A very funny man . . .

When I first saw one of Count Arthur Strong’s videos a few months ago, I couldn’t stop laughing. Searching for more, I found his channel on YouTube, where there are several video clips, as well as a couple of excerpts from his show on BBC Radio 4.

Count Arthur Strong is a blundering and delusional show business nobody, an aging thespian out of Doncaster who gives lecture tours on ancient Egypt and the Bible in the British Museum of Natural History (Doncaster branch), and on the radio reads excerpts from his daft and prosy memoirs. Desiring recognition as “a doyenne of light entertainment,” he strives to present himself as a cultured and worldly raconteur, but his Doncaster roots, advancing senility, and a predilection to tipple entirely undermine his efforts. The harder he tries to be witty and urbane, the more he mangles his discourse with malapropisms, harebrained syntax, and Tourettes-like outbursts of peevishness.

Portrayed with extraordinary physical and verbal adroitness, Count Arthur Strong is the brilliant comedy creation of British character actor Steve Delaney. His performances are an amazing synthesis of the agonizing, the bizarre, and the hilarious; plus, he never, ever breaks character, making Count Arthur Strong very much a real person, as well as a work of genius. I hope you find him as funny as I do.

Count Arthur Strong’s video and radio clips can be found at: CountArthurStrong01’s Channel.

~ by tobymarx on 22 February 2009.