Derek & Clive

Derek & Clive were two characters - supposedly lavatory attendants - improvised by popular comedians Dudley Moore (Derek) and Peter Cook (Clive), who found unlikely cult success in the 1970s with unscripted material that tested the boundaries of taste. Lines like "What's the worst job you've ever had?" and their surreal streams of consciousness entered the public psyche and the pair became particularly beloved of the student population as their bootleg recordings - far too rude to receive radio play - took on a life of their own. Moore, a gifted jazz pianist, first met Cook when appearing in the satirical stage show Beyond The Fringe while he was studying music and composition at Oxford University. They went on to appear together in many satirical comedy shows, developing the characters "Pete and Dud" with their own BBC TV series Not Only...But Also. Derek & Clive were essentially a smuttier and more outrageous version of their normal Pete and Dud act, the new characters emerging as they drunkenly ad-libbed in a recording studio in New York, goading one another on to more and more sexual innuendo. The bootleg tapes gained a big following and were eventually given an official release as Derek & Clive Live (1976). They followed it with Derek & Clive Come Again (1977) and Derek & Clive Ad Nauseum (1978), while they also featured in a film documentary Derek & Clive Get The Horn (1979). Moore's subsequent success as a film star led him to Hollywood and Derek & Clive disappeared.

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