The most influential comic in my life.

As a child I watched most of the same shows as my peers. There was one show, however, that completely separated me from the rest of the fellas. This show was “Benny Hill”. For whatever reason, my parents did not mind that at ten o’clock (my bedtime back in the day) I watched this bawdy British comic on my small black & white bedside television for a half-hour every weekday night.

Benny’s show had it all — brilliant wit, the use of tight rhyme, broad physical comedy, parodies of popular culture, sexual innuendo, and even brief nudity. Ah, I was a ten year old child in heaven. It was this cherubic faced funny man that introduced me to women in garter belts (ahh, thank you, Benny!) and solidified my position as a life-long leg man.

The trait that I most admired about Benny Hill was that he was always laughing at and along with his own jokes. He truly seemed to enjoy what he was doing and entertained not only his audience but himself along the way. Hill wrote all of his own material, which impressed me even more, and inspired me to produce written comedy in the same style. His ability to not only bring forth humor but to do it in a way that created a melodic, sing-songy symphony of rhymes kept me glued to the screen.

Here’s an example of his work from a sketch called “The Birds and the Bees” in which Benny is talking about a small bird he had found and nursed back to health:

I taught him little tricks, like playing dead and picking up sticks,
And the village girls, they brought bird seed every day.
“Dad, you can’t come in,” I’d shout, “Or my birdie will fly out,”
But of course I let the village girls all stay.

Well there was Mable from the stable, and Mary from the dairy,
We had a visit by our beauty queen.
And that great big Betty Mavery, and she’s got her own avery,
She’s got the biggest parakeets I’ve ever seen.

Hill’s childlike innocence coupled with the downright dirtiness of his comedy made for a winning combination. Surrounded by a superb supporting cast including Henry McGee, Bob Todd, and eternal foil Jackie Wright, Benny also surrounded himself with a bevy of beauties known as Hill’s Angels. Anyone that ever watched the show would instantly recognize the tunes that Benny used in almost every episode including the infamous “Mahna Mahna” song as well as Boots Randolph’s “Yakety Sax” which basically became known as Benny’s theme. And who could forget all his great facial expressions? Few comics could sustain a great comedy skit for 10-15 minutes without saying a word but Benny Hill could do it with ease. Ahh, I truly loved this guy.

A few lines from Benny’s sketches that have always stuck with me — and those of you that know me have probably heard me say them — include “stupid iriot” and “you no rissen” (both in a Japanese accent), “look at that skill”, and my personal favorite — “biiiiiiig deeeeeeal”.

Thank you, Benny Hill… I seriously doubt that there will ever be a more influential comic in my life than you.