Mel Smith R.I.P.

Nothing brings home the notion of your own mortality than the death of those celebrities with whom you have grown up, especially those who achieved their fame during your formative years. As a teenager and then older still, I enjoyed watching  Mel Smith as part of the British comedic evolution that emerged from the late seventies in Not the Nine O'Clock News and developed into the double act with Griff Rhys Jones in Alas Smith and Jones.

Gerald the Gorilla

The Swedish Chemist Shop

Other sites will have eulogised on his life, with obituaries listing his many achievements. As I didn't personally know him, it's not really my place to add to these, not having any anecdotes about his life with which to amuse the reader. However, I did watch the aforementioned programmes, so have memories of what I believe were his finest sketches. From them, I have chosen five which made me laugh and which I think the reader will enjoy. FromNot the Nine O'Clock News, we have Gerald the Gorilla (NTNON - Gerald the Gorilla) and The Swedish Chemist Shop (NTNON - The Swedish Chemist Shop); the observant among you will notice that his partner in crime for these sketches was Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean).

With Griff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith went on to star in the sketch show Alas Smith and Jones. On these shows, the pair were famous for their head to head sketches where they conducted often daft conversations in profile. These are so numerous and available on Youtube that I will let the reader browse through the website and decide on their favourite. However, there were three sketches in the shows that stuck in my mind and that I feel are worth the reader experiencing. One of the sketches includes the actor Nicholas Ball and, for those of you from overseas, illustrates the often perplexing language of the English localised vernacular and colloquialisms, especially the London way of talking (AS&J - Police Complaint). Another sketch based in a boxing gym focuses on the English language as spoken by the (AS&J - Boxing). 

indigenous population, again more from the London perspective.

The last sketch from Alas Smith and Jones centres on a funeral which I'm sure would be gratefully received at Mel Smith's own. Here, Mel Smith is one of the mourners and Griff Rhys Jones plays the clergyman presiding over the proceedings (AS&J - Grave).
  




I hope the reader enjoys the sketches and, in doing so, pays homage to the passing of one of the funniest and influential comedic actors of his age.

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