Fans of Monty Python or Frye & Laurie should run to get The Best of... What's Left of... Not Only... But Also..., the godfather of an entire branch of British comedy. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore revel in freewheeling conversations that range from whimsical to downright surreal, as well as visual lunacy like playing a piano underwater or a flabbergasting parody of Thunderbirds-style marionette shows. Most of their most famous sketches are here: Cook as Mother Superior of an order of leaping nuns; Moore as soul man Bo Dudley; and the Dagenham Dialogues, in which Cook unrolls preposterous verbal flights while Moore tries, usually unsuccessfully, to keep a straight face. (Eddie Izzard would sell his best frock to have come up with some of Cook's freewheeling ideas.) Other memorable sketches include a domestic squabble between a leprechaun and a fairy; a stuffy father explaining sex to his uncomfortable son; and a retrospective of a Garbo-esque movie star (played by Cook), with Moore narrating in a fetching blonde wig. Cook and Moore laid the groundwork for all that came after them, but their comedy isn't musty or primitive; the best of Not Only... But Also... is more fresh and vital than 99% of what's being churned out today. This is essential viewing; along with six episodes of the show, there's a half-hour retrospective that includes a bit of their classic sketch about a one-legged man auditioning to play Tarzan. --Bret Fetzer