A Bit Of Fry And Laurie Friday: Richard Ayoade Edition

by Mallory Ortberg · November 20, 2015

“Richard, you’re our youngest panelists. You were how old when Channel Four started?”

“Five?”

“D’you remember anything about it?”

“I..I didn’t mind it. I thought it was fine. It was all right. I…I approved it, I thought, yeah, go – go ahead. To be honest, I wasn’t massively consulted on the whole process.”

Mallory is an Editor of The Toast.


60 Comments

  1. Es_Petal +26

    Weirdly, given I’m in the UK, channel four appears to have blocked its content in my country on copyright grounds!

    1. secondursula +24

      Noooo me too! And I love Richard Ayoade so much! When I’m sad, I just rewatch the street countdown episode of IT Crowd or even just the scene where Roy tries to help Moss deal with bullies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l4r10MOH70 (ahhh god I’m listening to it now in the background while I type this comment, and it’s already working it’s giggle magic on me)

    1. cosetthetable +9

      Apparently Germaine Greer was in The Footlights, and I’m having trouble integrating this fact into my worldview.

  3. GreenGrasses +95

    His look of wide-eyed wonder after he makes his own jokes is really affecting me….SEXUALLY.

    Also Noel Fielding, never change.

  5. builtahouse +43

    His eyes in the portrait at the top are doing THINGS to my INSIDES.

    (edit: this is a video I’ve already seen but I’m still helplessly loling over my desk. Love.)

  6. hippopotropolis +20

    I was JUST WATCHING this VERY CLIP last night! Why’s it always seem like Mallory’s reading my mind?
    …
    Are you in my house? Or just hacking into my computer?

    1. elsamac +29

      I, too, was watching this yesterday and wondering, “Why is it that my environment has recently been littered with Richard Ayoade references, and how do I encourage this to continue?”

  7. RuncibleSpoon +50

    ugh, i have such a crush on Ayoade. i mean, i think he’s a brilliant writer and actor and so funny, but i also want to do many, many things with him

    2. ramina +40

      The bit in the one BFQOTY where Noel and Russell rag on him for being like a supply teacher kills me EVERY TIME.

    3. grace_adieu +30

      I find that his laugh is one of the more human things about him! Like, otherwise he is pretty obnoxious, but his laugh is just SO doofy that it ends up being weirdly endearing. Although, this may just be weird laugh solidarity since I end up sounding a bit like a seal when I laugh too hard.

    4. builtahouse +29

      Jimmy Carr ranges from flatly unappealing to actually repugnant, and Ayoade’s barely-restrained savagery of him is one of my favorite things.

  10. Pocket-Fawn +50

    I’ve never posted in The Toast comment section before, but now I feel obligated because my love for Richard Ayoade is endless, as is my love for Mallory, and the Fry and Laurie Friday series. Thank you for (somehow) raising my crush on Mr. Ayoade to new heights.

  11. wallpaperori +95

    SO. Richard Ayoade and David Mitchell probably hang out once a month, right? They walk down the street quietly being upset about menu grammar and stupid rules, have some very precise conversations, shake hands and go home. Occasionally one will tell a story about something they did, the other will go “…why did you do that?” and then they first will think about it and go “…I don’t know.” That must happen.

    1. malloryelis +73

      there are pictures of the two of them at Cambridge together, which I hate myself for loving

      1. wallpaperori +31

        Uh, like photos that are on the internet that I could see?

        Sidenote: David Mitchell is 1/2 of my favorite celebrity couple of all time. He and Victoria deserve every happiness known to man.

        2. LeastBittern +16

          Yes. I had a crush on David Mitchell for a while, but then he married Victoria, and a crush on him now seems so _disrespectful_.

        3. Robot_Devil +9

          I would be so devastated if they ever break up.

          Watching British panel shows on Youtube is my favorite way of procrastinating, and in one of my binges i found this short lived Charlie Brooker show where David and Victoria appeared on one episode:
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKle4KSB7eg&f…

          Victoria Coren’s line about that stupid ad is just brilliant. Apparently they weren’t together at the time of the taping, but is it just me or there is some tension in the way they look at each other?

  12. ramina +33

    You know, it’s nearly time for my annual Watch Every Episode Of Big Fat Quiz Except 2008 Because Fuck Sean Lock. Thank you for confirming.

    1. femaelstrom +2

      You know, I’ve heard to avoid that one but have never known why – could you enlighten me?

      1. ramina +3

        One of the subjects that comes up is Thomas Beattie’s pregnancy, and he (Lock) devolves into transmisogyny real quick.

        1. rapunzel

          Awwwwwwww noooooooooooooo shiiiiit. I love(d) Sean Lock so so so much. He’s the funniest. Ok, maybe David Mitchell and Lee Mack on would I lie to you come close.

    2. ophelias_ghost +17

      I often look up old episodes of the Big Fat Quiz to watch when I’m having trouble falling asleep. It’s like a comforting comedy blanket. I’m very partial to the 2012 lineup but I am also always up for the Best of the Goth Detectives compliations

    1. Pocket-Fawn +23

      Don’t toy with my heart like that… Now if I don’t see one featuring Ayode and you making increasingly dry quips until the other cracks a smile and you’re snickering into your wine glass over dinner, I’m going to be sad.

    3. myownprivatenetherfield +6

      How has this not been done yet?? I believe in a Platonic ideal of the “If Richard Ayoade Were Your Boyfriend” article and it happens to double as my Life Goals.

    1. saraallain +24

      By the by, watching The Big Fat Quiz of the Year is a delightful New Year’s Eve tradition, because:

      A) It is an hour and a half long, which means that it is long enough for you to get comfortably intoxicated while watching;

      B) It introduces an element of competitiveness into your evening, which is great for, I am pretty sure, all imaginable situations;

      C) You are reminded of the year’s events and, if you do not live in the UK, you learn some things too;

      and

      D) It’s better than going out and paying too much money to get into a crappy bar where you will definitely get prosecco spilled on you.

  15. femaelstrom +25

    Wheezing with laughter and trying not to disturb my coworker. There are tears.

    i can’t believe this doesn’t include “You’re half Norwegian, aren’t you?” “Yes.” “Which half?” “Top half” though.

  16. bnharrison32 +12

    Oh man. This, right here, is my holiday tradition–me, alone with my christmas tree, stuffing my face, and combing YouTube for every episode of Big Fat Quiz, and then moving on to all of Gadget Man, and whatever else of Richard Ayoade’s I can dig up.

  17. thaliakat +13

    Toast! Does anyone have recommendations for someone who loves every clip of Richard Ayoade they watch but does not enjoy IT Club like, at all? Please send help!

    2. notsolaconic +2

      THE MIGHTY BOOSH. he plays an acerbic and kinda douchey shaman in a truly amazing outfit. also the show itself is just wonderful, if you haven’t seen it!

  21. myownprivatenetherfield +5

    Somehow on Friday nights I end up either on the Toast or in the “Richard Ayoade” search results of YouTube. Thank you, Mallory, for streamlining my process.

  22. Delaney +2

    “Travel Man” is also delightful, because it combines my loves of Richard Ayoade, travel, and not spending the money required to travel.

  23. damskdrednwhite +5

    I can’t decide whether Richard Ayoade + Noel Fielding would = the most annoying person ever or my ideal man, but I’m leaning toward the latter

    1. Sporkening

      Depends on whose eyes the hypothetical person gets. Fielding eyes = 50/50 chance, will probably shift unpredictably from one to the other depending on quantum entanglements and such. Ayoade eyes = GET OUT how can you even ASK THAT QUESTION have you no SOUL just LOOK at the man