If you spend any amount of time watching Dawn French working alongside Jennifer Saunders, you realise that they are brilliant in what they do. They just seem to have a chemistry that helps them to work together seamlessly and it makes us laugh. Of course, rarely are they ever actually playing themselves, they do much better when the poke fun at other people. This parody is one that is a perfect example.
In this clip, French and Saunders are taking on the role of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. They meet together on the stage for a brief conversation and French tells Saunders not to sing “Happy Birthday.” As it turns out, Saunders does end up singing the song but she thinks it is something else. In the end, Dan walks off of the stage in frustration, leaving Saunders there to wonder what has happened.
Marilyn Monroe was well known for many things but perhaps the most famous video clip of her is when she was singing “Happy Birthday” to the president of the United States back in the 60s. It’s still something that is played sometimes today and these two couldn’t help but poke fun at it.