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Behind the Scenes: Birthday Card
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.
The setup
Watch on YouTube
Watch onYouTube
The premise
Here’s the bit.
Between takes on a sunny location, the crew sing happy birthday to David and Robert hands over a card he is told not to open yet. David opens it anyway and finds the message is a bare greeting that could have been written by a stranger. Robert admits he struggles to think of anything to write, so David good-naturedly offers to punch it up, and his suggested sentiments get steadily less flattering to both men as he reaches for something honest about their working relationship. The exchange ends with a stilted joint effort at a warm sign-off.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 2
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Your message could have been written by someone who's never met me but has seen my birth certificate.
To David, my best friend in all the world?
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:00
Happy birthday, dear David. Happy birthday to you.
- 00:08
David Mitchell
Thank you.
- 00:09
Robert Webb
Happy birthday, David.
- 00:10
David Mitchell
Ah, cheers.
- 00:11
Robert Webb
I got you a card.
- 00:12
David Mitchell
Ah, thanks.
- 00:13
Robert Webb
Don't open it now.
- 00:14
David Mitchell
Oh, why not?
- 00:15
Robert Webb
Just don't open it now.
- 00:16
David Mitchell
Is that a rude message or something?
- 00:17
Robert Webb
Just don't open it.
- 00:18
David Mitchell
Well, I'm definitely going to open it now.
- 00:20
Robert Webb
Don't. You're always opening it.
- 00:23
David Mitchell
To David, happy birthday from Robert. Yeah! Is that the best you could do?
- 00:28
Robert Webb
Yeah.
- 00:28
David Mitchell
happy birthday from Robert why didn't you want me to open it
- 00:33
David Mitchell
well because you were ashamed because you didn't want to have to face me
- 00:37
Robert Webb
that's about it yeah
- 00:38
David Mitchell
because your message could have been written by someone who's never met me but has seen my birth certificate
- 00:43
Robert Webb
so I just find it difficult thinking up stuff to put
- 00:45
David Mitchell
what you're supposed to be a writer
- 00:47
Robert Webb
I just normally we sort of do stuff together
- 00:50
David Mitchell
oh right well so you expected me to help
- 00:52
Robert Webb
well no no I mean Would you?
- 00:55
David Mitchell
Oh, yeah. Yeah, Rob, absolutely.
- 00:57
Robert Webb
Just jazz it up a bit.
- 00:58
David Mitchell
Yeah, jazz up your sentiments on the occasion of my birthday.
- 01:01
Robert Webb
I'd be really grateful.
- 01:02
David Mitchell
Right, yeah, OK. Well, how about to David, my best friend in all the world?
- 01:07
Robert Webb
Ooh, I don't know about that.
- 01:08
David Mitchell
Right, how about David, my long-standing colleague, who's OK?
- 01:12
Robert Webb
You see why I've been having the problem?
- 01:14
David Mitchell
Yeah. I mean, what do you feel?
- 01:17
Robert Webb
I feel the need to do the decent thing, so as to avert your moods.
- 01:21
David Mitchell
You're being very honest. Thank you. you okay well how about David on your birthday I noticed that everyone got you a cake
- 01:28
Robert Webb
oh is that why this cake
- 01:29
David Mitchell
and even Sally from the office got you a DVD so I popped a w8 Smith to spend 129 of the petty cash on a card with a golf joke on it
- 01:39
Robert Webb
yeah
- 01:39
David Mitchell
I know you like cricket hmm so okay so um lots of love well look best Best wish, um, you're sincerely, well, brackets, Robert Webb.
- 02:00
Robert Webb
Thank you.
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