To be perfectly honest, Peter Cook mostly belongs to that school of comedy known as British Stuff That Doesn’t Work For Me. That’s okay. I can acknowledge the importance of someone in the world of comedy without actually thinking they’re funny. I’ve done it before—see also my Celebrating the Living article about how you should like Mel Brooks even if you don’t like Mel Brooks movies—and I’ll doubtless do it again. Honestly, practically the only thing of his that I like is his brief stint in The Princess Bride.

Which, let’s be real, I quoted when I performed a wedding of some friends. The actual ceremony was beautiful and touching, according to those who were there—the bride and groom said wonderful things about one another. (The flower girl’s determination to kick all the flower petals into the stream the bride crossed to get to where we had the ceremony was rather less beautiful and touching. It was also unscripted.) But when we were writing the whole thing out, I said, “Obviously, I’ll be starting the ceremony by saying, ‘Mawwige.'” And the only response was, “Well, obviously!”

That’s the thing I think would make him sad, honestly, is how many of us only know him from one very short bit in a movie he didn’t even write. I don’t know if he helped script his bit, which is not the same as it is in the book, quite; Cary Elwes doesn’t cover that in his book, presumably because he’s not in that scene. But large amounts of the dialogue was lifted by screenwriter William Goldman—yes, we’ll be getting to him; of course we’ll be getting to him—from his own book, and if Goldman was influenced by Cook’s comedic style, well, I haven’t actually read any of Goldman’s nonfiction, so what do I know?

However, a lot of the foundation of modern British comedy involves Peter Cook in some way. Beyond the Fringe. Not Only . . . But Also (which Cook tried to save from the BBC’s practice of wiping video tapes, but was unable to; only eight of twenty-two episodes survive in their entirety). He worked with some of the great names of British comedy, including of course his long-standing partnership with Dudley Moore. Though he once said his only regret in life was saving David Frost from drowning.

Even if you don’t really think he’s that funny, you should at least dabble in his comedy. Especially if you like Monty Python or Eddie Izzard or similar. I believe it’s important to know the roots of the things you enjoy, even if part of what you’re seeing is how far it’s come to be something you like from being rooted in something you don’t.

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