Classic comedy moments: Peter Cook & Dudley Moore – Tarzan Audition

Written by Cook and originally performed in a revue by Kenneth Williams, this legendary sketch also appeared in Beyond The Fringe and made several TV appearances across the years.

Moore played Mr Spigott (‘Spigott by name, Spigott by nature’) who visited Cook’s theatrical agent hoping to win a part as Tarzan while hopping up and down.

Cook observed: ‘I couldn’t help noticing almost at once that you are a one-legged person… When you have been in the business as long as I have you come to notice these things almost instinctively.’

Cook continued in his ludicrous mode of speech: ‘You, a unidexter, are applying for the role,’ he said. ‘To my mind, the British public is not ready for the sight of a one-legged apeman swinging through the jungly tendrils.’

The pay off being… “Your right leg is fine, a lovely leg for the role, I’ve got nothing against your right leg… Unfortunately neither have you.”

It was on the strength of material such as this that the BBC offered Cook and Moore their own series: Not Only… But Also, which ran for three series in 1965, 1966 and 1970
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The name Spiggot was a favourite of Cook’s and was used as the name of Cook’s devilish character in the classic 1967 movie Bedazzled.