History Main / DriverOfABlackCab

* [[The Knowledge http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082624/]] is about four men taking The Knowledge with NigelHawthorne as their eccentric examiner [[spoiler:he acts so strange to see how the candidates will deal with the equally strange General Public]]

-->''[[HangingJudge String 'em up!]] It's the only language they understand...''

* One {{Hellblazer}} story focused on two young cabbies-in-training. Apparently the Knowledge was also a demon-sealing ritual.

Although in America, [[TheTaxi taxi]] drivers often have a FunnyForeigner stereotype, it's quite different (in a sense, the antithesis) in England. Often ex-[[OldFashionedCopper police]], the drivers of black cabs (or to be technical, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage#Black_cabs Hackney Carriages]]) are known for falling into the second type of PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad and liking to share with their customers their views on what's wrong with society today (immigrants, the youth, etc.) and their proposed solutions (public hangings and floggings). Not to be confused with black people who drive cabs, toward whom this character might not be congenial. [[note]]This is heading for DiscreditedTrope status in modern times, as London has one of the highest ratios of ethnic minorities to white people in the whole country and it's much easier to be prejudiced against an abstract concept than against people you've actually met.[[/note]]

* In his comic book based on real events ''The Quest For The Big Woof'', black British comedian LennyHenry describes how his (white) wife went past the Notting Hill Festival in a cab, and the driver started going on about how "darkies" should go back where they came from if they wanted to have festivals. Furious, Dawn French (a British comedian of considerable note herself) told him who her husband was, and he replied "Lenny Henry? Really? You couldn't get me a ticket, could you, love?"

Although in America, [[TheTaxi taxi]] drivers often have a FunnyForeigner stereotype, it's quite different (in a sense, the antithesis) in England. Often ex-[[OldFashionedCopper police]], the drivers of black cabs (or to be technical, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage#Black_cabs Hackney Carriages]]) are known for falling into the second type of PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad and liking to share with their customers their views on what's wrong with society today (immigrants, the youth, etc.) and their proposed solutions (public hangings and floggings). Not to be confused with black people who drive cabs, toward whom this character might not be congenial. [[note]]This is heading for DiscreditedTrope status in modern times, as London has one of the highest ratios of ethnic minorities to white people in the whole country and it's much easier to be prejudiced against an abstract concept than against people you've actually met.[/note]

Although in America, [[TheTaxi taxi]] drivers often have a FunnyForeigner stereotype, it's quite different (in a sense, the antithesis) in England. Often ex-[[OldFashionedCopper police]], the drivers of black cabs (or to be technical, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackney_carriage#Black_cabs Hackney Carriages]]) are known for falling into the second type of PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad and liking to share with their customers their views on what's wrong with society today (immigrants, the youth, etc.) and their proposed solutions (public hangings and floggings). Not to be confused with black people who drive cabs, toward whom this character might not be congenial.

* Alluded to in the novel ''{{Neverwhere}}'', when after Richard returns to "London Above", the first thing he does when hailing a cab is to express interest in hearing all of the driver's geopolitical opinions. He is so eager about it that the guy thinks Richard is mocking him.

The test taken to qualify as a Black Cab driver in London is called "The Knowledge[[note]]of London Examination[[/note]]", takes about ''three years'' to study for, and requires a ridiculously intuitive knowledge of [[UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs London geography]]. As BillBryson put it, "[London cabbies] would sooner entrust their teenage daughters to [[EvilChancellor Alan]] [[ReallyGetsAround Clark]] for a weekend than admit they've never heard of your destination", but chances are they have.

* Probably subverted by {{Stephen Fry}}, if only because of the fact that he isn't a real cabbie.

-->''[[HangingJuge String 'em up!]] It's the only language they understand...''

----

->''"Bloody foreigners, eh? Comin' over 'ere, taking our jobs and our wimmin. String 'em up I say - That's the only language that sort understand...I 'ad that Oswald Mosley in the back of me cab once...very clever gentleman."''
-->-- '''Every fictional cabbie ever'''

-->''Bloody foreigners, eh? Comin' over 'ere, taking our jobs and our wimmin. String 'em up I say - That's the only language that sort understand...I 'ad that Oswald Mosley in the back of me cab once...very clever gentleman.''
-->--'''Every fictional cabbie ever'''

[[folder: Comics]]

[[folder: Fanfic]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Magazines ]]

[[folder: Radio ]]

* On ''TheNowShow'', MitchBenn parodied the news that the WOMD dossier was partly based on the testimony of a Baghdad taxi driver by imagining him as a driver of a black cab:

[[folder: Stand-Up Comedy ]]

* RonWhite reports in one routine that, with a Scottish separatist as a driver, one can see all of London in about 10 minutes.
-->"Buckingham Palace? I wouldn't go there if you paid me!"
* PeterKay recounts that he was once paid to do stand-up for the annual gathering of the cab driver's union, and he started off by making the audience turn their chairs around so they were facing away from him, and then opening with: "Been busy? What time are you on till?" (The two questions he claims it is physically impossible for a passenger to avoid saying to a cabbie).
* JasperCarrott, while talking about unexpected people he found running the London Marathon:

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* ''PrivateEye'' often has its "A Taxi Driver Writes" like this, usually with the phrase "I had that X in the back of my cab the other day, very clever man..."
** To clarify, whenever a public figure says or does something crudely right-wing, ''Private Eye'' will mock them by portraying them as a taxi driver.

The test taken to qualify as a Black Cab driver in London is called "The Knowledge[[hottip:*:of London Examination]]", takes about ''three years'' to study for, and requires a ridiculously intuitive knowledge of [[UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs London geography]]. As BillBryson put it, "[London cabbies] would sooner entrust their teenage daughters to [[EvilChancellor Alan]] [[ReallyGetsAround Clark]] for a weekend than admit they've never heard of your destination", but chances are they have.

* A ''{{Viz}}'' strip had Cockney Wanker taking the Knowledge, which included directions from two arbitrary points for Londoners (a straightforward journey) and out-of-towners (Up the M1 to Dundee, and back down again), and being able to do a stream-of-consciousness speech from any topic to "Enoch Powell, send them all back".

-->''Bloody foreigners, eh? Comin' over 'ere, taking our jobs and our wimmin. String 'em up I say - That's the only language that sort understand...I 'ad that Oswald Moseley in the back of me cab once...very clever gentleman.''

* Derren Brown made one of them forget where the London Eye was.

* There's an ''Armstrong and Miller'' sketch in which it is revealed black cab drivers have to do two tests - the standard "The Knowledge" one everyone knows about, and another, secret, one where they must segue between a harmless topic and and rabidly right-wing one without the passenger getting annoyed.

The test taken to qualify as a Black Cab driver in London is called "The Knowledge[[hottip:*:of London Examination]]", takes about ''three years'' to study for it, and involves a ridiculously intuitive knowledge of [[UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs London geography]]. As BillBryson put it, "[London cabbies] would sooner entrust their teenage daughters to [[EvilChancellor Alan]] [[ReallyGetsAround Clark]] for a weekend than admit they've never heard of your destination", but chances are they have.

* A deleted scene in ''TwentyEightDaysLater'' shows Selena, Jim and Hannah taking turns driving the black cab and doing their best London cabbie impersonation, much to the annoyance of actual cab driver Frank. The DVD commentary mentions that you can't drive a black cab without experiencing an irresistible urge to do this.
* Anthropomorphic British taxis can be seen during the last third of ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Cars}} Cars 2]]'', which takes place in London, England.

* Anthropomorphic British taxis can be seen during the last third of [[WesternAnimation/{{Cars}} ''Cars 2'']], which takes place in London, England.

* Anthropomorphic British taxis can be seen during the last third of [[{{Cars}} ''Cars 2'']], which takes place in London, England.

* Cabbies in training may be seen beetling around London on scooters with maps attached to the windscreen, getting a feel for various routes. London is a fairly large city with an ''unbelievably'' random and complicated road system and [[http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/london-taxi-driver-memory/ one study]] found that successfully memorizing all these damn routes actually ''rewires the drivers' brains''.