You see, as well as researching, editing, introducing and performing history books, I do actually read a few for pleasure from time to time – particularly if written by someone I have personally spent quality time with, who I happened to like rather a lot. And extra-specially if they happen to be a global comedy God.…
MEN BEHAVING BADLY: It Does Me Good…
Old man at Barn. Nostalgia, I have always felt, must be a luxury: a sweet treat for those contented with their current lot, but a terrible vice to the discontented. Since embarking on my Histories of Britain ‘journey’ – and yes, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle is taking an age to appear on Audible, I’m almost…
FAB FOOLS: LIVE AT LAST!
What with a global pandemic and moving out to the Somerset sticks, getting married and producing a disarmingly cute small person, the LIVE! section of this website isn't one I'd been expecting to bristle with much activity ever again, compared to the years when shenanigans with The Unrelated Family begat playing burlesque filth on the…
Clue at 50: I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Present!
Half a century ago this evening, the only partially suspecting Radio 4 audience were first treated to 'the sound of time wasting', the all-new quiz show spin-off from the most ribald and funky comedy show of the 1960's, I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. Admittedly, the very first pilot had been recorded the previous November…
FAB FOOLS 5: THEY’VE ARRIVED…
... And to prove it, they're here! PREVIOUSLY, ON FAB FOOLS: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4! Happy Fab Fools Friday, lovely nits! Here's just a little mini-mini online author event to thank everyone who made this book finally a reality! https://youtu.be/LcnMmUV8-bo As I say in the vid, the books won't be hitting shops until the spring, but it only…
Thank You, Tim Brooke-Taylor
https://youtu.be/DSsQou5r09s He was the lynchpin. Tim was the hero of the first story I got to tell, the man who links ISIHAC today with Cambridge Circus 57 years ago. How could he leave the party this early? And how can we keep the party going? Tim by Willy. Obviously. Sent to me by Tim. Before…
FAB FOOLS 4: WAIT!!
YOU NOW GETTING IT READY FOR YOU NOW GETTING IT READY FOR YOU PREVIOUSLY, ON FAB FOOLS: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4! IT'S THE KAY SISTERS! Greetings, as Joey Boswell had it, my dear Fab Fools follower, as I EXCLUSIVELY beg your pardon for this unscheduled update in the story of the creation and RELEASE of the…
TERRY: There Goes Another One…
We need a word to encapsulate this sense of deep sadness at losing someone so wonderful, while being simultaneously grateful that they have finally been freed from such suffering. For the loquacious and passionate Terry Jones to be closed in on himself with dementia was a particularly cruel fate, and so there's a feeling of…
FAB FOOLS 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFs-zYvWxvQ&t ROLL UUUP! Roll up, and step right this way for my sixth book, and fifth work of comedy history – the first EVER comprehensive celebration of Beatles Comedy, and Rutles history – FAB FOOLS – click for original pitch! Most importantly, click HERE to pre-order your copy right this moment! ‘The Joker Laughs’ it…
BATH COMEDY FESTIVAL 2015: The Party’s Over
Waking up on Bank Holiday Monday after a week of frenetic activity for the Bath Comedy Festival has felt a little like being Wile E. Coyote several yards over a cliff edge, with no ground beneath. Back to the workaday author's world, of staring at email Sent boxes lighting candles and praying to the God…
