Oft-forgotten gems from the Alan Partridge canon

[magval]

I've just noticed, right, that when Alan walks Keith and Shona and Sue over to the Roger Moore room and Chalet plays a sort of Bond-esque brass theme, it ends with the same sting that's used when Iain Connell turns to camera in the Bond sketches in Burnistoun.

Bond!

[Terryfuckwit]

Yes - one of my favourite MMM bits. Love the way Alan jumps in and bellows "Moon" then SKS quietly corrects him and frowns.

Yes, because hes correcting him even though its incorrect anyway

[The Lion King]

"All those people who say 'life begins at forty'. They're noticeable by their absence."

'the nerve'

[Mobius]

"Oddie is like a bearded Catherine wheel scything through the crowd"

[Malcy]

Partridge to the rescue!

https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/05/steve-coogan-stands-up-for-passengers-kicked-out-of-first-class-on-packed-train-7917594/

[kalowski]

Partridge to the rescue!

https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/05/steve-coogan-stands-up-for-passengers-kicked-out-of-first-class-on-packed-train-7917594/

Needless to say, he had the last laugh. (He didn't)

[Cuellar]

Yes, because hes correcting him even though its incorrect anyway

And then you see Sidekick Simon questioning his correction, because he realises it's wrong. He goes 'THE moon', then frowns and looks annoyed.

[paruses]

And then you see Sidekick Simon questioning his correction, because he realises it's wrong. He goes 'THE moon', then frowns and looks annoyed.

I've heard Tim Key saying that he doesn't really do anything in the role of Sidekick Simon but he's woefully underselling himself I think. Even in that bit there's four jokes by my count.

There's so much of that reaction comedy around these days as pioneered by Tim from The Office and it's not easy to do well as you're pretty much repeating the same joke over and over again but I get such joy watching the awkward efforts of Sidekick Simon.

[Lost Oliver]

Rewatching Spinal Tap for the first time in over a decade. It struck me that the director's intro is essentially Alan Partridge but done with a chummy American instead of a middle Englander. Lines like "I remember being knocked out by their exuberance, their raw power, and their punctuality," and even the little body language jokes like the briefly folded arms, are very easy to imagine Alan doing.

An old quote but this is such a lovely bit. so well observed and it cracks me up every time I see it. Glorious.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

"Do you shave your crackling?"

Both Coogan and Davis look very close to crack(l)ing up at that line. I'd be surprised if they got it in one take.

[Mobius]

I can't remember the quote but that bit in Nomad I think where Partridge casually mentions that he didn't swim for years as a child, due to an underwater creature called Quaddy.

[Cuellar]

"A far better book is The Wild Geese, about a snatch squad of steel-hard mercenaries who rescue a black king or something, from deepest darkest Africaaa" - Mid Morning Matters, 2-2.

Love 'who rescue a black king or something', also in the delivery of it.

[magval]

Was laughing at that on Sunday myself.

[Mr. Etiquette]

Alan on the Da Vinci Code:

"It's like a compendium of puzzles isn't it? But in a book."

Just a throwaway line from a short online video promoting his biography, but very funny.
The "in a book..." gets me every time. In fact the whole short is hilarious.

"It's almost like there's too many..."

[DrGreggles]

"This is David Copperfield. Yes. He's the American magician. You know. "I'm an American". Yes. He claims to have made the Statue of Liberty disappear. But it's still there. Talking out of his arse."

2 bits I love within seconds of each other.

[Captain Z]

IP:WNTTAA:
'I still see a lot of Sonja, as she's now my cleaner'

Nomad:
"I move the conversation on to things that do concern her [Lynn] - filing, replacing squeaky office chair, sacking cleaner - and hang up."

[græskar]

I think all of "Nomad" counts as oft-forgotten gems, tbh. And they are gems.

[Dr Rock]

Yup just listened the audiobook again last week, was thinking 'that could go in that thread... oh that one definitely.' I was in bed though so didn't post any.

[McChesney Duntz]

I feel compelled to share one of the very few irritating little moments in the history of AP: the moment at the start of an IAP episode where he's back-announcing the song "One of Us" - which he thinks was done by Aimee Mann rather than Joan Osbourne. Dude, the only thing you're halfway competent at is back-announcing songs on the radio. The artist's name has got to be on the disc or the cart. And don't try to make Aimee Mann culpable for that weak bit of neo-folk treacle.

Pretty much everything else he ever did is just ace.

[Utter Shit]

I think all of "Nomad" counts as oft-forgotten gems, tbh. And they are gems.

I'm not sure I know of a single bit of comedy with as constant a barrage of funny moments as the two audio books. Not Tim Vine, not Airplane. It's astonishing really, a joke pretty much every five seconda for about 12 hours (?) across the two books. I mean more or less every single line could go in here.

[magval]

I feel compelled to share one of the very few irritating little moments in the history of AP: the moment at the start of an IAP episode where he's back-announcing the song "One of Us" - which he thinks was done by Aimee Mann rather than Joan Osbourne. Dude, the only thing you're halfway competent at is back-announcing songs on the radio. The artist's name has got to be on the disc or the cart. And don't try to make Aimee Mann culpable for that weak bit of neo-folk treacle.

Pretty much everything else he ever did is just ace.

Wherever this is, it's not in I'm Alan Partridge.

[Utter Shit]

It's in Welcome To The Places Of My Life, easy mistake to make though as the back-announcing is mainly in IAP. McChesney might have been conflating it with the Joni Mitchell chat in IAP.

[McChesney Duntz]

You're right, it was in Welcome..., not IAP. But my (mild) irk remains.

[Shaky]

I'm not sure I know of a single bit of comedy with as constant a barrage of funny moments as the two audio books. Not Tim Vine, not Airplane. It's astonishing really, a joke pretty much every five seconda for about 12 hours (?) across the two books. I mean more or less every single line could go in here.

I actually much prefer Nomad to the first book. It's maybe less satisfying in a world building sense but bloody hell, the gag rate is amazing.

[BeardFaceMan]

I think I prefer the first book because you get Alans point of view of a lot of things that happened in the sitcom, it was insightful and very funny to get his perspective on events we're already seen.

[samadriel]

God, I loved his take on the meeting with Tony Hayes.  "While we're on the subject of cheese, it's an open secret at the BBC that you smell like cheese."

[buttgammon]

The bit where he swings his bag around in a rage at the impressions the staff are doing of him is amazing. "The strap's optional."

[Utter Shit]

I actually much prefer Nomad to the first book. It's maybe less satisfying in a world building sense but bloody hell, the gag rate is amazing.

I'd struggle to pick between them and as BeardFaceMan says the first is better as a part of the Partridge universe, with an added layer of humour  in seeing Alan's manipulated versions of things we've already seen...but yeah I think the hit rate is better in Nomad. It's relentless.

[BeardFaceMan]

Yeah the first book is more of a character study, you get lots of fleshed out details, new details, new slants on situations you are familiar with etc and a lot of the humour comes from that, while the second book doesnt have to do any of that as its been done and just goes for gags. Both fantastic but for different reasons. Quite amazing to think of the amount of quality material in those 2 books.

[Spudgun]

Not necessarily a gem, but taking the "Oft-forgotten" part of the thread title way more literally than intended...

How does the first episode of I'm Alan Partridge start? Every version I've seen since the original broadcast begins in the radio studio, and that includes the DVD release. But I swear I have a crystal clear memory of that first episode starting with a sort of blurry echo-y dream sequence of the end of Knowing Me, Knowing Yule, and as Tony Hayers tells Alan that he's going to make sure he never works in television again, the flashback transitions into the familiar opening. It's also part of the reason why the "It's 4:35am" reveal gets such a big laugh (and I don't think it works anywhere near as well without it).

The problem is, I couldn't find any evidence of any of the above with a quick Google. Am I going mad?