Am I a Comic Genius or Just Going Senile?

Back in the '80's, I distinctly remember Robin Williams doing a bit about the ten week conflict in the Falkland Islands; his joke was that when a British newscaster says, "here we are in the Falkland Islands" it sounds like he's saying "here we are in the fuck'n islands," and I've used this bit in class when we talk about George Orwell's essay "Shooting an Elephant," which is about the decline of the British Empire . . . I like to ask my seniors where the last remnant of the Empire is located and then I say (in my best British accent, which is horrendous and Kramer-esque) "the Fuck'n Islands!" and then spell it for them and show them where it is on a map and tell them about the "war" in 1982 between Britain and Argentina over these pathetic sheep-covered windswept patches of grass in the ocean, but I've searched and searched for the original Robin Williams bit and I can't find it or even any reference to it, and now I'm wondering if I made the whole thing up, if I imagined that Robin Williams might do a bit about how the word Falkland sounds like Fuck'n when spoken with a British accent-- or maybe I actually saw a British broadcaster say this on the news in 1982 and thought it was funny . . . and so perhaps this is my bit, but I'm not sure: does anyone remember this?

4 comments:

rob said...

i'm pretty sure you've conflated your own inability to pronounce norfolk with a mork & mindy episode.

Clarence said...

Robin Williams
Throbbing Python of Love, 1983 comedy album
Track 3: "The Falklands"

Clarence said...

FYI, I Googled Robin Williams Falkland and found it in 5 seconds.

"I've searched and searched..." Where? In your car? In your desk drawer?

Catpell said...

get out! i seriously googled it. that makes me feel better . . . though i guess i'm not a comic genius.

A New Sentence Every Day, Hand Crafted from the Finest Corinthian Leather.