Working my way through my old blog posts with "Bedsitter," one of the first posts I'd written in celebration of Tony Hancock, inspired by Archive Television Musings! And reposting here a day before his birthday: "Hancock shone beautifully when set against his foils (literally everyone else), and he was just as brilliant when set against the world, just living. And it may often be the plight of the starring straight man (or woman), that the other characters/actors seem to be getting more laughs though they’re the star of sorts, they are made funnier simply because they are placed next to their straight man, whose reactions are what make the act work, they are each so important to one another to complete the joke, the line, the sketch, the situation, and make it shine. It’s so often Hancock’s disgust, bewilderment, and distressed frustration in relation to other people, who are surreally ordinary and don’t always play along with his airs and fantasies of himself (in fact, they downright refuse to, and are only too glad to bring him back down), this out-of-work Shakespearean actor who barely has enough money, with his equally witty and foolish repartee and attack on the people he comes into contact with (usually Hugh Lloyd), it’s his railing against Sid’s promises and schemes (because he’s too smart for that) and then desperately hanging on to every hopeful word (because he’s not too smart for that); that is the brilliance of watching Hancock in relation to others, especially Sid."
As hysterically dark as they are, sometimes nothing can lift a particularly universally flustered harried upset spirit than the even more hilariously worked up Hancock Xo
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