Benedict Cumberbatch reads a notoriously grumpy Irish playwright's letter of complaint

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 พ.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 127

  • @leopoldbloom4835
    @leopoldbloom4835 ปีที่แล้ว +104

    I just had a look an actual recording of G.B. Shaw and found how amazing Benedict Cumberbatch's impression is. His performance is as entertaining as it is acurate.

    • @LazyIRanch
      @LazyIRanch ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I did the same thing, I had a sense that he was impersonating Shaw so I wanted to compare. He nailed the voice and the mannerisms perfectly!

    • @davetracey1
      @davetracey1 ปีที่แล้ว

      Apart from the accent which is laughably wrong? How is it a good impression?

  • @CatsandJP
    @CatsandJP ปีที่แล้ว +85

    Benedict has given ten years of joy doing this..he has given the world an insight into how important it is to keep the power of literary correspondence alive in this ever changing world..we rely on it to connect, express our feelings and emotions without the written word we leave very little of our true self behind when we depart this mortal realm…Benedict is the best when he reads George B Shaw.. he captures the true polemicist and contentious rhetoric that Shaw had…Shaw is up there with the best including Galileo…and Benedict is up there with the best of the best…..Choose Love ..always.❤️ 🇦🇺🇦🇺

  • @Pablorcct
    @Pablorcct ปีที่แล้ว +150

    Benedict really is one of the greats, i could listen to him for hours i hope he make another audiobook sometime ❤

    • @iffracem
      @iffracem ปีที่แล้ว +6

      He and Stephen Fry co-narrating an audio book... It'd be an orgasm for the ears

    • @Pablorcct
      @Pablorcct ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@iffracem oh yes, i love Stephen voice too, or maybe an audiobook with Ben & Tom Hiddleston after all their friends

  • @kristenrosales2919
    @kristenrosales2919 ปีที่แล้ว +207

    Someone give this awesome person a hoard of gold as a grand prize for reading a hilarious letter. I truly appreciate the witty letters of George Bernard Shaw on social conventions.

    • @they65
      @they65 ปีที่แล้ว +29

      Did you learn NOTHING from the hobbit movies???? DONT GIVE BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH A HOARD OF GOLD!

    • @kristenrosales2919
      @kristenrosales2919 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      @@they65 What I meant to say is to give a hoard of Golden Books for him to read to children. That way it will inspire children to read more books and foster a love of books.

    • @LazyIRanch
      @LazyIRanch ปีที่แล้ว +15

      I was curious so I looked up old videos of George Bernard Shaw to hear how he spoke and moved, his mannerisms. I suspected right away that Benedict isn't just reading what was written by the great playwright, he has BECOME Shaw!
      He's nailed his voice and mannerisms so well it's a bit eerie, but wonderful!

    • @chris0513
      @chris0513 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      @@kristenrosales2919 Great save! 😂 Well done 🎉

    • @Jazztizz2
      @Jazztizz2 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@they65 hehehe I was thinking that when I saw your comment! ^^

  • @AnnaLizzyRose
    @AnnaLizzyRose ปีที่แล้ว +43

    This is so good. The way Benedict makes GB Shaws letter come alive is amazing.

  • @chrishasi660
    @chrishasi660 ปีที่แล้ว +49

    Benedict Cumberbatch is the most talented artist I ever saw. I enjoy every peace of acting and reading he has made and will ever made.👍🏼

  • @stuartpalmer8593
    @stuartpalmer8593 ปีที่แล้ว +38

    We were there and enjoyed a fantastic evening. Thank you to all the readers,

    • @mpras684
      @mpras684 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Wow! What a treat!

    • @unvergebeneid
      @unvergebeneid ปีที่แล้ว +3

      For a second I thought you were there in 1905 😅

  • @loraineriddell7157
    @loraineriddell7157 ปีที่แล้ว +57

    What a master narrator 👏. And who better to read someone's writings who is just as eloquent.

  • @Talik13
    @Talik13 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    HAHAHAHA At first I was like "This guy sounds like a karen"... and then the punchline where you realize that he wrote this whole thing to a place that got bitchy with him over wearing a blue tie once! *Chef's kiss*

  • @AlineFowler-b6b
    @AlineFowler-b6b ปีที่แล้ว +28

    I'd never heard of this event until a few days ago, looked on the site for new dates and found that there was an event that very day. Damn, too late to get tickets! I must watch out for the next event - they're brilliant!

  • @t.a.k.palfrey3882
    @t.a.k.palfrey3882 ปีที่แล้ว +59

    My late grandfather, at my grandmother's insistance, required us all to dress formally for dinner at weekends and when we dined at home with guests. (He died when I was 16, and the rule lapsed except on special occasions). My late mother used regularly to complain that it took her ages to dress for such dinners, but every male simply had to "dress as if he was being strangled by a bat". 🦇

    • @Charon-w6h
      @Charon-w6h 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      🥰😍🤩😘

    • @peterschorn1
      @peterschorn1 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

      "Now, I want you to tell all your friends about me."
      "Wh--who ARE you?
      "...I'm Blackwell."

  • @stillfedup1758
    @stillfedup1758 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    Shaw is the absolute best. Cumberatch does him full credit!

  • @nang.s.8869
    @nang.s.8869 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    He has been my favorite actor for a long time, he could read the phone book and make it sound interesting. ❤

    • @luannvondracek439
      @luannvondracek439 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      BC has always been in my telephone book catagory.

    • @CatsandJP
      @CatsandJP ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The phone book is always a comment on Letter Live so is Terms and Conditions..I’ve used it on Matt Berry numerous times in the past…it must be catchy…but do they still make phone books that’s the question..everything is online now.🤔🤔🇦🇺🇦🇺

  • @mk1st
    @mk1st 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +22

    This sounds like the genesis of several Monty Python sketches.

  • @kurtwicklund8901
    @kurtwicklund8901 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    The English language composed and presented with mastery of both arts. At least one of these is underappreciated these days.

  • @kindabatooni9314
    @kindabatooni9314 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Beautifully performed as usual. Benedict Cumberbatch always delivers.

  • @Fidd88-mc4sz
    @Fidd88-mc4sz 6 หลายเดือนก่อน +6

    Bernard Shaw esteemed himself a wit. He came into collision with a higher authority in the form of Winston Churchill, it went something like this, after Shaw had written a new play:
    GBS: Please find herewith tickets for the 1st night of my new play, bring a friend, if you have one.
    WSC: Cannot attend the 1st, will attend the 2nd, if you have one!

  • @LC-le9ew
    @LC-le9ew ปีที่แล้ว +9

    All while wearing the most beautiful velvet jacket ever made..

  • @LilianPortela
    @LilianPortela ปีที่แล้ว +28

    Benedict Cumberbatch ❤

    • @smitasingh21
      @smitasingh21 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Here for him only 💖

  • @nosuchthingasshould4175
    @nosuchthingasshould4175 2 วันที่ผ่านมา +1

    I have a feeling that there is more to this letter than meets the eye. I have been recently to the RSPB facility at Minsmere. They have a display there portraying the beginnings of the bird protection movement which, it turns out, started in response to the threat of extinction of many bird species brought on by the victorian fashion for ladies hats. There were some contemporary cartoons on display which suggested that while the goal of the movement was noble, it’s success was in no small measure facilitated by the casual misogyny of the period. I suspect that this letter may have been inspired by that fashionable cause, and mood, of the era.

  • @nigelwest3430
    @nigelwest3430 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Amazing how much acting can be put into the reading of a letter

  • @DeerheartStudioArts
    @DeerheartStudioArts ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Mr. C. is truly a special superb actor!

  • @lakeshagadson357
    @lakeshagadson357 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    this one gave a great speech of the day

  • @Gieza-Brake-Pahl
    @Gieza-Brake-Pahl 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

    I suppose getting GBS himself to read it would have been too complicated for the organizers however Mr Cumberbund makes a decent fist of it.

  • @robertAGC
    @robertAGC ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Shaw was such a crank. I love him!

  • @AlexanderSchumacherP
    @AlexanderSchumacherP ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Hello, so nice to listen and watch. I would like to recite in the same way and be able to read beautifully out loud.

  • @nicolaj3294
    @nicolaj3294 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    My favourite actor, just brilliant ❤

  • @HailTheRegent
    @HailTheRegent 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I'm so used to seeing Cumberbatch on screen that I forgot how incredible he is at voice acting

  • @alexandrafossey9267
    @alexandrafossey9267 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    I wonder what GB Shaw would have written about Lady Gaga's meat dress?

    • @marthavillegas6250
      @marthavillegas6250 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Or Bjork swan dress?

    • @LazyIRanch
      @LazyIRanch ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I don't know why this reminded me of something Erma Bombeck wrote about Madonna in the 80s when she was constantly in the news for some dumb reason, because she couldn't stand it if she wasn't center of attention.
      I think someone asked Erma what her opinion of Madonna was and she responded with,
      "Will someone PLEASE notice her so she'll go AWAY!?"

  • @samuelfinkelstein804
    @samuelfinkelstein804 ปีที่แล้ว

    hi, thank you for the upload... please conitune uploading more clips... espicallly if it includs bc

  • @maanddy2
    @maanddy2 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Benedict is ❤ and Benedict reading Shaw is the perfect combination ❤❤❤

  • @blindknitter
    @blindknitter 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    As another Irish vegetarian I can only applaud and envy my compatriot's wit - and also, that's a great imitation right there!

  • @afischer8327
    @afischer8327 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    "Even that lady stopped short of a whole seagull." I had to pause the video to recover.

  • @zainab58
    @zainab58 ปีที่แล้ว +64

    Being a vegetarian in the England of 1905 cannot have been easy.

    • @cmck472
      @cmck472 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      "There's roast beef, roast lamb, roast pork and roast ham"
      "What's the vegetarian option?"
      "Roast chicken"

    • @magesalmanac6424
      @magesalmanac6424 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      What is that from? 😂

    • @cmck472
      @cmck472 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@magesalmanac6424 loosely based on ISIHAC Christmas Carol (Google is your friend, or it might be on TH-cam)

    • @Dylan-el6yc
      @Dylan-el6yc 7 หลายเดือนก่อน

      For the wealthy it actually was very easy, as vegetarianism was in vogue in Victorian times and carried through to modern spectacularly well with the addition of Indian cuisine.

  • @KA-nw6iy
    @KA-nw6iy ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Why did I think the first line was part of the letter for a minute lmao

  • @gardenjoy5223
    @gardenjoy5223 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Most wonderful letter! When people were still literate and could communicate without loling f u's, SMH or other abbreviations. I knew the meaning of every single word and had not to look any up on a 'current slang' webpage, which I frequent nowadays.
    Well-brought by the handsome man.

  • @KweJoBoaTen
    @KweJoBoaTen ปีที่แล้ว +13

    At nine o’clock the opera began at eight 😅

    • @Drnaynay
      @Drnaynay ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Parenthetic comment

    • @2learn4ever
      @2learn4ever ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I'm sure there must be a comma after nine o'clock, thus making the sentence quite correct and intelligent to the ear.

  • @johnferry7778
    @johnferry7778 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Absolutely faultless accent and pacing of this reading. Benedict is bloody fantastic!

  • @sarahwatts7152
    @sarahwatts7152 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +4

    I mean...he wasn't wrong about the offenses of putting birds on hats. Some of those populations have yet to recover

  • @Mr_Bimble
    @Mr_Bimble ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Is that a impression of Victor Meldrew because it is perfect for this letter :D

  • @oliviatucker1950
    @oliviatucker1950 ปีที่แล้ว

    Benedict really outdid himself. Jolly well done!!

  • @carolyndarnton3304
    @carolyndarnton3304 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I love George Bernard Shaw - and he makes a good point. Gentleman's fashion was very restricted - still is.

  • @deborahduthie4519
    @deborahduthie4519 ปีที่แล้ว

    Aren’t the eccentric Artists the most enjoyable.👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌺💜🌺🌺🇦🇺

  • @dont-want-no-wrench
    @dont-want-no-wrench ปีที่แล้ว +3

    shaw makes some solid points

  • @seandoran2209
    @seandoran2209 6 หลายเดือนก่อน

    So good, just came across this ..mustt have been hiding...

  • @jeanninecalder3652
    @jeanninecalder3652 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That was FAB!

  • @scottcates
    @scottcates ปีที่แล้ว

    So much grumpy🥰

  • @davidleedutton
    @davidleedutton 15 วันที่ผ่านมา

    Shaw wrote the best letters.

  • @rosieHolliday5887
    @rosieHolliday5887 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Brilliant

  • @gracewenzel
    @gracewenzel ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Very like Professor Higgins

    • @LazyIRanch
      @LazyIRanch ปีที่แล้ว +1

      "Just you wait, 'enry 'iggins, just you wait!"

  • @runyon888
    @runyon888 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    GBS. Man, he could write.

  • @PhillipBicknell
    @PhillipBicknell ปีที่แล้ว

    A letter written the year after the RSPB got its royal charter - methinks that is no coincidence.

  • @SN-sz7kw
    @SN-sz7kw 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Fair point.

  • @sachacain9119
    @sachacain9119 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I love his voice, and have enjoyed his reading these letters. Makes me wish I were a man lol.

  • @danielcopeland3544
    @danielcopeland3544 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    George Bernard Shaw in fact had an Irish accent (mentioned by people like G. K. Chesterton who met him in person).

    • @blindknitter
      @blindknitter 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I'm more bothered by Oscar Wilde always being played as an English man.

  • @vhlaura97
    @vhlaura97 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    We gotta get this guy in a Vincent Van Gogh biopic, look at him

    • @deemura
      @deemura ปีที่แล้ว

      He actually did a documentary about him back then, Google it

  • @TonyHammitt
    @TonyHammitt ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I think I'm with Mr. Shaw on this one. Bird bodies and parts should not be used as decorations. Ewww

    • @RafaelMonteiroMaia
      @RafaelMonteiroMaia ปีที่แล้ว

      And apparently people were mad at him because he was wearing a blue tie!

  • @tanha4623
    @tanha4623 ปีที่แล้ว

    ❤❤

  • @ladyethyme
    @ladyethyme ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Yeeeees

  • @manipurihunabopa
    @manipurihunabopa ปีที่แล้ว

    It's actually not what he reads, it's how he reads that makes the difference. 😊

    • @mrb8993
      @mrb8993 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      wow ...what an obvious observation 🙃

  • @SiiriCressey
    @SiiriCressey ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Men's evening dress is/was cheap‽ Am i missing some sarcasm on Mr. Shaw's part?

  • @maxmartin7080
    @maxmartin7080 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very good! (Although GBS’s voice sounded more Irish than that).

  • @melindaward4780
    @melindaward4780 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I love him!

  • @clutchmatic
    @clutchmatic 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    He needs to read a story about all different species of penguins

  • @gustavgnoettgen
    @gustavgnoettgen 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    He looks like he's playing Dr. House

  • @decidingdifferent272
    @decidingdifferent272 11 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    hmmm... i'd very much like to hear benedict cumberbatch read a letter written by shaw complaining about his experience at the theatre when he went to see beetlejuice and sat behind lauren boebert...
    just sayin...

  • @Paulafan5
    @Paulafan5 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I think Shaw has a point. Dead birds? Dead bird... parts?

  • @elizabethmcglothlin5406
    @elizabethmcglothlin5406 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Funny, when it said Grumpy Irish Playwright....

  • @Derek_Smallshorts
    @Derek_Smallshorts ปีที่แล้ว +6

    And what do you learn from this? That the Victorians had to put up with influencers too.

  • @mrpicky1868
    @mrpicky1868 9 หลายเดือนก่อน

    sounds like it could be written by Beckett

  • @peterschorn1
    @peterschorn1 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The Frumious Cumberbatch.

  • @uyquelindoES
    @uyquelindoES ปีที่แล้ว

    señor Caruso jajaja

  • @THE-X-Force
    @THE-X-Force 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Feels like he rushed through this one.

  • @Poodle_Gun
    @Poodle_Gun 3 หลายเดือนก่อน

    "A lady came and sat conspicuously in my line of sight" what in the incel weaponized autismverse...

  • @lordvetinari1331
    @lordvetinari1331 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    G.B. Shaw reminds me of Bilbo Baggins if he were thrice as salty

  • @davetracey1
    @davetracey1 ปีที่แล้ว

    Why is he giving Shaw an English accent though? A very strange interpretation as Shaw had a pronounced Irish accent.

  • @audreybuyrn8672
    @audreybuyrn8672 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Ironic that BC is wearing a jacket that does not fit and gapes at the neck.

  • @distractionb
    @distractionb 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    Sounds like Gaga

  • @hobypop
    @hobypop ปีที่แล้ว

    Reminds me a lot with Stewie Griffin 🙄

  • @steveoconnor5731
    @steveoconnor5731 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    GB Shaw did not sound like this though, he has given him a British accent. If you listen to recordings of him he sounded much more Irish.

  • @PicRic
    @PicRic 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Isn't AI a thousand monkeys with a word processor, upgraded from a typewriter, for the modern world? Not sure what the God reference is about though.

  • @flannerymonaghan-morris4825
    @flannerymonaghan-morris4825 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    What the hell accent did George Bernard Shaw had? It sure as hell didn’t sound Irish…

  • @kdurston1
    @kdurston1 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    What an ill-fitting smoking jacket. The gaping collar is truly distracting and unseemly. For a man of means, there is no excuse for such a sartorial atrocity.

  • @shanegaming7743
    @shanegaming7743 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Benedict cant do accents though. GBS was an IRISH man. Not a doctor in a raunchy English hospital show from the 1950s. Also his American accent in Dr Strange was atrocious

    • @AlexArthur94
      @AlexArthur94 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I can't speak for Irish, but as a born and raised American, I personally noticed nothing wrong with his American accent as Dr. Strange. We do have a variety of accents.

    • @meh8982
      @meh8982 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      He may not have gotten Shaw's very light Irish accent, but he did very much get his style and spirit.

    • @shanegaming7743
      @shanegaming7743 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@AlexArthur94 OK where? Which part of the USA does Cumberbatch's Steven Strange hail from? Dude sounds like a weatherman whose been practising his non regional dialect

    • @AlexArthur94
      @AlexArthur94 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@shanegaming7743 Relax, man. I'm pretty sure a lot of Americans don't have an easily noticeable regional accent, except perhaps to an expert. If you can readily and accurately tell where in this country someone's accent comes from when they don't have one of the more extreme accents (Southern, New York, Boston, etc), then you're pretty good at that.

    • @Mattinator95
      @Mattinator95 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@shanegaming7743New York apparently

  • @WorldsUnhealthiestFitPerson
    @WorldsUnhealthiestFitPerson 11 หลายเดือนก่อน

    9.5/10, not enough penguins.