Frank Skinner chooses his favourite double acts

The Two Ronnies to Reeves & Mortimer: The top ten greatest comedy double acts

By Frank Skinner

From one of the most quotable funny acts of all time to a duo who loved language, FRANK SKINNER chooses those comedians who have most inspired him

1. THE TWO RONNIES
The Two Ronnies are one of the most quotable comedy acts of all time. There are lots of crafted one-liners, partly because Ronnie Barker was a writer himself

The Two Ronnies are one of the most quotable comedy acts of all time. There are lots of crafted one-liners, partly because Ronnie Barker was a writer himself

I always preferred The Two Ronnies to Morecambe and Wise. They’re one of the most quotable comedy acts of all time. There are lots of crafted one-liners, partly because Ronnie Barker was a writer himself. I liked going to school on Monday saying, ‘Zachariah Mild, the world’s untidiest man, died yesterday and is currently lying in a state.’ It’s all beautifully put together. I also like that kind of wordplay comedy, of which Ronnie Barker was a master. From being on Mastermind and giving the answers to the previous questions to ‘Four Candles’, it really appeals to me. Ronnie Barker really enjoyed words, and I like comics who enjoy words.

2. LAUREL & HARDY

I can’t think of any other double act in the same league as Laurel & Hardy. I remember watching a short 20-minute film by them when I was at my school Christmas party, aged five, and absolutely falling about laughing. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. And I could watch that now and still really laugh at it – I can’t think of any other comedy that has that kind of lasting effect. And unlike, say, Abbott and Costello, whose style was quite aggressive, there was a lot of love in Laurel & Hardy. And there isn’t a straight man. I think they’re both equally funny. When I was a kid I thought Stan Laurel was the funny one and Ollie was the suffering one, but as you get older you find more and more funniness in Ollie.


3. LEE & HERRING

Stewart Lee and Richard Herring have both done well separately, but I really liked them together. They were clever, original and interesting. Often utterly vindictive, but in a funny way. And I like that they were able to do that old-fashioned patter, which a lot of double acts donÂ’t do now. They would talk about each other and talk to the audience while the other one interrupted them. Stewart Lee could say some cruel things, but he could also be extremely genial. IÂ’d really like to see them do a TV show now. It would be interesting to see how they operated today.


4. PETER COOK & DUDLEY MOORE
At the time I didn't have the sense that one of them was a genius and the other was his assistant - I thought Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were both extremely funny

At the time I didn't have the sense that one of them was a genius and the other was his assistant - I thought Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were both extremely funny

I used to watch them as a kid on telly, and it reminds me that before satellite TV people were in contact with much more challenging stuff. My family would sit and watch Not Only… But Also with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, a programme that would now be late-night BBC2 and probably watched by about two million diehard fans. But then, because there were only three channels, it was really popular. I don’t know if that means we’re less intelligent than we used to be, or whether the people who make TV programmes have decided we are. At the time I didn’t have the sense that one of them was a genius and the other was his assistant – I thought they were both extremely funny.


5. GEORGE COLE & DENNIS WATERMAN
Minder was endlessly joyous and I don't think that gets enough credit. A successful double act needs to be a delicate balance of good material and strong performances

Minder was endlessly joyous and I don't think that gets enough credit. A successful double act needs to be a delicate balance of good material and strong performances

Minder was a laugh-out-loud-funny programme. It was meant to be a comedy drama, but I saw it as an hour-long comedy. Cole played that spiv character, who was completely free of morality; Waterman was the slightly noble character at his side. It was endlessly joyous and I don’t think that gets enough credit. A successful double act needs to be a delicate balance of good material and strong performances, and it’s only when someone else tries and fails to replicate that – as with the remake of Minder – that you realise how good the original was.


6. RICHARD & JUDY
The great thing about Richard and Judy is that they had no idea they were really funny, and that was why they were so wonderful

The great thing about Richard and Judy is that they had no idea they were really funny, and that was why they were so wonderful

I laughed at Richard and Judy in a way that I haven’t laughed at lots of ‘proper’ comedy double acts. Theirs was a very interesting dynamic. The basic persona was of two serious journalists, and I love the fact that they never really lost that. The problems start when people become too knowing about what audiences find funny about them and they try to play up to that. Once Ozzy Osbourne started doing the reality show, he knew what people wanted. They wanted a bit of swearing, so he started delivering it, and then there comes that danger of turning into a parody of yourself. But the great thing about Richard and Judy is that they had no idea they were really funny, and that was why they were so wonderful.


7. REEVES & MORTIMER
Reeves & Mortimer worked in a very interesting way. They were each other's audience to some extent, and that gave them massive confidence. They were very much comedians who loved language

Reeves & Mortimer worked in a very interesting way. They were each other's audience to some extent, and that gave them massive confidence. They were very much comedians who loved language

I first saw them when I did a gig at a pub called The Greyhound in Sydenham. They used to host a comedy club there before their TV stuff. It was a tough gig to do; after their 15 minutes everyone else seemed pedestrian. They worked in a very interesting way. They were each otherÂ’s audience to some extent, and that gave them massive confidence. They were very much comedians who loved language. The joke that always sticks in my mind is about a greengrocer who said that in future he wouldnÂ’t be selling Curly Wurlies because they were too elaborate. I thought that line was a thing of beauty.


8. SAINT & GREAVSIE
Ian St John represented the straight, conservative sports journalism we'd all grown up with. Greavsie was a sort of John the Baptist of the football fanzine

Ian St John represented the straight, conservative sports journalism we'd all grown up with. Greavsie was a sort of John the Baptist of the football fanzine

I donÂ’t think there would have been a Fantasy Football without Saint And Greavsie. They were a comedian and straight man, but the interesting thing about their dynamic was that it was like a living transition. Ian St John represented the straight, conservative sports journalism weÂ’d all grown up with. Greavsie was a sort of John the Baptist of the football fanzine. He paved the way. Saint would be taken aback by GreavsieÂ’s openness, but he wasnÂ’t just a straight man. He was like an audience member. He used to screech with delight at GreavsieÂ’s comedy.


9. THE KRANKIES
I didn't really value The Krankies as a double act until I saw them about three years ago on a tour of British comics. They were unquestionably the act of the night

I didn't really value The Krankies as a double act until I saw them about three years ago on a tour of British comics. They were unquestionably the act of the night

I know it sounds like I’m being postmodern and ironic, but I always thought when I was younger, ‘I kind of like The Krankies.’ I didn’t really value them as a double act until I saw them about three years ago on a tour of British comics. They were unquestionably the act of the night. There was a recognisable brand there, but they’d started dabbling with it a bit, and in quite a courageous way. At one point Wee Jimmy Krankie was bouncing around the stage holding up his OAP bus pass singing Fan-dabidozi, and there was a bit where Ian Krankie said, ‘Why weren’t you in school today, Jimmy?’ and Jimmy replied, ‘Because I’m a 61-year-old woman.’ I loved it. It was a sort of Brechtian approach. It challenged our suspension of disbelief and felt really subversive.

10. MORECAMBE & WISE
Eric Morecambe needed to be with someone he could bounce off and improvise around, but I don't know if it necessarily needed to be Ernie Wise

Eric Morecambe needed to be with someone he could bounce off and improvise around, but I don't know if it necessarily needed to be Ernie Wise

Eric Morecambe is one of the funniest men IÂ’ve ever seen. But the reason I wouldnÂ’t put them at the top of my league is that I donÂ’t buy into the fact that Ernie was an essential ingredient. I remember Eric doing World Of Sport with Dickie Davies, and I didnÂ’t think the chemistry was any more or less. Eric needed to be with someone he could bounce off and improvise around, but I donÂ’t know if it necessarily needed to be Ernie. Ernie was able to sacrifice himself on the altar of EricÂ’s comedy. Eric needed space. He needed someone who operated as a springboard. Eric Morecambe was kicking his comedy football against a wall, and the wall was Ernie Wise.


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