At 3pm today I heard of the sad death of Mel Smith who died from a heart attack aged 60 http://uk.news.yahoo.com/british-comedian-mel-smith-dies-aged-60-134828327.html#umAghsz. My Mother was a huge fan of Not The Nine O'Clock News and its spin off Alas Smith and Jones so it was always on in our house. I think I caught up with NTNON at a later date via repeats and DVD, but it was pretty radical for the day and of course, was one of the first things the mighty John Lloyd produced. ASAJ was quite rude as I recall and I don't think I really understood some of the sketches, but I did like the face to face ramblings the pair used to do which I always thought was a cut above Ronnie Corbett's chair chat in The Two Ronnies (in fact it was probably when I skipped off to the kitchen to fix myself another glass of Rola Cola as there was no time for named brands in my house....)
The last time I saw Mel Smith on the TV was when he featured in an edition of Celebrity Mastermind where he looked like he'd suffered a stroke, but I couldn't find any evidence to back this up online. Talking of such programmes, I've stopped watching them now because I agree with Frank Skinner's view that it's far too dumbed down and allowing such luminaries such as Myleene Klass to answer questions on Series 3 of Sex and The City is frankly ridiculous, although I did enjoy the comedian and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue stalwart Tony Hawks' choice of topic: Tony Hawk: The Skateboarder. My own personal beef with the BBC's Mastermind is that I have now sat through two auditions for the programme with no success. Darn, I was seriously hoping to rock the intellectual glasses, cord jacket and jeans look on telly too;
Saturday, 20 July 2013
Weekend Box Sets and Comedy Script Books
Before I became a mother I was able to spend large portions of my weekend watching my various comedy box sets, but no - I'm not bitter, just a little disappointed, hey ho. However, these days I have my comedy books to look through and that's always enjoyable, especially when combined with searching stuff on the interweb. If you were to ask me just how many books about comedy combined with various comedians' autobiographies I wouldn't be able to answer you, but let me tell you, it's a lot - here are two to illustrate my point:
Unsurprisingly I also own quite a few script books - Father Ted, Blackadder, Little Britain, Alan Partridge and The League of Gentlemen to name but a few. The Father Ted one is my favourite, especially as it give the context and background to all of the episodes including the inspiration for such classics as the Entertaining Father Stone episode - based upon an unwelcome visitor who used to turn up every year at Arthur Matthews' parents' house. I cannot believe that my personal highlight New Jack City is so detested by Linehan and Matthews, but it takes all sorts I suppose.
Talking of Father Ted - I've just re-read my last post and it's a tiny bit vitriolic to be honest and reminded me of the Christmassy Ted episode where he wins the coveted Golden Cleric award and proclaims a very long revenge tirade aimed at all of the ecclesiastical people who have annoyed him over the years. Somebody at work asked me why I bought such script books and that they weren't surprised that I did. Hmm.
Talking of Father Ted - I've just re-read my last post and it's a tiny bit vitriolic to be honest and reminded me of the Christmassy Ted episode where he wins the coveted Golden Cleric award and proclaims a very long revenge tirade aimed at all of the ecclesiastical people who have annoyed him over the years. Somebody at work asked me why I bought such script books and that they weren't surprised that I did. Hmm.
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Saturday Night's Allright (for comedy, not for fighting!)
This is the point where I fully confess to being a geek; yes I am and I'm out and proud. Growing up in a London suburb, my dislike of going out and 'hanging out' with the 'in crowd' were quite defined and it meant that I spent a lot of time at home. Comedy was always my anchor and continues to be; especially with the rise of VHS video rentals in the 1980s. There was a video shop located at the top of our road and we used to go and have a gander there on a regular basis, they also printed a list of their stock which included the amusing titled Billy Connolly Bites Yer Bum which was particularly amusing to my pre-adolescent state. However, it was a certificate 18 and we didn't rent it and to be honest, to this day I'm not a huge fan of Mr C's comedy as I can barely understand him, but I still read his second wife's book about sex, that was an interesting wander, but let's not meander of the topic in question. Actually, if pressed, I've never been a huge fan of the surname 'Connelly' in all of it's forms as there was a horrible girl called Joanne Connelly at my school that was a complete bitch and gave me a hard time; so Joanne, if you're reading, it's been a long time now, but you're still clearly a twisted indivdual and I hope you've thought long and hard about what you did in the mid 1980s to early 1990s. Oh you haven't? Quelle suprise?
Oooh, I've completely wandered off topic now, but let's revert to comedy films, namely The Naked Gun starring the peerless and now deceased Leslie Neilsen. God I used to love those and the series version of Police Squad used to crack me up; I rented it recently and it didn't have the same effect, but you can see why it was such a trailblazer in it's time and spun off from the success of films such as Airplane.
Oooh, I've completely wandered off topic now, but let's revert to comedy films, namely The Naked Gun starring the peerless and now deceased Leslie Neilsen. God I used to love those and the series version of Police Squad used to crack me up; I rented it recently and it didn't have the same effect, but you can see why it was such a trailblazer in it's time and spun off from the success of films such as Airplane.
Friday, 21 June 2013
Friday I'm In Love
So, why am I starting my comedy journey on a Friday night? Well, I guess when I was growing up I always considered Friday night TV to be the pinnacle of the week's entertainment. Picture the scene: a suburban semi crowded with a mixture of clutter, bad soft furnishings and dust and then there's myself and my Mother sitting there with a glass of Store brand cola, a chocolate bar of our choice and finally a can of Safeway Dutch Lager (that was Mother's choice, I didn't start drinking until a bit later - probably after I got drunk on the magnum of champagne we'd won at the Church Christmas Fayre aged 14, hey ho.)
People, well, my husband and brother pretty much, seem to think that Mother doesn't possess much of a sense of humour these days and I guess this is true to a certain extent. However, she did introduce me to a myriad of comedies back in the 1980s when I was growing up and I certainly recall watching shows such as Blackadder, Alas Smith and Jones, Cheers and Last of The Summer Wine; sorry about the last one - I blame my Stepfather for that one and I can recall a combination of Sunday night tea (crackers, Shipham's fish paste and assorted cakes) accompanying Foggy, Clegg and Compo's Yorkshire-based antics.) I can't say that I really understood the whole humour thing much when I was a youngster, although my late Father (who'd died of a heart attack when I was five years old) had been a Policeman famed for his wicked sense of humour. Looking back it's clear that both myself, my two brothers and now my son have inherited it. Hurrah.
The Friday night comedy zone on Channel 4 was probably my favourite because it broadcast such classics as Cheers (which later was the sitcom used as an example of how to write one when I attended a Sitcom Writing Course at City Lit many years later.) and later on Roseanne. Many years on this would morph into such cult classics such as Spaced, Harry Hill and Friends - although I didn't watch the latter until many years later, catching up on all 236 episodes of the sitcom via cable channels or on DVD - in order - I am still a stickler for watching comedy series in order and that's what's currently vexing me about Arrested Development - series 1 isn't currently available on Lovefilm.
Anyway, I digress. Friday night was certainly one of my first memories of being a complete comedy geek and it will always remain rose tinged as a result. They're not so much now, but that's progress and of course, being able to work your own schedules via a PVR.
People, well, my husband and brother pretty much, seem to think that Mother doesn't possess much of a sense of humour these days and I guess this is true to a certain extent. However, she did introduce me to a myriad of comedies back in the 1980s when I was growing up and I certainly recall watching shows such as Blackadder, Alas Smith and Jones, Cheers and Last of The Summer Wine; sorry about the last one - I blame my Stepfather for that one and I can recall a combination of Sunday night tea (crackers, Shipham's fish paste and assorted cakes) accompanying Foggy, Clegg and Compo's Yorkshire-based antics.) I can't say that I really understood the whole humour thing much when I was a youngster, although my late Father (who'd died of a heart attack when I was five years old) had been a Policeman famed for his wicked sense of humour. Looking back it's clear that both myself, my two brothers and now my son have inherited it. Hurrah.
The Friday night comedy zone on Channel 4 was probably my favourite because it broadcast such classics as Cheers (which later was the sitcom used as an example of how to write one when I attended a Sitcom Writing Course at City Lit many years later.) and later on Roseanne. Many years on this would morph into such cult classics such as Spaced, Harry Hill and Friends - although I didn't watch the latter until many years later, catching up on all 236 episodes of the sitcom via cable channels or on DVD - in order - I am still a stickler for watching comedy series in order and that's what's currently vexing me about Arrested Development - series 1 isn't currently available on Lovefilm.
Anyway, I digress. Friday night was certainly one of my first memories of being a complete comedy geek and it will always remain rose tinged as a result. They're not so much now, but that's progress and of course, being able to work your own schedules via a PVR.
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