British readers: big laugh below

[dianeduane]

Well, I laughed, anyway.

"Not bovvered" in Downing Street

(US readers: for background that will help you understand / get the joke in the above, first check this page and the video on it)

Comments

[jeff-morris.livejournal.com]

Can you explain "bovvered" to the unenlightened Yank? :)

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Lit: Bothered, as in "Am I bothered?!"
Rhetorical question to which the answer is plainly no.

English yob culture equivalent of "whatever"...
is also Cathrine Tate's signature catch phrase when playing the mouthy, cynical, disaffacted youth Lauren.

Which is why it's funny when Tony turns it about on her... given his stance on yob/chav culture.

[jaxomsride.livejournal.com]

Love your icon.
Catherine Tate's "Lauren Cooper" is the most annoying "schoolgirl"/ teenager. She shapes her sketches around three central phrases "Am I bothered" (Implying she's anything but.) "Does this face look bothered to you" and "Are you disrespecting me".
The PM sketch is funny because Tony's response "Am I bothered" etc is basically throwing her own catchphrases back at her.
If you watch the David Tennant sketch you might get a clearer idea.

I don't actually watch the Catherine Tate show but have seen her in things like "Blue Peter" so had some idea what was going on but if you haven't seen any of her stuff it won't mean anything to you.

[janeway216.livejournal.com]

I'm a Yank myself, but I want to add to the previous answers -- this page has what's pretty much an exemplar Lauren sketch, which might illuminate the Tony Blair sketch a little more.

[dduane.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for that!

I only saw the character for the first time a few weeks ago, and love her dearly. (I'm much afraid of what Peter will do when I start saying "Am I bovvered...")

[janeway216.livejournal.com]

Welcome!

http://www.catherinetateshow.co.uk/ has several more Lauren sketches scattered throughout the "Videos" section. I think Lauren's a hoot, but I can't quote her much over here because nobody knows what I'm talking about.

[mrscosmopilite.livejournal.com]

we giggled over this and the David Tennant one (when not drooling over David Tennant) on Friday.
Just to confuse the issue, darling daughter (15) tends to use either *is this the face of concern* or *my reticule of concern is bereft*
Confuses the hell out of her classmates...

[lunalovegoddess.livejournal.com]

*loves it*

Just a quick question: is that a corgi in your picture? Because it has a very similar face and build to mine, just different coat markings.

[mrscosmopilite.livejournal.com]

well she is *supposed* to be a Jack Russell terrier. However she hasn't got a typical JRT head, or neck/shoulders. So we think there is Corgi in the genes somewhere.
She certanly thinks she is royalty...

[manycolored.livejournal.com]

I thought I might drop you a line to tell you that finding Empty Chair in the Baltimore airport bookstore made me almost glad to be stranded with the storm. It also made me a friend (although I wish I'd learned his name.)

I'm half through with it (almost wrote "wiv" it, thanks to your post) and bitterly resenting work for interrupting my read.

[kadharonon.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I have only seen Catherine Tate before in the Christmas Episode of Doctor Who. But MAN, she is master of slightly uncomfortable yet hilarious characters.
...and my slightly uncomfortable I mean I was squirming in my seat feeling embarrassed for her, because I'm that type of person. But in a good way!

[rdmaughan.livejournal.com]

I think the best of her contributions to Comic Relief was the one with Daniel Craig. Although the PM schetch has me laughing out loud when he turned the tables on her.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

good lord, first time Tony's tried to be down with the kids and come out looking good... Hmm. Maybe he's got a new career in acting post- PM? That and I want to see 'face. bovvered?' in use in the Commons. Though one has a horrible suspicion he may have used the 'Out.' at Brown. :g:

I'm disturbed. first time I've actually laughed at Catherine Tate - almost wet myself with this and the David Tennant ones. (Daniel Craig one was funny because of him rather than her character) That and the bit where she went 'you take the high road and I'll take the low' and everyone went gobsmacked.

Thank you...

[rivqah.livejournal.com]

...for introducing me and my husband to Lauren! We're Yanks, had seen C Tate in the Doctor Who Xmas special, but Lauren is a riot and a half. Esp enjoyed the David Tennant bit, of course, but my personal favorite may be "Lauren gets married". So astoundingly wrong on so many levels, but I couldn't stop laughing.

[lunalovegoddess.livejournal.com]

"This is mental, man... you wouldn't even believe it!"