Four Candles is a classic BBC comedy sketch by The Two Ronnies. It was written by Ronnie Barker (under the pseudonym Gerald Wiley), and was first broadcast on 18 September, 1976. It relies entirely on accidental homophones and unclear accents, and, of course, the artful emoting of the Ronnies.
Ronnie stands behind the counter of a back-country hardware and dry-goods store; Ronnie enters with a shopping list. With no preamble, Ronnie orders "four candles". Ronnie checks: "four candles?"; Ronnie confirms: "four candles". Ronnie hands Ronnie four candles, and Ronnie clarifies: "no, four candles".
After some back and forth, it emerges that Ronnie actually wanted
"fork handles". As one does.
Ronnie has a whole list; Ronnie has to go on repeated hunts through the store to find what he wants only to find that he wants something slightly odder. The humor comes more from the Ronnies' reactions to each other than the wordplay, but the wordplay is clever enough to keep the audience guessing.
Four Candles is widely held to be the most iconic Two Ronnies sketch, and When Were We Funniest? voted it as the funniest skit of the 1970s. It is a cultural touchstone for generations of British, and is surprisingly unknown outside of England.
The original clip is 6 minutes and 47 second long, and well worth watching (YouTube link).