Korgscrew
Group: Super Admins
Posts: 3511
Joined: Dec. 1999 |
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Posted: April 24 2004, 10:43 |
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Viv almost always had his tongue firmly in cheek, but his delivery was different to John Cleese, and I personally much prefer it. With John Cleese, it's always quite exaggerated and over the top, leaving you in no doubt that it's supposed to be funny, while Viv was always a lot drier and more deadpan. When he did things like Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, he could deliver some outrageous lines in such a way that it sounded like they were perfectly ordinary. I think a major difference is that, while the Pythons appear to be fairly 'ordinary' people when not doing their act, Viv certainly wasn't - he was just as eccentric at home as he was when performing (this was a man who kept his mother's false teeth superglued to the breadboard). Sadly he also led a destructive life, which ultimately claimed him. A truly inspirational man nevertheless.
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