Approaching 80, Ronnie Corbett refuses to swear
Ronnie Corbett, most famous for being one half of the brilliant comedy duo, The Two Ronnies, lashed out at the BBC and other television outlets recently for an apparent snub because he wasn’t “edgy” enough. Translated, that means he refused to swear. Corbett, whose rise to fame began in the early to mid ’60s as a writer and cast member of The Frost Report, remains one of the icons of British comedy today at the tender age of 79. It was during that series that Corbett met and worked with the likes of Ronnie Barker, Graham Chapmen, John Cleese and Eric Idle.
Following The Frost Report, Corbett went on to British comedy classics such as the long-running Two Ronnies and the short-lived Sorry. While there were roles here and there over the years, nothing like the success of these two series. Corbett is a genius. According to Corbett, his lack of roles are a direct result of a new generation of comedians that are not only interested in just shocking audiences or trying to be clever, but a new generation of comics that are “genuinely not funny and don’t have a feel for comedy”.
While Corbett is saddened by the perceived snub, it has not stopped him from sticking true to his values and doing what has kept him in the business for over 50 years. Clean comedy. I do remember seeing him recently on an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s F Word where he chastised Ramsay for, surprise, using the “F” word when Corbett’s dish beat out Chef Ramsay’s creation in a taste test. An admitted “foodie”, Corbett recently hosted Ronnie Corbett’s Supper Club for the Good Food channel on Sky TV in the UK.
If you get a chance, get a hold of The Two Ronnies. Classic, classic, clean, good British comedy. Well worth the rental fee.
