Sweep

[beanheadmcginty]

I've always thought that the most naturally funny comedy performer is Sweep. Everything that idiot does is gold. I have a vague memory of him absolutely taking over the British Comedy Awards one year.
This highlights clip is good stuff.:
https://youtu.be/0zThQ4jDNEc

I can't be the only person to think this? Anybody else got any solid gold Sweep moments to share?

[Cold Meat Platter]

Nonce.

[Catalogue Trousers]

This is just under 18 minutes, and worth every second. Sweep's enormous family shows up. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwNZxW7kTs8

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Oh, thank Jodie for that, I thought that this was going to be a post about him carking it. I was all ready to post something like " Grim Reaper determined to " sweep" away the good ones this year", or " now has a good reason to never speak" or " the rest is silence ( in reference to Sweep never actually speaking, like that previous comment)", or at least something remotely fucking amusing. Good to see I don't need to.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Fucking Hell, it's Sooty who's the glove puppet version of Stig O' Hara from the Rutles, innit? Boy, do I have egg on my face now!

[shiftwork2]

No, you're not alone.  I saw S&S as a kid when Harry was running the show and I was obsessed with Sweep.  He's the essence of funny and it would be unwise to think about it too much but the combination of mournful features, naïveté and the noise are all up there.  Oh and his love of sausages.

[DrGreggles]

This is just under 18 minutes, and worth every second. Sweep's enormous family shows up. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwNZxW7kTs8

Just what I thought of when I saw the thread.

[bomb_dog]

There's a great sequence where the puppets are blindfolded and everything Sweep smells 'er- er- er....' smells like an aubergine.
When Sweep is up in the loft and Matthew calls him down or he'll fall through the ceiling... and he does.
When Sweep pulls the whole shower unit off the bathroom wall.
When Sweep dreams of being on 'Stars in their Eyes'
I'm sure there are loads more. I remember him squeaking about a lot of noise and Matthew translating as 'you're going to have a nervous breakdown'

[Utter Shit]

When Sweep is up in the loft and Matthew calls him down or he'll fall through the ceiling... and he does.

I saw this as a kid and had recurring nightmares about it for a long time. Even just reading it there gave me a slight judder of recognition.

[shiftwork2]

The sequence (immortalised in The Sooty Show opening titles) with Sweep on his bone motorcycle.

[The Mollusk]

I'm sure I once went on a drunken tirade to non capisco about how Sweep was a "stupid fucking cunt" but I can't quite remember how or why that came about. He is ridiculously funny though. Watching these clips and having immense waves of lovely nostalgia, I adored this show as a kid and haven't watched it since. Wonderful.

[shiftwork2]

Sweep's turn as an escapologist in The Stuntman.

[Voltan (Man of Steel)]

Auntie Jessie took me and my brother to see Sooty and Sweep at The Grand Theatre and I was so intimidated by Sweep that I wouldn't go on stage when invited. Can't remember how old I was.

[shiftwork2]

Superdog is well known but needs to go in her for completeness.  Includes bone car (not motorcycle) in the titles.

It turns out I can still cry laughing at a puppet.

[idunnosomename]

Auntie Jessie took me and my brother to see Sooty and Sweep at The Grand Theatre and I was so intimidated by Sweep that I wouldn't go on stage when invited. Can't remember how old I was.

28

[Pink Gregory]

Just what I thought of when I saw the thread.

Love the absolute wall of noise by the end

[Thursday]

Yup. Nothing to add other than agreement. Sweep is one of the all time greats.

You wouldn't get Sweep writing an epic poem about Covid. (Although if he did, it would be really good.)

[TheMonk]

Sweep floods the bath

[Catalogue Trousers]

An original Harry!

This is apparently a colour re-working of an earlier sketch in which poor Sweep takes assorted chemical abuse. However, he has a singularly memorable and oddly disturbing entrance at 7:40 in this one, and it's all worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNVBOyoJSo

[Glebe]

This highlights clip is good stuff.:
https://youtu.be/0zThQ4jDNEc

Little Cousin Scampi?! Who are all these relatives coming out of the woodwork all of a sudden?! Sweep's talent show piece... fuck me, Soo's a tough audience! "How on earth would a book get dirty or sticky?" Wanking, Soo. Wanking.

How come Soo is the only one who learned human speech? And why's Matthew wearing a jacket if it's such a hot day? In any case, it's all going on at the Corbett household!

Looks like Matthew is very moved by these clips:

[idunnosomename]

haha, Lee Healey (of Farmer/Healey Viz) just posted this unpublished strip

[Icehaven]

This is just under 18 minutes, and worth every second. Sweep's enormous family shows up. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwNZxW7kTs8

Yes!! Also my first thought.

[shiftwork2]

So there was Sooty, who was a loveable rascal in the original one-man show - an example of which was posted by CT.  Then Harry made it a double act (and obviously increased the complexity) by introducing Sweep, but this made Sooty the sensible straight man.  Sweep's vocal capabilities were always based on pitch and tone.  I find it quite interesting how much 'he' could express given those limitations, but mostly his vocal work was affirmed and repeated back by Harry and later, Matthew.  The introduction of Soo (I believe in the early 70s, with Harry's wife doing some raspy Woodbine vocal work that's surprising if you see later shows) made the puppets autonomous for the first time as she could talk, and repeat back on behalf of Sooty and Sweep.  They were always three puppets as long as I can remember.  Little Cousin Scampi was a curious addition as he was also mute, and small.  He was originally a troublemaker and seemed to fit that early eighties 'kids say FUCK OFF WITH THIS SHIT' remit in the same way that Godzooky or Scrappy Doo did.  Apparently the character settled down and became accepted, although stayed mute like Sooty.

Worth noting that Harry Corbett had a coterie of lesser puppets who made periodic appearances.  Butch is the only one I remember, a cockney hard cunt dog who popped up from time to time.

[dr beat]

I read somewhere that all of Sweep's lines were written verbatim English into the script.

[idunnosomename]

it's interesting how much Paul "Mr Biffo" Rose put into working on the Sooty Show around 2000. in fact it was basically his way into TV production and what he does these days

https://www.digitiser2000.com/main-page/scripts-of-my-years-part-five-sooty-by-mr-biffo

[shiftwork2]

I read somewhere that all of Sweep's lines were written verbatim English into the script.

Oh yeah totally.  They're actual words and a lot of the time the script assumes you've got it, based on context and intonation.  Not everything was repeated.

[jamiefairlie]

An original Harry!

This is apparently a colour re-working of an earlier sketch in which poor Sweep takes assorted chemical abuse. However, he has a singularly memorable and oddly disturbing entrance at 7:40 in this one, and it's all worth watching.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNVBOyoJSo

Blimey Harry looks just like Scaffold's ‎John Gorman when he dons that wig.

[beanheadmcginty]

I'd absolutely fucking love to watch Sweep beating the shit out of Edd the Duck in a pub car park.

[Dusty Substance]

Yeah, Sweep is awesome. Sooty and Sue were a right pair of goody-goodies. Sweep provided a bit of comedic anarchy.

[non capisco]

Yeah, Sweep is awesome. Sooty and Sue were a right pair of goody-goodies. Sweep provided a bit of comedic anarchy.

Sweep is obviously amazing but ignore Sooty's sarcastic fainting spells at your peril.