He was no Carson, but then, no one was.

As I have admitted previously, I am a confessed couch potato. In my early days, I managed to pack a lot of television watching in while touring the neighbourhood and playing soccer each week. For the non-Scarberians, Channel 47 (CFMT, now OMNI 1) was the ONLY channel on TV that catered to the varied cultures that made Scarborough the great place it is today. Dave Allen - At Large and The Benny Hill Show were evening staples on this channel in the 70s and 80s. A lot of folks did not get British humour, but we did (it may be due to being born in a former British colony). Anyhow, Dave Allen was the dry wit and Benny Hill was the pratfalls and sexual innuendo; every so often, it was reversed.

To illustrate Dave Allen's dryness, imagine the delivery when this exchange happened:

Stranger: "Are you the Irish comedian with half a finger?"
Dave Allen: "No, I'm the Irish comedian with nine and a half fingers!"

Classic.

There were many skits about the conflicts between religions that I always found immensely funny (the Pope and the Archbishop having a road race on the shoulders of the men carrying them), but there is one particular monologue about everyday life, with him smoking and sitting in the chair the way he did, that has always stuck in my mind.

Dave said he was sitting in his car stuck in traffic one day when he noticed that this lady was starting to stare at him (probably recognizing him). So, in typical DA style, he decided to have a bit of fun at her expense. He basically acknowledged to her that he saw her looking at him and stared ahead into the traffic intently. He then started to play with his nose as if it were itching him. He increased this activity until he made it appear that forcibly shoved one finger up his nose. As if this was not enough to startle the woman, when he pulled his hand away from his face, he made a startled reaction at the top of his finger missing; the woman almost fainted. As everyone knows, Dave lost that piece of his finger in an elevator accident.

Classic!

To read up on various bits about Dave Allen, please see the following links. The bottom one is, of course, about his recent passing. Dave, wherever you are, "Good Night and may your God go with you."

Screen Online
Passgen
Spiritual Themes (starting with Dave Allen)
Nostalgia Central
BBC Co
Jump The Shark
BBC TV
Michael DVD

CANOE -- JAM! Television: Comedian Dave Allen dies at 68