I love Hugh Laurie. There, I said it. Why, when I was a kid I used to stay home “sick” from church so I could watch Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry on Jeeves and Wooster. (It aired on PBS; I was actually nursing a tiny, terrible crush on Stephen Fry.)
You probably already know that, besides being English, Hugh Laurie is also a talented musician. I have long been convinced, in fact, that Laurie’s adeptness at the “American” accent is a consequence of having a musical ear. Laurie is a singer, too, and I think the Dr. House “voice”—which is nothing like Laurie’s own speaking voice—is probably a little bit like singing at a lower register, to the tune of whatever cadence and melody “spoken American” has. So I think it might be less “doing an accent” and more “singing.” The effect is convincing.
Where was I? Oh, yeah.
How many times has Hugh Laurie visited Craig Ferguson at The Late Late Show? Four? Six? I feel like he’s a frequent guest.
Still, it’s a rare pleasure to see him perform the blues “live”; here’s a video from last night’s show.
Since I missed last night’s Late Late Show and therefore owe Huffington Post for the heads-up, here’s more from HuffPo about Hugh Laurie’s recording career:
With ratings on the decline and the future uncertain with “House,” now in its eighth season, Laurie has been expanding and exploring his other interests. He released the blues album “Let Them Talk,” featuring some great collaborations with the likes of Tom Jones and Irma Thomas, though it does not include the track he performed here.
The album has performed very well since its April 18, 2011 release, peaking at #2 and going Gold in the UK. So while American audiences are getting used to this more diverse side of Laurie (the album peaked at #16 on US charts so far), he’s got a proven fan-base abroad and a pretty well-established foundation to build a larger music career should he decide to.
Jeeves and Wooster always gets me up whenever I’m down. I just put it on and start smiling. Hugh is great. I’ll miss my weekly dose of him when House ends, I wish he’d be doing something else television-wise but I guess he wants to stop now. Sadly.
Of course Hugh can play and sing! Go to the video store and see if “A Bit of Fry (Stephen) and Laurie” is on DVD. The show is at least 10 years old, from the BBC, and the two of them together are absolutely delightful!