Rowan Atkinson (with Elton John, Wedding from Hell & How to Date)

Rowan Atkinson is one of the funniest British comedy actors ever, according to The Observer and to his fellow comedians. He has enjoyed an incredibly long career on TV starring in the title role of Blackadder (1983-1989), Mr. Bean (1990-1995) and Johnny English (2003-2018), and he has also performed in very successful British films like "Mr. Bean", the Bond film "Never Say Never Again", "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Love Actually" or voicing Zazu in "The Lion King". 

Here you can find three of his sketches. The first one is Rowan Atkinson's interview to Elton John (5:46). The humour in this video with subtitles is based on facial expressions, and the language is quite simple so, it can be watched by B2 students and above, who, nevertheless, will find interesting words like: a performer, to encompass, to come by [a name], awkward, to cock up, a [record] sleeve, lyrics, presumably, chronic, forgetfulness, to follow, fair enough, a candle, a Christian name, pointless, bloody. a dickhead.

The second video is Wedding from Hell (Part 3). Father In-Law (3:30). This parody of a wedding reception speech is more complex linguistically as it mixes formal literary vocabulary with British slang and vulgar language, so it is recommended for C1 students, who can choose to use the subtitles or not (they are not perfect). Some of the interesting words you can find here are: damn, sloshed, delightful, charming, witty, well-placed, fertile, therefore, to hell with, a prick, a simile, a compost heap, a weed, to prop up, blatter, lush, a heard, steaming, to spurn, rabid, [to propose] a toast [to], the caterers, a pigeon, to crap, the (bride)groom, to sod off.

The third sketch is How to Date (Part 1) (2:28). The humour in this video with subtitles is basically gestual and the language is rather simple, so it can be recommended for B2 students and above. You will find interesting words and collocations like courting, the turnout, gratifying, to take [a girl] out, a [complex] issue, a [crucial] step, to arrange, to pick up [your date], a complete idiot, to overdo [something], to be introduced to, attitude, all-important, casual, keen, to escort [her to your table].

If you want to keep on laughing with other sketches by Rowan Atkinson, you can watch "Rowan Atkinson's Sermon" (16/06/2020) and "Will Mr. Bean Be Back Again?" on this blog, or you can subscribe to Rowan Atkinson Live YouTube channel.