Hi Megan. What you are watching here, with Dave Allen, is a MASTERCLASS of comedy, comedy acting and, most important of all in my opinion, comedic timing. As a storyteller (his monologues) there was, and still is, no one better than Dave Allen. Prior to these, his BBC shows, Dave Allen was a big star in Australia. One video you have missed here in this compilation, is "The Pope Striptease." For that single sketch, Dave Allen got SERIOUS death threats at the time. Dave Allen was also agnostic, hence the numerous jokes and sketches on religion, and also, at the end of his shows, he always said; "And may your God go with you."
I remember watching Dave Allen at Large here in the states. Always loved Britsh/Irish comedy. He and Benny Hill were my favorites growing up in the 70's. Blessed Be from Tennessee. )O(
He began as a comic at a holiday camp, an excellent comedian, I love his hyper energy when making a point during stand up routines. I love Airplanes, Post Offices and Banks, three routines from the 90s. Thank you so much for video 😊
I used to watch Dave Allen on PBS back in the late 70s. The dude just has an incredible approach to comedy. His timing, his skits. Between him and Benny Hill and Monty Python PBS was just a fountain of laughs. You have a great laugh btw.
One of my favourite comedians,I loved the wry humour and how the pace he spoke at gave you time to think and anticipate the humour , thanks for posting ❤❤.
Hi Meghan. So glad you have discovered Dave Allen. I watched him on. Tv in the 70s and 80s. Brilliant. Other comedy geniuses, Morecambe and Wise, (famous for their Christmas Shows on tv. The whole country would stop to watch, including the Royal family. HM 15:31 Queen of beloved Memory was a great fan) The Two Ronnies, Al Murray. All provided may hours of comedy. One I must mention Dick Emery. I watched him live at a theatre, my sides and chest were in pain when we left the theatre, the pain was from laughter. Three hours of it. 15:31
I watched him, and Benny when growing up. (I'm from the US) I think I've met only one person who remembered him. He was so memorable to me. "TEETH WILL BE PROVIDED!"
I absolutely love this..!! Thanks for sharing this. Comedians are geniuses. They at first make you laugh, then later perhaps you have the brains to ruminate on the message.
His sets became a lot more observational based comedy later on, rather than just jokes and sketches. He did his own talk show in Australia in '63, but got banned. He was in the middle of an interview with Peter Cook & Dudley Moore and the producer kept pressurising him to go to an advert break, so he finally told him to "Go Away and masturbate" on air. All these clips are from the "Dave Allen at Large" shows (1971-79), apart from the Adam & Eve part, which was from the 1984 one-off Christmas Special, I believe. I wish they'd bring out a set of those old series. Would be a must buy for me.
A friend of mine was on a train from London to Edinburgh, many years ago, Dave Allen was sitting in the buffet car, my friend saw him there, train was in Yorkshire and for the rest of the journey Dave Allen cracked non stop jokes.
Dave Allen had a missing finger. He would say how it happened. And later he would give a completely different story. And next time, another completely different story. I have no idea ! GENIUS !
I used to watch his TV show on PBS in the '70s (I think. Maybe very early '80s). It was half comedy stretches and half him telling jokes, sitting in a chair with his drink (😂).
I have a good friend who was born in Ireland, grew up in Dublin, and lived just down the street from the Allen family and went to school with Dave. An absolute classic as a story teller, a comedian, and an actor.
Thank you Megan for yet another great reaction I get as much enjoyment out of watching you react as I do watching them myself. Dave Allen did lots of sketches as well as the stand up or rather sit down comedy 😂 Think I’m going to have to become one of those patreon things soon ❤️
I am so glad you are reacting to him - Allen was a gentleman, a man of great honour and dignity and despite his jokes about various faiths he would always without fail finish his show with "Goodnight, thank you and may your God go with you" because he didn't want to offend anyone and just wanted to be known as "quite a good fella"
I never gave any thought to the controversy that Dave Allen raised in Ireland with his stance on religion. Which, particularly back then, would have been all-consuming. Later on, he moved away from it a bit as a topic. But I can fully understand why people got hot under the collar. But they're not random pot shots or rants. It's all thought through. And because he's sitting down (something else that disappeared in later life), it feels like he's just sitting at your table relating a story. Which I think places him as part of a long tradition.
Ahhh Love Dave Allen. Check his Reverand Iain Paisley ("fire & brimstone " preacher) jokes. Also his stories.. particicularly his ghost story "Size Nine" 😂😂👏👏. Saw him live at Melbourne's Comedy Theatre in Australia. He did a TV Series in Australia 🇦🇺
It's funny how much the media got hung up on him (actually/maybe) drinking real alcohol instead of 'pretend' alcohol on his shows. He actually said later that, yes, he did have real whisky in his glass! I still pity him for succumbing to his alcoholism. I really loved his shows as a kid in the 70/80's (whenever...). As a newly thought-through atheist at the age of 10 in 1977/78, I guess my parents couldn't quite understand why I laughed so much at some his jokes... I do love to re-watch his shows now that so many of them are available online!
Dave Allen is awesome. So glad you featured him on the channel. If you liked the funeral sketch, check out the Eric Sykes short "Mr H Is Late"... genius... in fact, any of the Eric Sykes shorts, tbh... :D
Megan so glad you have discovered Dave Allen... There are many many videos of him out there, some religious some not.. he was a master of comedy enjoy teaching your child how to read the clock, supermarkets, drunks etc etc. you are looking very hot today, your reactions always a pleasure
I have had a drink or two in the pub that's in the funeral sketch over the years, (where the coffin rolls into the pond) It's The Greyhound Inn in the village of Albury near Tring Hertfordshire, Always reminded me of the great Dave Allen every time I went there.
First time I saw the gag at 4:08 I didn't get it, not because I didn't know it was holy water....my dumb ass just thought up to that point that priests ACTUALLY DID their ironing with the stuff, cause a relative told me as kid that's how they avoided a high water bill. Yeaaaaaah, took me a while to pick up sarcasm to say the least 😂
Now that you said it out loud, i cant help but think itd make sense. I mean if anyone is gonna use holy water to do it, other than Constantine or Blade, right? Like a magical ward
Allen's act was typified by a relaxed, rueful, and intimate style. He sat on a high bar stool facing his audience, smoking and occasionally sipping from a glass of what he always allowed people to assume was whiskey but in fact was merely ginger ale with ice! This was an era of genius comedy that, in my opinion, we will never see again. He died in his sleep at only 68 years of age.
@@MeganRuth I would highly suggest you do a reaction to 'Billy Connolly tells just about the funniest joke ever' and/or 'Parkinson Billy Connolly Tom Cruise part1/part2'. Much love from the far north of New Zealand.
I'm a practicing atheist too .and living under the banner of Atheism, I am free from religious persuasion. I am truly enabled to live loving life and not fearing Death
You are young and didn’t get the chance to watch his show. I watched and was allowed because he wasn’t blue comedy.im glad to see your reaction to comedy done well without crass swearing.
He was the best, though he didn't do stand up, he mostly was sitting down. His career was mostly in the UK, he didn't really have a platform in Ireland. His shows were a mixture of his stories broken up by the mostly silent sketches. It was a pretty unique show and could be controversial, I think he was the first person to say F*** on British TV.
Thanks Meg - always a pleasure to revisit this late great, much-loved; you might say 'sit-down' comedian, and what a master storyteller he was! His filmed sketches exhibit a wide range but he's at his best with religious material. Even believers (on the whole) love his wry irreverence. He was quite prolific through the 70s-80s and well worth further investigation.
Dave Allen was fantastically funny. Alas, for the modern era, he insisted on a contractual term for his TV work whereby (if I recall correctly) it would be recorded, broadcast once, and then never seen again (I don't know if it went as far as destruction of the programme master tapes). That means that there's comparatively little of his work now available. That is a terrible pity, because he was (as you can see) really good.
@@jackieblue1267 thank you for correcting me. I can't remember where I found the information. I will have to be more careful with my sources in future.
No, he was born in Dublin. But he was banned in Ireland because he was always taking the piss out of religion. The church had too much influence back then. I was able to watch him on BBC, as long as my mother wasn't in the room.
While Dave Allen was undoubtedly Irish, his work reveals him to be the very antithesis of the petty-minded parochial nationalist as much as of the religious bigot. Indeed he made his name in Australia and then spent the rest of his career in Britain and was, I think, not only disapproved of, and perhaps even banned, in Ireland, but received death threats from the IRA for his jokes.
Well, I guess he was a practising atheist by doing atheist missionary work like this. I've stopped calling myself an atheist since I realised it's a superfluous term. It's just a label put on us by believers who want to normalise their own weirdness. It would be like having different special names for anyone who doesn't believe in things like Santa, astrology, UFOs or the Loch Ness monster. I call such people rational thinking adults. Since it's nonsense and not worth any thought once I dismiss it, I just ignore it and don't have to add that to my identity. PS. I love how you covered your nose when he did that bit. :D
Atheist, It means someone who does not believe in any gods. Apposed to Theist, someone who believes in a god. But it is funny that some religious people think that atheist is the non believers religion. They sometimes don't realise that it simply means someone who doesn't believe in any gods. If you think about it, theists only believe in there one god and don't believe in any others. We just go one god more!
Practical atheism is the view that one should live their life with disregard towards a god. Practical atheism does not reject or accept claims about God. Practical atheism has an overlap with apatheism and pragmatic atheism. Apatheism sees the god question as irrelevant while practical atheism does not. That's what it means.
Hi Megan. What you are watching here, with Dave Allen, is a MASTERCLASS of comedy, comedy acting and, most important of all in my opinion, comedic timing. As a storyteller (his monologues) there was, and still is, no one better than Dave Allen. Prior to these, his BBC shows, Dave Allen was a big star in Australia. One video you have missed here in this compilation, is "The Pope Striptease." For that single sketch, Dave Allen got SERIOUS death threats at the time. Dave Allen was also agnostic, hence the numerous jokes and sketches on religion, and also, at the end of his shows, he always said; "And may your God go with you."
ahh I'll have to find the Pope striptease and react to that text time! That sounds hilarious 😂
Death threats? I guess that's the Christian way!
omg your laugh is adorable... and infectious! Thanks for such a fun reaction. 😄
Had many funny nights watching Dave Allen when I was a kid
An immense genius. Should be better known outside of the UK and Ireland.
Very popular in Australia too, where did his own series in the late 70s.
Exactly so new my arse@@SavageGrace
Aired in the late 70s and early 80s in Denmark and was very popular.
Popular in Sweden also.
He was a joy on our British television, thank you Ireland 🇮🇪
I remember watching Dave Allen at Large here in the states. Always loved Britsh/Irish comedy. He and Benny Hill were my favorites growing up in the 70's.
Blessed Be from Tennessee. )O(
He began as a comic at a holiday camp, an excellent comedian, I love his hyper energy when making a point during stand up routines. I love Airplanes, Post Offices and Banks, three routines from the 90s. Thank you so much for video 😊
I just love her. Her laugh is totally infectious. And don't get me started on her smile!
Classic comedy. Lovely to see it again. I remember watching it when I was a child. Still makes me laugh. He was a mainstay of BBC Saturday nights.
I used to watch Dave Allen on PBS back in the late 70s. The dude just has an incredible approach to comedy. His timing, his skits. Between him and Benny Hill and Monty Python PBS was just a fountain of laughs. You have a great laugh btw.
You have a cute laugh Megan! Dave Allen is so bloody hilarious here & I enjoyed watching this video! ❤
You will really enjoy his take on his first day at school or teaching his son how to tell the time.
One of my favourite comedians,I loved the wry humour and how the pace he spoke at gave you time to think and anticipate the humour , thanks for posting ❤❤.
You're welcome! I agree. The pace was perfect!
Love Love Love Dave Allen... he was a genius.... Please show more if you can Megan and thankyou for sharing.... Your reactions were fabulous
Hi Meghan. So glad you have discovered Dave Allen. I watched him on. Tv in the 70s and 80s. Brilliant.
Other comedy geniuses, Morecambe and Wise, (famous for their Christmas Shows on tv. The whole country would stop to watch, including the Royal family. HM 15:31 Queen of beloved Memory was a great fan) The Two Ronnies, Al Murray. All provided may hours of comedy. One I must mention Dick Emery. I watched him live at a theatre, my sides and chest were in pain when we left the theatre, the pain was from laughter. Three hours of it. 15:31
I watched him, and Benny when growing up. (I'm from the US) I think I've met only one person who remembered him. He was so memorable to me. "TEETH WILL BE PROVIDED!"
I absolutely love this..!! Thanks for sharing this. Comedians are geniuses. They at first make you laugh, then later perhaps you have the brains to ruminate on the message.
One of my favourites is the werewolf sketch.He was always a must watch.
Also, he was very popular here in Australia Dave was so funny. Most people watched his show each week here in the 70's in Australia.
Totally true. Never missed it.
Ha! You really enjoyed that one.
G'day from Australia.
Saw him live back in 90s, sides were aching with laughter. In my humble opinion, the absolute best.
Dave Allen was the maestro of telling jokes. Look for his sketch about teaching a child how to tell the time by looking at a watch.
I still remember watching Dave when I in my teens, I am 62 now & an atheist . I still can watch the great man & laugh so hard.
His sets became a lot more observational based comedy later on, rather than just jokes and sketches. He did his own talk show in Australia in '63, but got banned. He was in the middle of an interview with Peter Cook & Dudley Moore and the producer kept pressurising him to go to an advert break, so he finally told him to "Go Away and masturbate" on air. All these clips are from the "Dave Allen at Large" shows (1971-79), apart from the Adam & Eve part, which was from the 1984 one-off Christmas Special, I believe. I wish they'd bring out a set of those old series. Would be a must buy for me.
A friend of mine was on a train from London to Edinburgh, many years ago, Dave Allen was sitting in the buffet car, my friend saw him there, train was in Yorkshire and for the rest of the journey Dave Allen cracked non stop jokes.
It's just occurred to me that there hasn't been an Italian pope in 45 years.
My mum was a catholic but she adored Dave Allen. That was because he was funny.
My late beloved Maternal Grandmother (Irene) had a nervous laugh, but she loved slapstick. Miss you so much Nanna xx
Dave Allen had a missing finger. He would say how it happened. And later he would give a completely different story. And next time, another completely different story. I have no idea ! GENIUS !
My favourite Dave Allen story was his story about Transylvania. It is the accent that is so good.
Very popular in Canada back in the day.
One of irelands best comedians may he Rest in Peace.
The best of all stand-up/sit-down comedians and what a great reaction!
I used to watch his TV show on PBS in the '70s (I think. Maybe very early '80s). It was half comedy stretches and half him telling jokes, sitting in a chair with his drink (😂).
One of our best. Hello from Derry!
I have a good friend who was born in Ireland, grew up in Dublin, and lived just down the street from the Allen family and went to school with Dave. An absolute classic as a story teller, a comedian, and an actor.
One of the GREATEST EVER!!!!....check out FIRST DAY IN THE KATHOLIC CHURCH !
Love Dave Allen and also very much enjoyed your reaction x
He's great! Thank you :)
@@MeganRuth thank you. X
Dave went to the same school as me. He got expelled, that’s all we have in common.
Love your reactions Megan.
❤️👍🏽👍☘️
Thank you Megan for yet another great reaction
I get as much enjoyment out of watching you react as I do watching them myself.
Dave Allen did lots of sketches as well as the stand up or rather sit down comedy 😂
Think I’m going to have to become one of those patreon things soon ❤️
I am so glad you are reacting to him - Allen was a gentleman, a man of great honour and dignity and despite his jokes about various faiths he would always without fail finish his show with "Goodnight, thank you and may your God go with you" because he didn't want to offend anyone and just wanted to be known as "quite a good fella"
Your laugh is so infectious.
I never gave any thought to the controversy that Dave Allen raised in Ireland with his stance on religion. Which, particularly back then, would have been all-consuming. Later on, he moved away from it a bit as a topic. But I can fully understand why people got hot under the collar. But they're not random pot shots or rants. It's all thought through. And because he's sitting down (something else that disappeared in later life), it feels like he's just sitting at your table relating a story. Which I think places him as part of a long tradition.
Love your reactions😅
Ahhh Love Dave Allen. Check his Reverand Iain Paisley ("fire & brimstone " preacher) jokes.
Also his stories.. particicularly his ghost story "Size Nine" 😂😂👏👏.
Saw him live at Melbourne's Comedy Theatre in Australia. He did a TV Series in Australia 🇦🇺
great you watched this, he was the best, hope you do others.
Nice, funny and so realistic, thanks 🤣.
Gorgeous smile Megan 😂
It's funny how much the media got hung up on him (actually/maybe) drinking real alcohol instead of 'pretend' alcohol on his shows. He actually said later that, yes, he did have real whisky in his glass! I still pity him for succumbing to his alcoholism.
I really loved his shows as a kid in the 70/80's (whenever...). As a newly thought-through atheist at the age of 10 in 1977/78, I guess my parents couldn't quite understand why I laughed so much at some his jokes... I do love to re-watch his shows now that so many of them are available online!
Dave Allen was one of a kind... 😀
Dave Allen is awesome. So glad you featured him on the channel.
If you liked the funeral sketch, check out the Eric Sykes short "Mr H Is Late"... genius...
in fact, any of the Eric Sykes shorts, tbh... :D
I just love your laugh
Megan so glad you have discovered Dave Allen... There are many many videos of him out there, some religious some not.. he was a master of comedy enjoy teaching your child how to read the clock, supermarkets, drunks etc etc.
you are looking very hot today, your reactions always a pleasure
I have had a drink or two in the pub that's in the funeral sketch over the years, (where the coffin rolls into the pond) It's The Greyhound Inn in the village of Albury near Tring Hertfordshire, Always reminded me of the great Dave Allen every time I went there.
Dave Allen - the stand up comedian who tells jokes sitting down !!
First time I saw the gag at 4:08 I didn't get it, not because I didn't know it was holy water....my dumb ass just thought up to that point that priests ACTUALLY DID their ironing with the stuff, cause a relative told me as kid that's how they avoided a high water bill. Yeaaaaaah, took me a while to pick up sarcasm to say the least 😂
It's nothing to do with a water bill, it's just a funny way of steam ironing your clothes.
Now that you said it out loud, i cant help but think itd make sense. I mean if anyone is gonna use holy water to do it, other than Constantine or Blade, right? Like a magical ward
Love your channel deco from dublin
Have a look at the sketch, £10 note under car tyre. Sooperb
He does another one about this also telling time , aeroplanes ,and Dave Allen best bits .you should watch
He was great. The only one of his kind.
The Practicing Atheist is a joke. I think the term practicing Catholic used to annoy him! 😂
ahh ok!! That's fair enough 😂
Allen's act was typified by a relaxed, rueful, and intimate style. He sat on a high bar stool facing his audience, smoking and occasionally sipping from a glass of what he always allowed people to assume was whiskey but in fact was merely ginger ale with ice! This was an era of genius comedy that, in my opinion, we will never see again. He died in his sleep at only 68 years of age.
we loved himin uk
thanks and do enjoy the rest of your Wednesday evening.
You’re welcome! Thank you. Same to you! 😊
@@MeganRuth I would highly suggest you do a reaction to 'Billy Connolly tells just about the funniest joke ever' and/or 'Parkinson Billy Connolly Tom Cruise part1/part2'. Much love from the far north of New Zealand.
Check out telling the time
I'm a practicing atheist too .and living under the banner of Atheism, I am free from religious persuasion.
I am truly enabled to live loving life and not fearing Death
Really shows how old it is when he's doing a Pope with an Italian accent. 😇
High, if not top of my list, of people I wish I could’ve spoken with over a pint in the pub
Hi watch Dave Allen teaching is child to tell the time
You are young and didn’t get the chance to watch his show. I watched and was allowed because he wasn’t blue comedy.im glad to see your reaction to comedy done well without crass swearing.
He was the best, though he didn't do stand up, he mostly was sitting down. His career was mostly in the UK, he didn't really have a platform in Ireland. His shows were a mixture of his stories broken up by the mostly silent sketches. It was a pretty unique show and could be controversial, I think he was the first person to say F*** on British TV.
Hi Megan have a watch it Dave telling his child the read the time
Alan hawkshaw done the theme song to this kpm
Since you loved that you will absolutely love Tim Minchin. Thank You God, The Good Book, well everything he does.
Atheist here.
Dave Allen was Irish, but part of the of the Irish/British 'Diaspora'. As we all do, he, 'Took the P*ss'!! As a genius!
Thanks Meg - always a pleasure to revisit this late great, much-loved; you might say 'sit-down' comedian, and what a master storyteller he was! His filmed sketches exhibit a wide range but he's at his best with religious material. Even believers (on the whole) love his wry irreverence. He was quite prolific through the 70s-80s and well worth further investigation.
Yes what I’ve seen is masterclass! I’m looking forward to watching more 😊
He came from firhouse dublin ireland
Him saying he's a "practicing atheist",was a joke in itself I think.
Please check out The Two Ronnie's, famous duo out of the UK 🤣🤣🤣
Have you done Monty Python's The Life of Brian? One of the funniest movies ever made.
Dave Allen was fantastically funny. Alas, for the modern era, he insisted on a contractual term for his TV work whereby (if I recall correctly) it would be recorded, broadcast once, and then never seen again (I don't know if it went as far as destruction of the programme master tapes). That means that there's comparatively little of his work now available. That is a terrible pity, because he was (as you can see) really good.
There is shed loads of Dave Allen on TH-cam. Even the old Dave Allen at Large series.
dave allen new !!
I think you will find Dave Allen was born in Northern Ireland. That makes him British.
He was born in Dublin so definitely Irish.
@@jackieblue1267 thank you for correcting me. I can't remember where I found the information. I will have to be more careful with my sources in future.
No, he was born in Dublin. But he was banned in Ireland because he was always taking the piss out of religion. The church had too much influence back then. I was able to watch him on BBC, as long as my mother wasn't in the room.
lol if anything they should be reverse racing to see who can go slower and more somberly =P
try his horror stories
Megan Ruth: “I react to British things…” (Brings on an Irish comedian). 😂 Stay classy, Miss Megan!
I didn’t know he was Irish till after! 😅
@@MeganRuth Half Irish Half British. But I had to make the comment! Look forward to your next video…
New stand up comedian? Dave Allen passed away in 2005
I call myself an evangelical athiest; got to get the truth out there!
See he's missing a finger? Left hand.
"I'm an atheist, thank God." - Dave Allen
Dave Allen is not new. His haydays was in 1970’s.
I see "A practicing atheist" as someone who is actively busy with religion in some way, but doesn't believe.
While Dave Allen was undoubtedly Irish, his work reveals him to be the very antithesis of the petty-minded parochial nationalist as much as of the religious bigot. Indeed he made his name in Australia and then spent the rest of his career in Britain and was, I think, not only disapproved of, and perhaps even banned, in Ireland, but received death threats from the IRA for his jokes.
A practicing atheist=you have a state, a country with official religion, but you dont practice it. That is me since I was 6.
He was very religious.
Well, I guess he was a practising atheist by doing atheist missionary work like this.
I've stopped calling myself an atheist since I realised it's a superfluous term. It's just a label put on us by believers who want to normalise their own weirdness. It would be like having different special names for anyone who doesn't believe in things like Santa, astrology, UFOs or the Loch Ness monster. I call such people rational thinking adults.
Since it's nonsense and not worth any thought once I dismiss it, I just ignore it and don't have to add that to my identity.
PS.
I love how you covered your nose when he did that bit. :D
Atheist, It means someone who does not believe in any gods. Apposed to Theist, someone who believes in a god. But it is funny that some religious people think that atheist is the non believers religion. They sometimes don't realise that it simply means someone who doesn't believe in any gods. If you think about it, theists only believe in there one god and don't believe in any others. We just go one god more!
irish and certainly not new he died in 2005
Practical atheism is the view that one should live their life with disregard towards a god. Practical atheism does not reject or accept claims about God. Practical atheism has an overlap with apatheism and pragmatic atheism. Apatheism sees the god question as irrelevant while practical atheism does not. That's what it means.
Been a practicing atheist is actually a joke