It doesn't matter if he's in character or not. The second Rowan Atkinson enters a room, nobody can keep a straight face. These are his funniest moments.
Last year, I went into a bank to cash a check and I handed over the check and she said, "Thank you. " And she said, "Oh, Mr Atkinson, I'm I'm such an admirer of your work. Um, could you sign this piece of paper for my daughter?
" So, I signed the piece of paper and I handed back and she took it back. She put it one side and she looked at my check and she said, "Now, do you have any means of identification? [laughter] And you think, well, you see your face as your greatest asset, your facial dexterity.
You know, one doesn't like to be labeled a face puller. Uh because it's you feel as though if you have got a face that you know that manageable one can go like that, [laughter] you know, you can twist about it. It's um that you feel that people are going to assume that you're just, you know, that's all you can do and and if in doubt, go, you know, and someone will laugh.
It's not often you see Mr Bean get a taste of his own medicine. But when he misplaced his personal diary, this host took full advantage of it. I found this one.
It I I believe it's your diary, right? My diary. Yeah, it is.
And And you know what it says here on page one? If I have been silly enough to mislay this diary, please return it to Mr Bean. And PS.
A5 reward would certainly not be out of the question. You owe me £5 if you want it. [laughter] [laughter] No.
[laughter] I mean, what about the mugging, the pulling of faces in in bean? I mean, did you do that as a routine? Was that part of it?
Yeah, that started when I was Yeah. Yeah, when I went to University of Oxford really, that's when I started doing entirely visual stuff. Uh, and for the first time ever, you I, you know, when I was about 20, whenever that was, I remember, you know, standing in front of a bathroom mirror and just sort of gurning, I suppose, just pulling faces for the sake of it.
Okay. Um, and it was, you know, just sort of going, [laughter] you know, just suddenly, you know, very extreme. [applause] It's safe to say having one of the most recognizable faces on Earth leads to some strange encounters.
Rowan's favorite happened in a Land Rover parts department. I was standing around with with a group of guys and I could see this guy doing that. Um, and he came up to me after a while and he said, "Excuse me, has anyone ever told you that you're the absolute spitting image of that Mr beam.
[laughter] And I said, "Well, actually, I am the actor who plays Mr Bean. " And he said, "I [laughter] bet you wish you were. " Followed this bizarre conversation in which the more I tried to claim that I was the person [laughter] whom he thought I merely resembled, the less he believed me.
But what was funny was how was how close he thought I was to to you know he said the resemblance was uncanny. So the girl who was serving me the hamburger I I was just taking it and there was a girl working next to her and she suddenly turned to the girl next to her and I was literally two feet away and she said very loudly, "Is this Ron Atkinson? " [laughter] And the other girl looked at no.
I mean, if people do know you and they come up and they say, you know, I like this that you do or that's fine and but it's the people who shout at you from across the street. It's the, "Hey, give us a face, Rowan. " [laughter] Every iconic character has to start somewhere.
For Rowan Atkinson, finding the perfect name for Mr Bean came down to staring at vegetables until one sounded pathetic enough. Yeah, we we was sitting around. I remember at our producers's house one day and trying to think of a name and we started with Mr White.
I like the idea of the of the series being named after the character and he was obviously Mister so Mr White but that sounded a bit bland and then we started to think about you know vegetables and you know as you do as you do you know when looking for a comic attitude so Mr Broccoli and Mr Carrot and Mr Mr Cabbage and Mr Bean you know yeah it's sort of you know single syllable and short and sharp and memorable. Awards season demands a perfect gracious loser face. Rowan built an entire sketch around the one actor completely incapable of faking it.
Now, these are four fine actors, and I'm sure they'd all agree that the point is not to win, but to play the game. And the winner is John Daniels. Oh Unfortunately, John is unable to be with us tonight.
And so, I'd like to ask his co-star David Forett to accept the award on his behalf. David, [music] [music] [applause] [applause] you give us a little of Mr Bean shaving. I don't put you on the spot here, just Yes.
Uh, yes. Okay. Yeah, it's in the movie.
This is how Mr Bean shaves. Okay. Ready?
One shave. I cover all bases. [laughter] [cheering] There you are.
When you perform live for Prince Charles, you're expected to play it safe. Naturally, Rowan opened his set as the devil taking attendance in hell. I am the devil.
Good evening. But you can call me Toby if you like. We We try to keep things informal here as well as infernal.
That's just my little joke. You're all here for eternity, which I hardly need tell you is a heck of a long time. But for now, I'm going to have to divide you up into groups, if that's okay.
Can you hear me at the rack? Well, if you'd stop screaming, that would help. Now, murderers over over here, please.
Thank you very much indeed. Lutters and pillagers, over here, please. thieves, if you could join us.
And lawyers, you're in. Uh, yes, there's plenty of room. If the hedge fund managers would just move along a tiny bit.
There we go. How did your flight go? I reckon it was fine.
Thank you. Good. What brings you to Copenhagen?
Well, got a bit of a squeaky chair. Oh, yeah. Right.
Okay, if we swap Oh dear, I seem to be stuck. No, no, just joking. You got some very squeaky chairs in here.
Well, I'll um let's um Could we get another chair, please? Could we have another chair, please? Yes.
Um, [laughter] is that is that all right? Well, it's a bit pathetic actually, but I suppose it'll have to do. Actually, it's quite nice that it's open.
Bean doesn't really do introductions. Conan found that out before his guest even said, "Mr Bean, what do you what? " Well, Mr Bean, we invited you on the show.
We We paid for six limousines. I thought we might have a chat. I thought we might It's a talk show.
I thought we might chat about stuff. All right. All right.
All right. Haron. All right, then.
Mr Bean, good to have you here. Tell us uh [applause] I was saying there Ran, it is a fact that [laughter] you wouldn't have done anything when I wasn't looking. Would you?
Not behind your back there. Obviously, taking out a girl for the first time is a very complex issue. The first crucial step is having arranged to pick up your date and not to look like a complete idiot when she opens the door.
Filling a small glass of water. Well, yeah. We'll just you just use your eyes.
Just use your eyes. Just open your privates then use them. Good evening, Mr Porman.
Good evening. Tell me what first interested you in the B world, Mr Porman. Well, um, even as a child, I used to I'm sorry.
Shouldn't I have said that? No, of course you should. Pay no attention, please.
When I say shh, it's just a nervous mannerism I picked up. If uh if I want you to keep quiet, I will say shush. you were saying.
And so I I have grown to love the little uh creatures. I mean, nature really has produced a little masterpiece in the life. I'm so sorry.
I I'm afraid that's a reflex action, too. I squawk whenever someone mentions the word life. Quack.
You see, even even when I mention it myself, I should have told you. Well, um the the bees, as you know, are divided into different uh categories. Sh uh the queen bee and the workab bee whose lifespan whose uh living expectancy is only one year.
The workabes on the other hand have a much longer Do you want me to stop? Yes. You were just about to say life.
Quack. I wasn't. Oh, I'm so sorry.
Please continue. Well, as I was saying, the the worker bees do have a much longer life. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. It's just Yes, I normally stay till the end as well. Bye.
You can go in the house here if you wish. Bye.