After the dentist yesterday someone said I looked like I’d had 5 rounds with Frank Bruno. I’m still thinking about how they chose a boxer from 40 years ago.
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I was a bit out of commission yesterday but hope you're not suffering too badly today... btw not sure if you saw but my brother's neighbour said your Perky Alien print was 'immensely brilliant' on my market Instagram post, the knowledge of which I'm sure will really help with the pain.
Oh no I missed that. That’s cheering. I’ve since sold a couple of things and I think it’s connected to the market. I’m a bit “everything hurts and I’m dying” today but somehow not as bad as I feared.
I blame Murdoch and Sky, no one knows who the eff all the boxing world champions are any more since satellite/digital telly. Hope you are on the mend! X
Yes, someone was saying surely everyone knows who Tyson Fury is (for instance) and I thought actually I don’t think they do. Not in the same way everyone knew who Frank Bruno was in the 80s and it’s because there’s a million channels and you have to like boxing to pay to watch it.
And thank you. The bit that was irritating my mouth for 4 years seems to feel fine now (a miracle) but the wisdom tooth empty socket feels like a bear is hibernating in it and I really miss my teeth.
Once at a birthday dinner with friends someone kept telling anecdotes that didn’t go anywhere and I said “Alright Peter Ustinov” Total silence. I then realised I was the oldest person there.
One if those ‘yikes’ moments. Like when a guy at work inadvertent said something in rhyme and I called him Ian Dury and he had no idea who that was. He was into music as well. How can you not know Ian Dury?
It wasn’t a recent conversation. I guess it’s how you view someone’s cultural impact I suppose. I’m aware of George Formby, Bill Haley etc even though I was born after they died. I just presumed someone would have heard of a singer alive in their lifetime (but that’s because I’m biased towards him).
True. Which has me thinking now about how much I'd expect people to know who certain figures are (George Formby - probably, David Cassidy - probably not) and why
I’ve always hated it on quiz shows when the contestant says “Before my time I’m afraid”. Queen Victoria and dinosaurs were before my time and yet I’ve somehow heard of them.
Among my friend group, if a man is being ungallant about a woman's looks the rejoinder is:- "Here, hark at Tom Cruise." (Works best with a West Country accent.)
I don't think I could translate that for anyone under 45.
Once there was a bloke at work with Charlie Drake hair and me and a colleague referred to him privately by that name. A younger colleague had never heard of Drake, thought that was his real name, and called him it to his face.
I’ve been wondering why celebrities’ names don’t seem to have built-in comedy these days. I’ve tried doing this kind of joke with new names, and it doesn’t work because I think the joke IS about the names being slightly (and now extremely) outdated.
My daughter (16) adores him. I’ve never forced my taste on her but she’s slowly going back to stuff she heard when she was growing up. As a kid she’d laugh hysterically at ‘being in the nuddy’ and now she has her own nostalgia for it.
Agreed, that's where the comedy is. I throw old names in a lot, and my kids 12 & 15 will ask, "Who is that", then laugh when I explain. I'm hoping it will mean that this is carried on & so in future when someone asks one of them to lift something, they'll ask, "Who do you think I am... Geoff Capes?"
Considering who it was (an elderly neighbour) I’m guessing she wasn’t a boxing expert and literally went for the first boxer she could think of. I’m half surprised she didn’t say Henry Cooper.
I’ve dug deeper into this thread and its revelations about ancient pop cultural references. And agree that much of it is down to a shared televisual experience that no longer exists.
Yes, Geoff Capes for example. Lots of people around my age remember him on Record Breakers and Blue Peter and we’d all talk about it at school but there’s no kids tv now. Well not in the same way.
I was always confused during the 1970’s and 80’s, when any time someone went a little bit over the speed limit, comparisons were made to Jackie Stewart or Graham Hill, never to James Hunt or Nicki Lauda (admittedly the reference was only a decade out of date, not four).
With Frank Bruno it's takes the edge off I guess as he was an affable big chap for all that. Playful bop in the kisser. Doesn't land the same when you're suggesting to someone they look like they just got panelled by modern thuggish horrorshows like Tyson Fury.
I was recently watching a repeat of an old comedy show with someone ten years younger than me and a policeman in the thing said “Alright Stirling, out of the car” and I laughed and then had to explain what that meant.
I never actually saw him fight, he was just always on Noel's House Party or talking to Edd the Duck etc.
Dad said he was dangerous and even though Frank Bruno is obviously HUGE I was like 'what him?'.
This is pretty much my experience as well. Wasn’t into boxing but I was into comedy so it was probably Lenny Henry’s impression of him that I first heard about him.
The simple act of taking a photograph in public during the era from the mid 60s (I presume) probably until the advent of camera phones would get you called David Bailey round our way. Sterling Moss evolved into Nigel Mansell but it was always David Bailey. Now it's not even a thing!
Haha indeed! The two I was thinking of were Annie Leibowitz and Martin Parr but famous as they are, they aren't man-or-woman-on-the-street famous like Bailey was.
It's probably because he used to appear on TV and press ads for the Olympus Trip, with the line "who do you think you are, David Bailey?". Not many other photographers managed to get that leg-up into the public consciousness.
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I don't think I could translate that for anyone under 45.
Well, you live and grow.
Like wisdom teeth.
Dad said he was dangerous and even though Frank Bruno is obviously HUGE I was like 'what him?'.