Jude Law reading Fred Allen's letter to the State of New York Insurance Dept.
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- čas přidán 20. 03. 2021
- Jude Law reads Fred Allen's 1932 letter to the State of New York Insurance Department.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1894, it was during the Golden Age of Radio in the 1930s that American comedian and radio host Fred Allen became a household name. His success on the airwaves is undisputed, as at the peak of its gag-filled, 17-year run, The Fred Allen Show boasted upwards of 30 million listeners. But it wasn’t until a decade after his death, upon publication of a collection of his greatest letters, that the public learnt of Allen’s devotion to this altogether more private form of communication, one which allowed him to practice his comedy in front of an audience of one. Arguably his most amusing letter was a complaint, written in 1932, most probably never sent, and addressed to the State of New York Insurance Department.
Originally performed at the Freemason's Hall, London in March 2016. - Zábava
This is the best variant and reading of this story I have ever heard, Jude Law's accent and deadpan delivery is just sublime
He just went with the easiest accent he could think of, and does merely an ok job at it. And he sounds nothing nothing like Fred Allen. I doubt he knows who Fred Allen was.
Gerard Hoffnung told this story (known as the Bricklayer’s Story) to the Oxford Union in 1958. I don’t know if it was his original, or if he just retold it, but it’s the best rendition I’ve heard. Look it up on CZcams.
Wonderful
Nah I find his timing really lackluster. Other readings have the next accident come more on a surprise note and make the escalation feel more intense
Paddy's sick note, it's an old irish song
Sometimes i forget just how charismatic Jude Law is.
Whoever wrote this letter missed their calling in comedy. It's so well written that one has to laugh regardless how painful that experience must have been for the person experiencing it! Thank you to Jude Law and Letters Live for this gem.
According to the video description he actually was a very successful professional comedian, so... I'd say he no more missed his calling than he missed that barrel
You don't know who Fred Allen was?
Sorry, no. But I really like to learn at least one new thing every day. If you'd care to educate me, I'd appreciate it. And I really mean that!@@andrewvelonis5940
@@andrewvelonis5940 1930's USA radio show hosts don't come up in world history very often.
Fred Allen was a top comedian in his day.
A classic.
And as soon as he mentioned the bricks, I knew where this had to be going.
Unfortunately, Fred didn't lol
Straight to the 5th floor & back down again
Many variants of this story have circulated around newspapers, social groups and, now, the internet; all are a delight to revisit. Jude Law's reading is one of the more refreshing.
I know it as an Irish pub song.
Irish brick layer, heard it at my brothers wedding years ago, recited by a boozed up priest lol.
@@Halkin85 yup, "Why Paddy's not at work today", i believe
@@kaywolf1520 the sick note,by the Dubliners
There's also an hilarious italian version, in the dialect of Friuli, from our brilliant comedian Marco Paolini
There's a version of this story told in an Irish song "The Sick Note" or "Why Paddy's Not at Work Today." Fantastic version by The Dubliners.
I'm disappointed to not see more references to it in the comments, here. I was singing the song in my head during the entirety of Law's truly excellent delivery here.
There's also a brilliant version of the song by the Lancashire band Houghton Weavers.
I know 'The Corries' version. Has me in stitchies every time 🤣😁👌
@@altasilvapuer Same! I commented about the song and then scrolled through the comments and was delighted to see Nick's comment!
Fantastic song!
Jude did an amazing job nailing not only a NY accent, but so many of the hand gestures we in the tri-state area (ny, ct, nj) area use, which I am sure they used back then. Jude transformed himself into someone else. Wow. Great job.
See above note as to the wrong accent for Fred Allen.
Nah, the accent is a noticeable fake, but it could be worse.
I love Jude Law's reading. A typical New York accent and delivery. Bravo!
it is a ny accent but not that of fred allen who worked on tv and did not on the docks as jude law seems to think (imagine cinfusing cockey with a bbc reporter)
I was thinking the same thing. Fred Allen was a very witty, urbane New Yorker. Too bad that Law is unaware of this!@@adamjeffries7235
@@adamjeffries7235 Fred Allen was from Boston, and his delivery was slightly Bostonian and somewhat slower.
Except Fred Allen was from Massachusetts and had a New England accent, not one from Brooklyn. Poor preparation I'd say.
It's both funny and sad that so many people have liked this when they clearly have no idea who Fred Allen was nor have ever heard him speak. Jude Law has not done his homework, the silly Brooklyn accent he used was nothing like Allen. Fred Allen was born and raised in New England, around the Boston area. His accent remained a Boston/New England one his entire life. This reading sounds as silly as doing President FDR with the same bad Brooklyn accent.
What a delight to hear Jude Law with a Brooklyn accent!
He sounds exactly like Jason Alexander
@@user-zh4vo1kw1z George is getting upset!
@@AeroGold1 well, from what I remember...
There was never any 'getting'
If you ever actually heard Fred Allen, you can only imagine how funny this would sound if he read it.
@@user-zh4vo1kw1z No no, Jude Law sounds sexy in any accent. He couldn't sound like George Costanza any more than Benedict Cumberbatch could sound like Mr. Howell from Gilligan's Island!
It would be interesting if this was actually from a letter from June 1932. I think that the earliest written version of this story was supposed to have been in a 1940 Readers Digest purported to have been written by "a naval officer". I first heard it as a 1958 recording of Gerard Hoffnung addressing the Oxford Union. Hoffnung said he had read the story in the Manchester Guardian and had been using it as a warm up or his radio audience. While George Burns would be a fine candidate to have been the original author of the story it wouldn't be surprising if the story started with some Roman working on the Colosseum.
It's been around for ages and probably could be traced back to ancient Egypt. But I do get your meaning kind sir.
This actually first appeared in the Beardsden & Mulngavie Herald on August 3rd 1947 and was written by an Indian Gentleman to his insurance company. If you listen again to Jude Law's reading of it a lot of the phraseology is very Indian. My father was working in India at the time and obtained a copy.
@@snowsnz3976 what phrases are very Indian?
I heard a similar story about an Irishman entitled something like, "Why Paddy can't come to work today". But I enjoyed Jude's NY accent just the same.
@@glenhill9884 "The Sick Note"
About 40 years ago I used to work for an insurance company in Montreal, Canada. A written version of this story circulated in our claims department. It was written in broad French slang (it was written phonetically, so it was REALLY badly spelled); frankly the only way to understand it was to read it out loud. One of the older adjustors laughed so hard he almost fell off his chair! He said what made it so funny was that, having dealt with workman’s compensation claims before, he could actually see this type of claim being made.
As a side note, I always thought that was what made the movie 9 to 5 so funny: it described office events with a twist, so that you could actually imagine it happening just that way. Of course the movie was written from a female worker’s perspective, so many men failed to see the humour-the women in the theatre were laughing like mad but a lot of men left just looking puzzled and/or offended!
Oh Jude! Brilliantly rendered! And posthumous respect to the wit of Mr Allen.
I love this.Hilarious,and I'm impressed by his accent!
Brilliant. One of the funniest letters I’ve heard and excellently delivered by Jude Law.
I adore Jude Law … that was perfectly done. And thank you (in years gone by, of course) to Mr Fred Allen for such a great letter. I can only imagine how that letter must have been received. I hope it was framed and placed in a prominent spot for decades.
This story definitely didn't originate with Fred Allen and wasn't him writing an actual letter to an insurance company. It seems to be loosely based on "How Paddy Stole the Rope" by Fred Albert and dated 1885. It might go back further, but I'm not interested in trying to chase it further.
Fred Allen was one of the funniest people I've ever heard - his radio show, his feud with Benny, all his characters, wonderful. His appearances on What's my Line all amusing.
Fred Allen was a fantastic writer; It's hard to believe someone so erudite was a household name in the U.S.
He was hilarious !!!
This story definitely didn't originate with Fred Allen and wasn't him writing an actual letter to an insurance company. It seems to be loosely based on "How Paddy Stole the Rope" by Fred Albert and dated 1885. It might go back further, but I'm not interested in trying to chase it.
I can imagine Fred Allen telling this story in his deadpan manner😂. I love hearing him add his asides during What’s My Line.
It's always so much fun for an American to hear a British actor doing an American accent.
how would you rate his accent?
7 out of 10
I would have given it a 6 out of 10 - it was all over the place, but since Fred Allen was a famous person whose voice is easily found in many recordings (he was a famous radio comedian) and Law doesn’t even try to imitate it (imagine someone reading a letter by Christopher Walken and sounding like Sylvester Stallone trying a cowboy accent), I give it a 4/10.
Everybody's a critic (as I'm sure Fred Allen himself would agree).
@@zeitgeist5134 Someone literally asked what we would rate the accent. So we answered.
There is a folk song telling a version of this story called, "Why Paddy's Not at Work Today."
I believe it's called "The Sick Note".
Sick Note - The Dubliners
I so remember listening to this.. years ago.. 😱
the song is way funnier
Hilarious done by the Corries!!
My mother was a builder. I played Murphy and the Bricks - the song version - at her funeral.
A laugh track is uncommon at a funeral, but it was perfect.
I seem recall Gerard Hoffnung reading this over fifty years ago, rather well if memory serves, used to listen to it on a radio request session!!😂😂
Applause to Fred Allen!
Imagine watching this... Going by in a matter of seconds. Him being lucky to be alive and then.... writing this letter. That man really had spirit and humour.
I almost fell off my couch when he read epidermis 😂😂😂😂
I love this letter and Jude's performance. I laugh from beginning to end every time.
The best version of this joke I've ever heard is set to music in the song...
_Why Paddy's not at work today..._
Give it an ear, and be ready to laugh!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Whether the content was original or even true is of little consequence to me. I found it amusing and enjoyed the "turn of phrase" the writer used, as well as the actor's portrayal.
The scenario sounded like something that could have been part of "Home Alone". A little slapstick, especially when written well, can be fun.
A hilarious reading. Fred Allen's own speaking voice was a bit more denasal but Jude adding the NY accent definitely made it funnier.
This is a variation of "The Bricklayer's Lament", which has been around for decades. Classic!
@PlasmaStorm73 [N5EVV] It's also an old Irish song titled 'The Sick Note' or 'Why Paddy's not at work today', but that song was based on the 1958 speech by Gerard Hoffnung to the Oxford Union which was a story that first appeared 1930s. No one is quite sure where it really came from.
As I watched I tried to hear it in Fred's nasal delivery and also thinking what a glorious routine this would be for Laurel and Hardy.
Indeed, their boat 'repairing' short and in the factory (where Hardy gets plunged through the sawdust flue) are classic interpretations of just such a thing as Fred wrote here.
This is a take on the similar Gerard Hoffnung story known in Britain in particular as The Bricklayer. Ever funny in whatever guise, but Hoffnung’s rendition is the best of the lot.
I love this 'story'. Have heard it done by so many. Jude Law does it well.
Very nice. Heard the same gag involving an Army workman in Vietnam but Jude Law had a great delivery.
Fantastic story, fantastically told.
Wowowoowow. I haven’t heard this tale since the 90s. Thank you for the nostalgia 😂
The Scottish singing duo ‘ The Corrie’s’ did a fantastic version of this tale, I believe it was called the builders song, or the bricklayers song or some such. I highly recommend a listen!🤣🤣🏴
First time I heard this was about 30 years ago as a song from The Dubliners, "Why Paddy Is Not At Work Today", worth searching on YT for, an alternative take.
This a new channel to me. But one I will continue to watch! TFS, GB :)
Most enjoyable! Thank you for sharing this.
I've heard several variations of this story over the years (Laurel and Hardy done a bit in one of their short films) but imagining Fred Allen narrating this "letter" in his nasal, dry tone had me laughing till the end!
This is also a song called the sick note by the dubliners
Yes there is wonderful song about this in an Irish accent. The Dubliners sound about right. The song is prefaced about an excuse why someone (Paddy, I suppose) was trying to explain why he did not turn up for work.
This is indeed an old funny story, told half a century ago by Gerard Hoffnung.
I was just thinking that - I didn't realize anyone else was listening to it these days, he's somewhat washed from history sadly
It's possible Fred Allen originated it as he read it on his show also.
i like the dubliners version in song
Gerald Huffnung was the classic teller of this story. And his replies from Austrian hotel owners to British clients are truly brilliant. They are on you tube, well worth the effort to find them.
Half a century ago would have been 1971. This says Fred Allen did it in 1932, 99 years ago.
I have no idea why I keep watching these.
I can just hear Fred Allen saying that letter; he was great. Jude Law did a good job.
absolute in respect to experience. well done.
I dunno why or how this exists, but I'm glad I found this channel 👍
I don´t want to know how the poor man looked after that accident, but it would be hilarious to watch this incidence in a comedy show. XD And I think Judes accent is on point.
Listening and not looking I thought this was Jason Alexander and was mightily confused when i tab back and see it was Jude Law. good on ya' mate.
When Jack Benny imitated Fred Allen on his Radio Show, he would say, "First I need to put a clothespin on my nose" because Fred Allen had a very nasal voice with elongated vowels - "Portlaaaaaand"!
Hello my beautiful great fans , thanks for your support, how are you doing, I hope everything is fine, you can write me in the hangout app with my email🌹lawjude473@gmail.com
Absolutely brilliant. Listening to this I could see it happening in a laurel and Hardy sketch or a classic cartoon!
I heard this on the radio many years ago, a version ready by Gerrard Hoffnung at the Oxford Union. It’s still very amusing!
Brilliantly read - perfect
This is a hysterical Irish song. Called 'Why Johnny can't come to work today', I believe. Letter is funny. The song is hysterical.
My favorite underrated actor!
This letter reads like some production notes written by Buster Keaton as he prepared one of his seemingly dangerous stunts that he is now famous for.
*“Seemingly”* dangerous?
"Seemingly dangerous"? He really did do all his own stunts, all with little or no safety... uh, anything, and he DID sustain some pretty serious injuries from at least one of them... and then proceeded to continue acting for some time before treatment because he didn't realize how serious it was. Pretty alarming / impressive stuff! Also a man of comic genius. 🙂
I read a version just last month for the first time, I cried for 10 min straight, that one has to be the best.
I know this old yarn as "Why Paddy's not at Work Today ".
Excellent.
The Dubliners have a great song called "Sick Note", that tells the same story.
It's about the same type of accident but the accident happened to an Irish Labour in London
Me body is all black and blue, me face a deathly grey
Never heard that one, but the Corries have one called the bricklayer's song.
Props to Hey Jude, but you're right and the song is much funnier than his rendition here.
Thanks! I didn't know about it and now I'm listening to it on repeat!
Beautiful Jude!
I love this 1!😂😂😂
Fred Allen, S. J. Perlman and the incredible Max Shulman were and are comedy gold. Goodman Ace's stories about America's beginning suburbia are like archeological comedy.
This was a story Allen had.....(I'll be charitable) borrowed
It's changed many times over the years but it was a barrel of tools in 1902
I heard it in spanish log time ago, it's so great 😂😂
This is so good
Wonderful
Well read. Totally pictured this poor soul. So funny
Simply Hilarious! Tears streaming down my cheeks and clutching my painful sides, just hilarious!
Uh…can we talk about the preparation? He’s reading this accent as a true accent of the time, the coil is purrrfect.
I just couldn't stop laughing... although I am pretty sure the author of this letter didn't feel much like laughing!!
What a way to describe an accident both by the author and of course by Jude law!!
Jude Law.
What a stunning piece of accent.
There is a song/poem about this incident called The Sick note. Well worth a look
That same thing happened to my dad but the order of events was in a reversal of this calamity.
This was absolutely hilarious
"I can't be held responsilbe for creating the conditions in where you all ate each other"
"All I did was create those conditions"
"You're the ones who ate each other"
Welcome to the world of "insurance" 😏. Jude was brilliant 👏.
I heard the late great Seamus Creagh singing this in the Cork Folk Club many moons ago.
That Barrel got a TRIPLE KILL
There’s a song about this, “The Sick Note (Why Paddy’s Not at Work Today)” lol
Its even better when regaled to music. Murphy's bricks is fantastic.
Man he’s good.
An old joke immortalized in the song, Why Paddy's not at work today.
Heard this as the song “The Sick Note (Murphy and the Bricks)”.
That’s a great impression of George Costanza.
It is
Funny since he didn't intend that
An oldie but a goodie
Sounds like the Paddington 2 window cleaning skit
The version of this i remember was in the form of a song. 'The sick note' by The Dubliners. (Why Paddy's not at work today)
Know this since childhood as an irish song
my god, his absolute command of accents. unbelievable.
The Irish turned it into a song called "The Sick Note"...really funny!
Fred Allen is the name of a famous comedian from the 1940's & 1950's. This sounds like one of his stories too.
as he was reading this story... i realized I've heard this story before, but i cannot, for the life of me, recall where... perhaps as an honorable mention in a darwin award
Exactly the story line in "Sick Note" by the Dubliners.
I have heard many versions of this story before, even one put to song.
Crazy coincidence: I watched this a few days ago, and just now I randomly stumbled upon a song version of the story called "The Bricklayer's Song".
"Paddy's sick-note" 😂
Doing it with a stellar NYC accent is the cherry on top.
I enjoy all the variations of the brickleyer's tale that have been circulated in newspapers, magazines, and now the internet, but my favorite is the song version that has been performed by several folk and Celtic singers and groups. Rather than writing a letter to the insurance company, Murphy, the poor sod, is composing a sick note--presumably addressed to his foreman's boss because the foreman "is an awkward sod"--in the hopes that he will understand why poor Murphy' is not at work today after yesterday's ordeal. My favorite version is "The Bricklayer's Song," performed by John McDermott. Check this version out and you'll be rolling in the floor laughing.
DAMN! I listen to old time radio and Jude NAILED Fred Allen's voice.
edit - @1:15 oh crap, is this going to be a retelling of Why Paddy's Not At Work Today?
edit: YUP.
I love when English actors speak with American accents.
So much better than when Americans speak with English accents.
Fred Allen said of Jack Benny that “Benny was born ignorant and he’s been losing ground ever since.”
well ya, but can Fred Allen make a coin roll back to him..I think not.
That bit is older than 1932. It was viral in the 1880's, and even a song.