto the scene and introduced Swiss Toni trying to cope in other scenarios that weren’t part of his sketches. This new series didn’t win Toni any new fans and, more than likely, made him lose a lot of the ones he had already.

It’s unfortunate that Swiss Toni’s exit from television wasn’t exactly as dramatic and eventful as a man with his notably and esteem deserved. His sitcom series received little or no praise in comparison to his small sketch appearances on the Fast Show, and Swiss Toni was duly axed from BBC3 after a short run of two seasons.

* quoted from The Fast Show/ Swiss Toni

You know the feeling – tired and exhausted from the stresses of travelling, on your return from a long trip you are longing for comfort and serenity on your relaxing train journey home, only to be sat next to by the train traveller’s worst nightmare – Renee – a stereotype of the woman in her late 40’s that comes from ‘up north’ (probably a satellite town on the edge of Manchester).

Her fashion sense is equally draining; a bleached blonde perm, with novelty size glasses with a square rim holding thick lenses in place and the brightest, shiniest tracksuit that you wouldn’t have seen the like of since 1983. Ever accompanied by her husband Roy – a small, stout, submissive man in a sensible jumper, slacks and anorak, who tries to give the impression he is just tagging along for the ride, as he has done for each and every day of their marriage.

Renee is not picky when it comes to choosing her prey. Be it, a fatigued business women, a elderly woman who has a look on her face that she is in agony or she accosts and berates her victims with endless tales of their three consecutive holidays in Turkey (followed by a more disappointing stay in Morecambe) the length of the queues in ‘Marks’s’ and Roy’s attempt at singing karaoke.

Renee – “Oh and one night Roy tried his ‘and at the karaoke and I said you got a good voice Roy but no co-ordination. What did I say Roy?”*

Roy – “You got a good voice but no coordination.”*

As the passenger on the receiving end rolls her eyes up to the heavens and gives a monumentous sigh. Renee continues to explain how they’re not “big sun worshippers” and they’re “big fans of the shade”.

Renee – “Roy came down in his shorts one day I said you look like an egg on legs. What did I say Roy?”*

Roy – “You look like an egg on legs”*

Poor Roy is forced to sit idly by, waiting for his hen-pecking wife to allow him an opportunity to speak, but only to repeat the end of a sentence or two. Eventually Roy, after reaching the limit of his patience (which seems to have been building up for the last twenty odd years), steps out of turn, and duly receives a well deserved slap form Renee.

Renee goes on; “Oh but I got a really dicky tummy on the Wednesday I said Oh Roy! Me tummy’s’ off! What did I say Roy?”*

“She said she could’ a s**t through the eye of a needle.”*

Roy and Renee only appeared in the Fast Show’s series 1 and 2, and were played by the comedy actors/ writers John Thomson and Caroline Aherne. The two quickly disappeared of the screen when Caroline left the show in 1997 to go out on to become a big force in comedy writing – going on to create “The Mrs Merton Show” as well as being the main writer behind ‘The Royle Family’. Although Roy and Renee had a very short life, they remain one of the most memorable character pairings to come out of the Fast Show’s early years.

* quoted from The Fast Show/ Roy and Renee

Dave Angel, Eco Warrior – one of the most truly original characters ever to appear on Comedy TV. Dave was a typical, East-End cockney turned environmental activist, who moved out to the depths of the English countryside to rediscover his love for nature.

The character was a creation of Simon Day, who played a big role in the writing team of the Fast Show. Dave was loosely based on Mike Ried, who played Frank Butcher in the long running soap opera, East Enders, who apparently had strong feelings towards the environment.

Some sketches have Dave introducing you into his tacky, leather and fur rugged home in the Essex countryside, in the style of a cheap instructional video you could possibly pick up in a bargain bin in the Health and Fitness section at your local store.

His appearance sets the tone for the sketch from the very start. Being somewhat dedicated to the cause of preserving naturalism in the society, he is shown sprawled out on his white leather couch, wearing no items of clothing except for a pair of y-fronts, socks at full stretch up to his shins and a pair of black leather business shoes.

Of course, retaining the contrast between being an eco warrior from the East End, he still remains the full cockney; adorned with the stereotypical accessories you would normally expect form a second hand car dealer from East London. Placed on top of his head is the archetypal, hounds tooth striped bowler hat, accompanied by dark sunglasses and a thick gold chain that rattles from his wrist as he executes his assertive hand gestures.

Dave’s true story is that he is a reformed character, who has escaped from a ‘dodgy’ background to live in hiding in a rural exile. As it was so well put by the man himself, “If it wasn’t nailed down, I’d have it away!”*

During Dave’s speeches on naturism and the causes of pollution, he is often using these moments to introduce his wife Shirley, another cockney stereotype, who uses hairspray to maintain her bright blonde perm, “but she don’t use aerosol!” affirms Dave, right as she starts drowning flies in bug spray!

The Eco Warrior sometimes goes on location to different parts of the country, to document the effects of pollution in the English countryside, such as a dried up river in the Lake District that was once a rich fishing location, with wildlife of all shapes and sizes found along the banks. “Dragon floys, ‘overin above da wo’ a’.”* and “a badger swimmin’ around’ – he was made up!”*

Dave goes on to explain that there are many reasons why the river has disappeared, emphasizing the fact that it “just don’t rain anymore!”* As he continues his speech about Global Warming and how “mother earth is heating up…. like a big piece of cake – if we don’t stop now the icing is gonna melt”* Shirley can be seen in the background with two black bags of rubbish, ready to be dumped onto the old river bed.

* quoted from The Fast Show/ Dave Angel

“Scorchio!’’* was definitely THE catch phrase to be heard from the Fast Show’s repertoire before the ‘Suit You Sir!’ tailors came onto the scene. Of course it was the only piece of dialogue in the ‘Chanel 9’ sketch that made any sense.

Chanel 9 was created by the Fast Show team as a parody for all those cheap and tacky news channels people used to see on TV on their holidays in the Mediterranean.

The main players involved in the sketch were Paul Whitehouse, Paul Shearer and Caroline Aherne The two anchor men, Poutremos Poutra-Poutros and Kollothos Apollina appeared in flashy, 70’s style suits and orange-tinted sunglasses. Presenting the weather forecast was meteorologist/ air head-type weather girl, Poula Fisch, who only reported sunny skies and high temperatures across the country. 

The backdrop of the set was also laid out in a completely out-of-date design.

The Chanel 9 news team spoke with their own made-up language, a sort of hybrid between Spanish, Italian and Greek. Over each series the language started to become more intelligible, with certain phrase such as “Bono Estente”* (meaning ‘good evening’) being picked up by the Fast Show audience.

Each Chanel 9 broadcast was sponsored by a typically useless product, such as the ‘Cielyn Gizmo’ which was designed to help to do something with a ceiling , but seemed to provide no useful function whatsoever, and the ‘Kitchun Gizmo’, a lever operated device on a 3 foot pole that could do ‘almost anything’ in the kitchen. Each ‘Gizmo’ product was sold at a crazily high price (somewhere in the billions), but the currency was portrayed to be of little or no value.

Other running themes in the sketch included the reporting on ex-England footballer, Chris Waddle, for no apparent reason (eventually incorporating ‘Chris Waddle’ into their language) and the finishing of every news report with ‘Butros Butros Gali’, meaning ‘goodbye’. Butros Butros Gali was a previous Secretary-General for the United Nations.

Panic broke out on the set one time when Paula Fisch’s weather report brought up a cloud on the south coast, prompting the team to cut live to their reporter in the area, who was describing the drama in front of a backdrop of a blue sky with a single small cloud.

Chanel 9 sometimes made way for other shows such as the blatantly misogynistic and politically incorrect drama series, ‘El Amoro/ El Passionne’, and the equally sexist ‘Mikki Disco’ – a parody on the cheesy nightclubs that are found in foreign tourist resorts. ‘Mikki Disco’ was hosted by a man in a sailor suit and starred a slightly overweight, Mediterranean, sporting platform shoes and an afro, singing cheesy euro-pop under multi-coloured flashing lights and a customary disco ball.

There was also the popular nativity play, (the Holy) ‘Sprog’, which told the story of the birth of Christ, set to the theme of a disco rock opera. Characters in the play included The Angel Gabriel as a disco singing angel with an afro and the three wise men , who brought gold, frankincense and yuletide ‘Cheesy-Peas’ – one of the TV stations sponsors.

* quoted from The Fast Show/ Chanel 9

Bob Fleming was one of many characters played by Charlie Higson on the Fast show, which lasted for three series. He is the elderly host of the show ‘Country Matters’, in which he presents topics on all things relating to the English country way of life. The usual topics he covers is advice on waders and what fishing tackle to use as well as inviting guests onto the show, who are ‘experts’ in their field, such as Jed Thomas at his ‘lovely, Victorian horse brasses’.

Bob’s most distinguishing characteristic is his irritating cough which interrupts every piece of dialogue on the show, be it his own or his guest. Naturally, when the film crew cut the take, becoming concerned for his well being, the cough disappears. Bob has the customary mutton-chop sideburns down to the corners of his mouth and a chequered shirt button up to the neck with a thick-bowed tie.

One of his most memorable sketches was part of the Fast Show’s 1996 Christmas special – the ad for ‘Bob Fleming’s Country Favourites’, which became better known as ‘Bob Fleming’s Folkin’ Classics’ (pun definitely intended).

Some of the performers on the album include Clive Tucker, a West Country folk singer, who suffers from uncontrollable bouts of sneezing, Murtagh Bletyhn, whose songs feature hiccupping over certain lines in the style of “Bingo the Dog” and Jed Thomas, who suffers from Tourette’s Syndrome – screaming ‘ARSE!” between his lyrics. Bob Fleming also appears with his own renditions of country folk classics, accompanied by coughing frog backing singers.

The highlight of the album is undoubtedly the collaboration of the four, covering the country folk classic, ‘The Wild Rover’;

“…and its no, nay, never

(sneeze-hiccup-cough-arse)

no nay never no more..”*

It was in the second series that his producers became so fed up with his coughing that they threatened to take Bob off the air unless he tried to cure himself. This didn’t seem to deter Bob and he battled on, even after coughing all of his cough medicine all over his dressing room. Although Bob did eventually get to take some of his medicine, there was an equally interruptive side effect, which caused him to suffer from uncontrollable flatulence.

They eventually moved Bob onto a new show, ‘Badger Watch’, where Bob had to present the show from the woods at night, trying in vain to not scare the badgers away with his cough. Bob introduces the show with a whisper, informing his audience as well as his film crew of how important it was to remain silent in the company of timid creatures such as badgers.

After what seems like hours of waiting, and Bob’s coughing seeming to have ceased completely, a small badger sticks his head out from his burrow, only to be met by a barrage of coughing.

Bob was said to be inspired by Jack Hargreaves, a presenter of informative, rural-based programmes on the BBC, between 1963 and 1981. Jack used to appear on screen with a tweed jacket and pipe and had the mild mannered presenting style that Bob tried desperately to achieve.

* quoted from The Fast Show/ Bob Fleming

It’s funny how people like to see someone completely humiliate themselves, and there is no better person to put the ‘cringe’ factor through the roof than Alan Partridge. Steve Coogan’s cheesy character has been his trademark for over 16 years. He is known for his endless babbling and socially awkward topics of conversation – perhaps the result of working the graveyard shift on ‘Radio Norwich’ for too long!

Partridge was assigned as Chief Sports Correspondent on ‘The Day Today’, a spoof news show (based on the radio programme, ‘On the Hour’) that ran on BBC2 for only six episodes in 1994. The show made its mark in the history of spoof news programmes and won numerous awards – an amazing feat considering its short run.

Like most things Alan attempted, he had no knowledge whatsoever about the sports he was reporting on. He resorts to using typical clichés and surreal metaphors to dig him out of the hole he inevitably lands himself in.

His most famous skit on ‘The Day Today’ was his outside broadcast from race day at ‘Marple’. The main news anchor, Chris Morris, introduces Alan to deliver his oddball synopsis on the race meeting:

Partridge – “Hi, Chris.” I’m Alan Partridge. Horses – love ‘em or hate ‘em, from Mr Ed to Silver, that’s the Lone Ranger’s horse, they’re all here mingling with officials.”*

He then goes on to list the runners in the ‘6.30 Queen Henry Stakes’:

Partridge – “Diabetic Charlie 3-1 favourite, Two Headed Sex Beast 4-1, and at 20-1 Mrs Boothroyd’s Holiday Dancer. All the rest, 50-1 bar. That’s all for now, join us again later for the race. Back to you Chris in the studio.”*

He is asked for a tip on the race, but explains that his horse, ‘Unions Lad’, had his horsebox hit by a Volvo on the motorway! As he is looking to kill time before the race begins, he starts commentating on the crowd, comparing the men and women in the stand to ants on an ant hill!

Another hilarious gag follows with the camera showing a large, flat object, covered with a sheet in the car park that’s lying beside a car with the boot open; “ha ha, hope it’s not a dead horse. They’re not going to fit it in the back of a Volvo 340!!!”*

When they come back to Alan later in the show, the 6.30 has been cancelled due to a collapsed paddock. He later goes on to interview the winning jockey, Mickey Doolan;

Doolan – “Well, I’m very pleased to have won the race, it was a hard race, but I won it by a nose at the end so.”*

Partridge – “Your mum and dad must be pleased. But how do they feel about you doing this? Shouldn’t you be at school? Don’t they think you must be missing out on schoolwork?”*

Doolan – “Well I think I might be a little bit old for that now, I’m 33 years of age”*

Partridge – “What?!!”*

Another classic example of Alan Partridge engineering a deplorable faux pas!

* quoted from The Day Today/ Alan Partridge at the Races

“C. of E. Films” in association with the “Sunday Schools Board” present “The Bishop”, a now legendary sketch from the satirists of silliness, Monty Python. ‘The Bishop’ sketch stars Terry Jones as a crime fighting, murder solving secret agent/ bishop with a dodgy tough American accent. He has to stop a spate of murders within the Anglican clergy. This hilarious skit, on TV programmes such as ‘The Saint’, appeared in the seventeenth episode (series 2) of ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’.

The sketch starts off with the dramatic credits set to the typical dramatic score you would expect from an early seventies American detective series. The credits list the appearances of ‘The Reverend E.P. Nesbitt’ and introduce ‘F. B. Grimsby Urqhart-Wright’ as ‘the voice of God’. There is great black and white animation (by Terry Gilliam) showing, in a typical ‘James Bond’ style, a silhouette of a clergyman moving into the sight of a gun! Special effects for the programme are provided by ‘The Moderator of the Church of Scotland’.

The Bishop doesn’t roll like any other member of the church. In a big black American car, he arrives at a sermon with his four henchmen, all wearing dark sunglasses. They make their way inside to watch the vicar give his reading. The Bishop shouts, “Don’t say the text Vic! Don’t say the Text!”*. As the Vicar continues- “Leviticus 3-14”*- the pulpit goes up in smoke and the Vicar flies up into the air.

The Bishop is in possession of one of the earliest known mobile phones – his crook, which has a flashing light at the top that he uses as a receiver. He gets another tip off about a second vicar who is part of an assassination attempt. When he gets to the next church the vicar is baptising a child:

Vicar – “And it is for this reason that the Christian Church lays upon you, the godparents, the obligation of seeing this child is brought up in the Christian faith. Therefore, I name this child…” *

Bishop (rushing in through the door) – “Don’t say the kid’s name, Vic!”*

Vicar – “Francesco Luigi…”*

As the Vicar holds the child in his arms, it suddenly flips open and reveals a bomb inside. There is a big explosion and the Vicar is blown up in a cloud of smoke. “We was too late…” says the Bishop regrettably, “The Reverend Nuek. Saw the light.” His next stop is at a wedding where he screams at the vicar not to touch the ring, but as soon as he does the trademark, Monty Python ’16 ton’ weight drops on top of him.

The evil mastermind behind the killing spree is the Bishop’s arch enemy, ‘Devious’ (played by Michael Palin). Devious is finally apprehended by the Bishop and his cronies when they find his hiding place. They break his door down by using one man as a battering ram. The Bishop bursts into the room and slams the heads of his crook down onto his table – “OK Devious. Don’t Move!”*

* quoted from Monty Python/ The Bishop

Spitting Image was THE satirical puppet show for everything else to live up to. The seminal 80’s comedy lasted and was a staple TV diet for the British nation, running for a whopping eighteen series. Of course, they chose an easy target in the comic politicians that were around at the time and were a gift from God for any anti-Thatcher audience!

The ‘Iron Lady’ definitely had a few chinks in her armour after the endless scathing she received on the show (even taking advice from Adolf Hitler!). Obviously, the rest of her cabinet didn’t get away too lightly either! The Maggie Thatcher sketches have become landmarks in the history of satire.

The best known Thatcher skits were based in the cabinet room, where she would always storm in to find her ministers up to their usual loafing around. All of Thatcher’s old cronies were there; Douglas Hurd, Michael Heseltine (always in an army jacket!) and Leon Brittan to name a few. One episode had her walking in on a poker game:

“You better have a damn good explanation for THIS!”*

Leon Brittain, stumbling over his words as always, begins to tell her of how the cards in the deck remind them of how the government has been performing since they took charge!

The Ace reminds him of how there is only one true God, Mrs Thatcher. The two remind him of how the country is split into halves; “The South and the other bit!”* The three is for how many dollars there were to the pound before they came into power and the four represents “how many pounds there will be to the dollar by the time we’re finished.”*

He continues to move up through the cards with five representing the number of jobs they created last year and the four suits remind him of the lawsuit that Cecil Parkinson (former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry) has against Private Eye magazine – a sly dig from one of the main writers and Private Eye editor, Ian Hislop.

Their writing didn’t stop at politicians, however, as they drew from the well of the most outlandish 80’s and early 90’s celebrities as well. Paul Gascoigne was a big hit after his teary eyed episode on the pitch during the semi-final in the ‘Italia 90’ World Cup (they basically attached hose pipes to the corner of his eyes!) The overly wrinkly Roger Moore, intellectually challenged Sylvester Stallone, and the morbidly obese Pavarotti were the most loved victims of Fluck and Law’s crazy caricatures.

It was considered something of an honour for celebrities to be immortalised in Spitting Image puppet form. When they made one for Chris Evans when he became a Radio 1 DJ, the presenter offered to do his own voice, no matter how degrading his lines might have been! He wasn’t given the opportunity however.

It was a shame that Spitting Image ended the way it did. After finally running out of steam in 1996, the show was cancelled and disappeared off the screen with barely anyone paying much attention.

* quoted from Spitting Image/ Thatcher’s Cabinet sketch

Smack the Pony was a prime time sketch show that ran for three series on Channel 4, between 1999 and 2003. As comedy sketches are such a male dominated entertainment, it was praised for introducing comedy from the female perspective.

Smack the Pony was a launch pad for the all-female team of Doon Mackichan, Fiona Allen and Sally Phillips, who created, wrote and starred in the sketches. It also starred Sarah Alexander – known for her appearances on the ‘Coupling’ sitcom and the ‘Armstrong and Miller Show’ on the BBC.

The Smack the Pony crew were known for their surrealist takes on lesbianism, the futility of half-baked relationships and those niggling day to day stresses that women have to deal with (like putting make up on in the car!). It was one of only a few sketch shows that didn’t rely on recurring characters, most of their skits putting different characters into the same scenario.

The ‘Saying Goodbye’ sketch from their second series won them many fans and is seen as the highlight of the show’s short stint on TV. It follows the classic formula of leaving the killer punch line to the end, but is hilarious throughout!

The dinner guest (Sarah Alexander) is standing by the doorway, being seen out by the host (Sally Philips). The usual chit-chat and ‘thank yous’ take place as they keep up the polite tone to the conversation – that has probably lasted all evening!

There is a man also standing by Philips, with his arms on her shoulders:

“An amazing thing to do with the trout!”* (followed by slightly false laughter!)

“Hey, thanks SO much for bringing all that wine”*

The skit goes on in this small talk manner, as the man starts caressing the host a bit more enthusiastically shall we say! The two carry on as if as normal and don’t seem to be bothered too much by the fact that he starts kissing her on the back of the neck and moving his hands down towards her legs!

“And eh… it was a complete bargain as well I’ll email you the website.”*

(He’s down around her hips by this stage!)

“Cool!…and I’ll see you in a couple of weeks??”*

“That would be brilliant”*

(Things have starting to get a little awkward by now)

“… anyway, I… I’ve… got an early start tomorrow, so…. Chris… are you ready??”*

As they leave the doorway, she turns around to Chris, and speaking through her teeth says “Can we have a little chat!”*

This sort of sketch was typical form the Smack the Pony team – building up the ‘cringe’ factor in the audience, before turning the whole thing on its head.

Although not exactly as praised as much as their peers in Little Britain or the Fast Show, Smack the Pony did receive some recognition for their unique comedy stylings, winning Emmy Awards in 1999 and 2000 in the ‘Best Popular Arts Show’ category. They have to this date, been the only all female writing team to do so.

* quoted from Smack the Pony/ Saying Goodbye sketch

Ah the music industry, with it’s so many eccentric characters; it’s a satirist’s dream. From Spinal Tap, Tenacious D to basically all the early 80’s glam rock groups, who were parodies of themselves – it is an endless source of sketch material for the comic writer. The Saturday Night Live crew finally left it’s mark on the rock n’ roll parody map in 2000, with their now classic skit on the 80’s rockers, ‘Blue Oyster Cult’.

SNL drafted in Hollywood legend, Christopher Walken, to give a star-turn performing the role of ‘THE Bruce Dickinson’. Walken has been known to take up any opportunity that contrasts his psychotic screen image, and this role was perfect for him. Other players in the act include Blue Oyster Cult with the fulcrum of the unit, ‘Gene Fenkle’ (played by Will Ferrell) on cowbell.

The sketch is done as a parody of the VH1 show, ‘Behind the Music’ and begins its documentary of the band at the ‘Sunshine Studios’ in August 1976. The Blue Oyster Cult are about to lay down a take of their soon to be biggest hit, ‘(Don’t Fear) the Reaper’. To make the skit more to date, the band are grooving it out with extra wide flares, big hair and moustaches.

Bruce gets the tape rolling with the band going through their first take. Everything seems to be going down smoothly, except for the overly obnoxious cowbell from Gene drowning out every other instrument. After screams of “Wait!”* and “Stop!”* from singer, ‘Eric Bloom’, Bruce storms back in to the studio to see what’s up. “I’ll be honest, fellas, it was sounding great, but… I could of used a little more cowbell.”* Bruce remarks. He also tells Gene to explore the ‘space’ of the studio!

Gene now starts really getting into his instrument, much to the annoyance of the rest of the band, who complain to Bruce that it is REALLY starting to put them off. They decide to meet on level terms, with Gene reluctantly laying off the cowbell a bit. He starts to get a bit cantankerous and knocks over Eric’s mic stand to stop the take. The others have come to the end of their patience with Gene, but Bruce is still demanding more cowbell!

As Gene has the backing of “THE” Bruce Dickinson, he feels that it is best for the band to take the producers advice. He goes off on a big speech about how they “don’t have a whole lot of songs that feature the cowbell” and he would be “doing myself a disservice, and every member of the band” if he “didn’t perform the hell out of this.”*

‘More Cowbell’ has now become a widely used catchphrase in the US, after the SNL sketch went out across the nation. It has since influenced video games, quiz shows and even an ‘iphone’ software application. Later, the original members of Blue Oyster Cult commentated on the cowbell on the original recording of ‘(Don’t Fear) the Reaper’ stating that the incessant cowbell was laid down as an overdub.

* quoted from Saturday Night Live/ More Cowbell sketch