Pretend Room : Did Shakespeare Sound More American Than British? | Mitchell and Webb

[00:00:08]Hello and welcome to Mitch and Web talk about sketches in a pretend room and I'm here with David Mitchell, can you believe? And we're going to be talking in this bit about Puritans and the sketch and Accord with our values the sketch.

[00:00:25]And we should both about values really aren't they David?

[00:00:28]>> Watch them. They're about >> You can watch them first.

[00:00:33]It'll make more sense if you watch the sketches first, but you don't have to.

[00:00:38]But Puritans a couple of things going on there David, isn't there because it's our sort of way of talking about cancel culture and purity spirals without actually getting canceled or spiraled because we put it in the past, haven't we? We've talked about we put it in the past safely. So it's our it's a slightly cowardly way for us to talk about Because we're comedians we're not social justice activists.

[00:01:01]>> with Arthur Miller in his cowardly play The Crucible.

[00:01:04]He wouldn't take on McCarthyism head on.

[00:01:06]>> Because he was because of his cowardice.

[00:01:08]>> Yes, exactly.

[00:01:09]>> That's right. It's well established.

[00:01:10]>> Yeah.

[00:01:11]>> And the other thing going on in the sketch The Puritans is laughing at Americans for sounding different to us.

[00:01:17]>> Well, it's it's I think laughing with cuz what we're we're imagining and it's it's an inaccurate imagining but a journey from a British accent you and I would call a normal accent normal rightly.

[00:01:32]And to an American accent which is the way Americans choose >> to speak because >> They're right but you know, you they you know, their normal ways of talking are available. But um But the thing is of course that wouldn't have been the journey. A lot of people think that the American accent as it now is is a lot closer >> I was going to say this factoid.

[00:01:53]>> Oh, sorry.

[00:01:53]>> Well, it's not a factoid but it's a theory that I first heard about 30 years ago and maybe completely out of date, but yes, way it was talk when people were talking about Shakespeare and how Shakespeare would have sounded. Well, in the 16th century, it could be that the we all sounded like Americans and actually those the religious fanatics of our country went over to found America.

[00:02:14]Good luck with that. And I'm sure it went well. It It did go well in places. There was some teething problems. There was some problems.

[00:02:22]But there was an unnecessary revolution for a start. And then Shakespeare they carried on sounding like Ben Affleck in Shakespeare in Love, whereas we our accent our various different regional accents evolved in their own way, but eventually but you know, Americans sound how we used to sound is the theory.

[00:02:41]>> Yes, so that would make our sketch which imagines a sort of journey from the English accent to the American accent entirely inaccurate. They would have gone there saying mom. And then we have for some reason >> gone from mom to mum.

[00:02:55]>> Yeah, maybe. We don't know. Nobody >> And we've gone from mirror to mirror.

[00:03:00]>> Mum. Of course there weren't mirrors then, so that's probably >> But there were squirrels.

[00:03:04]>> There were squirrels.

[00:03:05]>> They would have said squirrel.

[00:03:07]>> And mirror.

[00:03:07]>> Instead of squirrel.

[00:03:09]>> Um so but I I like the fact that that's historically probably inaccurate.

[00:03:15]>> Yeah, because doesn't matter.

[00:03:17]>> Yeah. And it's it's odd the way you know, different different accents are sort of weird and and funny in the way people change how they speak either involuntarily or deliberately because they want to fit in in a new milieu. That's all That's the fun stuff of of human need for acceptance.

[00:03:37]>> And don't we aren't we constantly enthralled by the fun stuff of human acceptance and that's part of what makes us artists.

[00:03:47]>> [laughter] >> But it is part of It it is us and Shakespeare as well.

[00:03:53]I think Shakespeare sounds better in an English accent.

[00:03:56]>> You'd rather listen to John Gielgud do it than Warren Beatty.

[00:04:01]>> Yeah.

[00:04:01]>> Just another bang-up-to-date couple of references. Those are the main two cultural icons of our day.

[00:04:08]>> Beatty Gielgud. Beatty Gielgud.

[00:04:09]>> Beatty Gielgud. Beatty Gielgud.

[00:04:11]>> Um so yeah, that's what that was about.

[00:04:15]>> Yes.

[00:04:15]>> And the other sk- yes >> A code of our values.

[00:04:17]>> Yeah, that's that's a >> Where >> That's it. That's more >> That was a bit more on the nose, wasn't it? A bit less cowardly.

[00:04:23]>> quite on the nose.

[00:04:25]But it but also quite cowardly.

[00:04:27]>> And it's where in fact we in fact what I think rather bravely go out there and say that we're cowards.

[00:04:33]>> Yes.

[00:04:33]And I I I think there is a bravery in >> Which is asking for because it is asking for the more socially committed armchair activist to come and give us the treatment for not making some kind of stand that they would that would please them.

[00:04:48]>> Deafening silence. They can always get you Get you for what you say or they can get you for deafening silence.

[00:04:52]>> Yeah, there's been a deafening silence from David Mitchell on this topic.

[00:04:56]>> Yeah, all that is necessary for evil for to triumph is for good men good people to do nothing. Uh but I I find the trouble with that phrase seems so neat.

[00:05:07]All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

[00:05:10]>> Mhm.

[00:05:10]>> Is unfortunately a lot of the evil triumphing is when there are evil people who think they're good men who are not doing nothing.

[00:05:20]And you know that If you're a good man to Well, I'm a good man not doing nothing, there's quite a high chance No, you're not. You're trouble.

[00:05:27]>> Yeah.

[00:05:27]>> You're causing the trouble. And actually, why pin it all on the good men or men who are good, bad, or indifferent who just leave well alone.

[00:05:35]>> I'm sorry to bring up Hitler, but Hitler was someone who got out of bed in the morning and thought he was doing a good thing for Germany.

[00:05:41]>> Yeah.

[00:05:41]>> And you know >> And he said >> So >> Yeah.

[00:05:44]>> Steady with your good ideas.

[00:05:46]>> Exactly. He will have gone there, gone to work in his pompous way >> in his Volkswagen >> mocking all of the rabid anti-Semites who couldn't be bothered.

[00:05:54]>> That's right. They're they're doing nothing wrong.

[00:05:56]>> those good men are doing nothing wrong with me who is also right about being rabidly anti-Semitic.

[00:06:01]>> suppose what we're learning is don't be wrong.

[00:06:04]>> Yeah, I but if unless >> going to do something, make sure it's the right thing. But then it's very hard to know.

[00:06:10]>> Exactly. You're You're only judging your own judgment. What I'm saying is we should ease off on people who do nothing.

[00:06:17]>> head down.

[00:06:17]>> Just exactly. Maybe they are not the problem. Maybe they haven't solved the problem in the moment, you know, and then they came for the trade unionists all >> all singing.

[00:06:25]>> But But it's it's not primarily their fault.

[00:06:28]>> No.

[00:06:28]>> All that is necessary for evil for to triumph >> It's not all is it?

[00:06:32]>> man is it all all >> It's not all It's not all, is it?

[00:06:35]>> No. If it was just people doing nothing, we'd be okay. I mean, be messy, but the bins would be emptied in the >> I I I'm immediately worried about the bins But we're of an age where we're obsessed >> [laughter] >> with with bins.

[00:06:50]>> Yeah.

[00:06:50]>> But yes, you're right.

[00:06:52]>> Bins and lavatories.

[00:06:54]>> the sorry >> the the different ways of expelling the unwanted from the unit.

[00:06:58]>> Yeah.

[00:06:59]>> Um >> Well, if you've enjoyed this unit, then see our >> Yeah, yeah.

[00:07:03]>> see my segue or seg.

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