Mr. Bean

From the AEIS listserve, someone suggested using Mr. Bean videos as conversation starters and vocabulary builders. They said slapstick in general is good, which I agree with. It's easy to understand and there's not usually too much use of puns or word-play, but you still get authentic language. A great way to implement humor in the classroom.

Here's a link to a Mr. Bean full episode with 3 acts.

Act 1: Mr Bean sits an exam and is blissfully happy until, too late, he realizes that he has studied the wrong maths equations.

Act 2: Mr Bean tries to change into his swimming trunks at the beach without anyone seeing his bits.

Act 3: Mr Bean tries to stifle a sneeze in church.

With Mr. Bean, specifically, it is a British show, so there is a great opportunity for discussion about British vs. American culture and pronunciation. Also because Mr. Bean doesn't speak much, there's great opportunity for students to retell the story by generating their own language.

I'd like to also find something that is American so that we can focus on American pronunciation. Someone suggested Father of the Bride (trailer here) as they said that Steve Martin has pretty clear, slow speech.

I like that idea, but I'm also wondering if there isn't something else with shorter acts that might be better.