Big Train, Comedy Sketches

A good laugh is always welcome, but sometimes it is as necessary as the air we breathe. Big Train is a sketch show in the best British comedy tradition, which was originally aired on BBC Two in 1999 and 2002, and can be watched now on YouTube with automatic, but not terribly accurate, subtitles. Some of the episodes are built upon surreal conversations, puns or cultural parody like the London to Edinburgh train project below, and they are suitable for C1 students. Other episodes act out more visual jokes and they might be enjoyed by B2 learners. I first found a reference to this comedy on William Bertrand's News Blog "I Spilled the Beans", which is on my favourite list of blogs, on the left column. I hope you find something you can laugh out loud with!

The vocabulary is not as difficult as the implicit information that is presupposed and is being parodied. Some of the most difficult words in the London to Edinbrugh sketch above are: proposal, super fast, franchise, a model, the actual train, to stand to reason.

Other selected episodes can be reached below:

Starting Blocks Lesson (B2 level): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GmmAUbfhMU&t=76s

Do You Speak English (C1 level): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxUm-2x-2dM

Murder at the Dinner Table (rather gory, for C2 students): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLY-282dBIw

Creep (creepy, for C1 students): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tTofn3WqaQ

Tits Monkey (utterly ludicrous, for C1 students): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKPZCnrY2Ho

Hypnotherapy (B2 level): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7ZWAQnCZ-s

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