Any fans of Stephen Fry here on DU?

[Reverend_Smitty]

I just finished reading his first novel "The Liar" and thought it was quite good. I know he has written several other books but they are kind of hard to find here in the states, I suppose I should just break down and order them off of Amazon. Also I quite enjoy him when he teams up with Hugh Laurie, the shows that they have done together have been great. More recently I discovered that he was on an English quiz show called "QI" which I've been able to find clips of on youtube and bit torrents of entire episodes, it's crazy funny and I've even learned a thing or two from it.

Anyone else here on DU appreciate his talent as much as I do?

[Aristus]

1. Does having "The Complete Jeeves And Wooster" on DVD count?

Stephen Fry is incredible.

[Reverend_Smitty]

2. It does indeed!

I read a few of the Jeeves and Wooster books after I saw the series and I couldn't visualize anyone else but him as Jeeves. He plays the perfect straight man to Laurie's Bertie Wooster

[Courtesy Flush]

4. He's the best part of that show...

and that's saying a lot, 'cause Hugh Laurie is great in it. Some of the best casting in Britcoms.

I didn't know he was a writer.

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. Yes he's written several novels

and if the rest of them are anything like his first one, then he is quite a good writer. The one I read is about a gay prep-school boy/man who eventually gets himself tangled up in international espionage...but it's really funny, kind of naughty and has a lot of twists and turns

[Kerrytravelers]

3. We love him at our house!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. If you're a Stephen Fry fan, be sure to rent "Wilde"

He is perfect in the role of Oscar Wilde, the popular Victorian playwright whose life was destroyed when a vengelful ex-lover "outed" him.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Reverend_Smitty]

7. I've never seen it

But I'll have to check it out one day

[terrya]

8. Agreed. Stephen Fry is perfect as Oscar Wilde.

And poor Stephen...he had to do love scenes with Jude Law and Ioan Gruffudd.

[Reverend_Smitty]

9. gee I feel so sorry for anyone who has to do a love scene with Jude Law

:P

[terrya]

10. That was a tough one for Stephen, I imagine.

:-)

[CBHagman]

15. Find a copy of his essay "Playing Oscar."

It first appeared in The New Yorker, but it's also available in an anthology called The Best American Movie Writing 1998.

Visual and more details on the book here.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Movie-Writing-1998-Serial/dp/0312180497

Fry's essay is an entertaining read and a must for people who saw or will see Wilde, but I think you'll also find much to enjoy in the other chapters.

[Aristus]

23. His performance was so sad; torn between his loving wife and children

and following his heart. I ached for him a little.

[smirkymonkey]

14. I loved him in that film - I find him very attractive.

Not just physically, but there is something about him that I am drawn to. I would love to end up with someone just like him, but straight. :)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. I'm with you there--

really smart, talented, funny, and judging from what I've seen in interviews, a nice person. Now if I could find someone like that, only straight...

[Reverend_Smitty]

18. There's always a catch isn't there?

:P I love his voice too...I could listen to him read the phone book

[u4ic]

22. I did not like him in Wilde

I thought he lacked the charisma that Wilde would have had. As I remember it (I saw it a couple of years ago), he played up his vulnerability far too much (in my view), and the character wasn't as well rounded as it could have been.

Coming from the background he has (esp sketch comedy), where the characters he played were generally big and over the top, and needed a quick impact - he used his voice and size to his advantage - and also not having to sustain a character over the period of a movie - I can see where it would have been quite a challenge for him.

I know Wilde (the movie and the playwright's work and life) were very near and dear to him...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. If you can catch the episodes of the original (British)

"Whose Line Is It Anyway?" where he appears (they're shown on BBC America), they are also well worth watching.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

12. I liked "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", and his rôles in "Blackadder"

He is a very bright and funny man in his own right.

[yellowdogintexas]

13. Stephen Fry is just awesome. !!!

Jeeves, his Blackadder characters, etc.

have not read any of his novels yet

[mr blur]

17. QI is indeed excellent.

Someone on TV who is humorous, witty, intelligent and articulate. Where's it all going to end?

[Reverend_Smitty]

19. Which is exactly why a show like that would never make it on American TV

[dpbrown]

20. I thought that was the guy from Futurama...

...I was going to say I was a fan!

[u4ic]

21. I found my favourite Fry & Laurie sketch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6riY-103vbc

:rofl:

I saw it about 10 years ago and never forgot it. Even remembered most of the song...

I like Stephen Fry's work; I saw an interview with him on the old Pamela Wallin show on cbc. Unbelievably intelligent and witty man.

[Reverend_Smitty]

25. lol that is a great one!

and the ironic bit about it is that it is so similar in tone to that Toby Keith song, "Put a Boot up their Ass" or whatever it is called

I've always been quite partial to the salad sketch...I don't know why but it just makes me laugh hysterically every time I see it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-dIaokAagg

[TheBaldyMan]

24. huge fan of Mr Fry myself.

btw Alan Davies (the incredibly stupid guy with curly hair who usually comes last) won the last in the current series of QI a couple of weeks back, I think it was an omen for the elections.

on edit: My favourite stuff is him playing Melchett in Blackadder.

[Kutjara]

26. Big fan here.

Fry & Laurie, Blackadder, Oscar Wilde, the novels, his book on poetic style ("The Ode Less Traveled"), QI. Anything he's in, I'll watch. Brilliant funny polymath. A true rarity in our age of bathroom humor and pratfalls.

[Laelth]

27. I read The Hippopotamus and enjoyed it a great deal.

I have yet to read Making History. It won the Sidewise Award, and I really enjoy alternate histories, so I plan to get to it one day. Amazon.com carries many of his works.

-Laelth