British comedy less cerebral humour of Benny Hill and his ITV sketch series "The Benny Hill Show". Other notable sketch-based series include "Morecambe and Wise", "The Two Ronnies", "The Goodies", "French and Saunders", "Absolutely", "Little Britain", "The Catherine Tate Show" and "The Fast Show". In the 1980s, alternative comedy was spearheaded by Ben Elton and The Comic Strip group which included Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, and French and Saunders. "Vic Reeves Big Night Out" influenced the style of a whole new generation of comics in the 1990s until the present day. The 1990s and 2000s (decade) have also seen the rise of
Joke (sketch) Joke (sketch) "Joke" is a comedy sketch written and performed by English comedians Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis. It was performed live during Atkinson's 1980 tour of the United Kingdom. A live recording was made at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 19 or 20 September 1980 and released as the last track on Atkinson's live comedy album, "Live in Belfast". At the start of the sketch, Rowan Atkinson's character tells Richard Curtis' character he's "got a joke". He goes on to explain, "It's one of those ones where I ask a question and you say 'I