Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 September 6

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September 6[edit]

Looking for an English comedy sketch from the 1970s or 1980s featuring a remotely controled pair of shoes.[edit]

Greetings:

I'm looking for the name of an English comedy series from the 1970s or 1980s.

One of the instalments featured a shoestore selling a type of shoe with a remote control. The remote control had various options that would make you (if you were wearing the shoes) walk like various entertainment celebrities (e.g. Mick Jagger, Freddie Mercury, and others I forget).

The main point of that particular sketch was that it featured an amazing dancer who could actually imitate those walks amazingly well in just a few steps.

Thanks (please ping me) Contact Basemetal here 12:06, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

PS: Why is my question under September 5th? Today is Saturday September 6th. Contact Basemetal here 12:09, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Basemetal:It sounds like something they'd do on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Look familiar? Matt Deres (talk) 12:14, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
What I have in mind would seem to be earlier than 1988. Plus in Whose Line the set is always the same whereas the sketch I have in mind was taking place on a set really made to look like a shoestore (if I remember correctly). Contact Basemetal here 12:34, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
It sort of reminds of me the Simpsons episode Last Tap Dance in Springfield. Not quite the same as Frink and Lisa's deal, but that show is known for ripping off/paying homage to all sorts of entertainment. May be a clue, may be nothing. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:39, 7 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • It sounds like the style of humour that would appear on a Russ Abbot comedy sketch show. ( I can picture Russ Abbot - not normally described as "an amazing dancer", but a good physical as well as verbal comic - as the customer, complaining at the end that the shoes were too much hard work. )
An impersonation of movement, rather than voice, also makes me suggest Michael Barrymore, who was in the cast of Russ Abbot's Madhouse ( which doesn't have its own Wikipedia page, surprisingly ) in 1981/1982.
( Also not normally described as "an amazing dancer", Barrymore *did* perform impersonations that included running around on stage, mimicking that person's movements, in addition to the voice. Even when appearing in other shows - including hosting a game show - he was known to cross the stage in various distinctive ways. )
Slightly less physical - Les Dennis and Dustin Gee, who also appeared with Russ Abbot during the 80s, and for a time had their own show, The Laughter Show, ( which also doesn't have a Wikipedia page. )
90.244.133.153 (talk) 10:12, 9 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]