They were before my time too. We only ever see the same few sketches repeated which are usually the ones where Dud is struggling not to laugh; it would be good to see everything the Beeb has of theirs.
That last clip contains one of the greatest lines ever.
My first exposure (what else can one call it?) to these guys must have been while freezing my ass off outside the Club 47 coffee house in Cambridge, Mass waiting to get into an oversubscribed show by some group of folk singers whose name I've long since forgotten. Think it must have been 1966. One of the girls in the group proceeded to give us the unabridged rendition of "I coulda bina judge". This was more enjoyable than the forgettable show we'd paid to see that evening.
After that, I started picking up copies of "Beyond the Fringe" recordings whenever and wherever I could find them.
Years later, I was lucky enough to see them perform live at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. They were 'blessed' with this big fat guy sitting down in the first couple of rows who must have memorized their entire repertoire and would start laughing uncontrollably as they (tried to) start each new regime. This was so disconcerting that the guy effectively disrupted several of their skits as they would break up laughing at this guy themselves. Finally, they had to politely ask him to try to control himself so that they could get on with the show. Unfortunately, he couldn't and the show sort of degenerated into improv theater, something they could do quite well.
After that, one of the old participants in this forum kindly sent me an extensive set of The Goon Show recordings which I have to this day.
Whenever I manage to make it back to England for the Christmas holidays and see reruns of other famous English comedy acts (as I have this year), I always fondly remember them all.
That is not to say that we do not have our own Nuclear Striking Force — we do, we have the Blue Steel; a very effective missile, as it has a range of one hundred and fifty miles, which means that we can just about get Paris — and, by God, we will.
I love the Goons:
Eccles: Look up there! There's buzzards circling- there's buzzards circling around! Seagoon: What are they doing up there? Eccles: Flying! Seagoon: Bloodnok- Bloodnok, do you think they're waiting- waiting to eat us? Bloodnok: Not sure, but keep your eyes on the ones carrying knives and forks. Seagoon: Look! We're saved! Look! A house! Eccles: It is! A house! A house! Bloodnok: It's not, it's a mirage. Seagoon: Nonsense, it's a house surrounded by trees. Let's go in. Eccles: Yeah. [sound of door opening] Bloodnok: I still say it's a mirage. Seagoon: Nonsense! Bluebottle, Eccles, search the house for food. Bluebottle: All right, then. Seagoon: So, Bloodnok. You think this house is a mirage, eh? We'll soon see! Wait! It's vanished! Gone! You were right. A mirage. Bloodnok: I told you it was. Eccles: OWWWWWW- [thud] OW! Bloodnok: Eccles! What happened? Eccles: I was upstairs!
