Venue:
Warick Arts Centre
Date: 22/02/2015
A sort of greatest hits show, one of the not for radio versions that Aunty is allegedly not happy about. Across 2 45 minute sessions we got “One Song To The Tune of Another”, “Pick Up Songs”, “Swanee Kazoo”, “Uxbridge English Dictionary”, “84 Chicken Cross Road”and of course “Mornington Crescent”. Graeme Garden and Jeremy Hardy provided some laugh out loud moments although producer Jon Naismith delivered the best outright joke in the warm up. I’m one of the few that prefers Jack Dee to Humph and his deadpan delivery was one of the best parts of the show
What took the edge off a little for me was the lack of spontaneity – some of what was delivered had been broadcast before and there was little real interplay between the cast. The round “In My Pants” – where Dee says “In My Pants” as a response to anything the rest of the cast say died on its arse and was rightly abandoned fairly quickly by Dee, and the “Just A Minute” round. The “Give US A Clue” sequence was done with some brio which made me wonder if the teams really didn’t know what Naismith was holding up on the cards. All that said, it was worth the price of admission alone to see – and hear – Jeremy Hardy sing “So Lonely” in a Geordie falsetto.
The audience:
Were all given kazoo’s. Beware the green one. Otherwise it was a sold out show that commanded rapt attention, with an average age of what looked to be around 60. Stephen K Amos was performing elsewhere in the building and the intervals co-coincided, making it almost impossible to leave the auditorium and fetch an overpriced choc-ice
It made me think..
Colin Sell really has one of the best gigs in show business
I suppose the way to think of it as a ‘greatest hits’ package.
Did TBT sing ‘ Girlfriend in a Coma’ to the tune of ‘Tiptoe through the Tulips’?
Didn’t Tony Hawks do that one?
You are correct, in my defence it was TBT when I saw it
Yes he did – and a little dance too.
Have been listening for years and never realised Samantha was a figment of their imagination (doh !).
You must have been looking in the wrong place – as I understand it she likes to sit on the end.
I thought she sat on Jack Dee’s right hand.
You’re right in what you say about the “greatest hits” bit. I saw this type of show in Manchester a couple of years ago and it was great to see everyone in the flesh etc but it did make me wish I was watching a recording for the actual radio show (which I’ve not managed to do yet) where the material was new.
I took my youngest Ainslet to see Just A Minute some time ago which WAS for the radio and it was fantastic. What amazed me was how little editing had to be done. Two shows were recorded one after the other and I’d estimate that only 5 minutes or so didn’t make it to the eventual broadcast versions. For something entirely improvised I thought that was remarkable.
I’ve seen it “live” (i.e. the stage show rather than a recording) a couple of times and was a little disappointed at how scripted some bits are. They clearly have their first 2 or 3 answers lined up for UED (for example) and know what the “one song” is, for another. Jack’s Nicholas Parsons rip off was barely funny to start with, and I can now hear a dead horse being flogged. “In my Pants” looks good on paper, for about 3 seconds.
All that said, it’s essential stuff. UED is my favourite, I must say, some very clever stuff goes on there.
Fanny = a bit like a fan etc.
Barry Cryer is a comedy genius.
Its virtually all scripted isn’t it? Doesn’t stop me loving it any the less – been listening to it since I used to hear it when I got home from school for lunch in the 70’s and now my kids love it. Doesn’t time fly etc etc…
I think the radio show does a good job of creating a sense of off the cuff repartee which doesn’t translate to the non radio version. I botched the reference to “Just A Minute” in the review above and I agree. It’s really only got one joke – Dee saying “the game that we all love” over and over, and it’s too threadbare to warrant the 3 or 4 minutes it gets. The only funny part is Dee putting down Colin Sell’s “Minute Waltz” intro.
I don’t think the radio shows are scripted in the way that this stage version is. I used to commute up to London with one time producer Paul Mayhew-Archer, who would be writing some of Humph’s links, and it was evident from what he said that the teams knew what the rounds would be, what music would be used, and would have the chance to write material to use in the show. This could account for why the radio version comes across better than the stage show- with the latter they are doing the same material each night, hearing each other tell the same gags. On the radio show whilst they have prepared their own material, they don’t know what other panelists will say.
Sadly I’ve never seen the radio show being recorded; the only show I have managed to get in to so far is “Just A Minute”. A show we all know and love etc etc
I’ve had the benefit of both. And I think you’re right. It just wouldn’t be possible to do the radio show without ANY idea of what’s coming, especially for the music rounds. The off the cuff stuff that can’t get into the shows is usually a hoot. But even the scripted version is usually good fun, and still manages the odd fun ad lib.
Me too. And I agree.
The radio show recordings took forever though, with both Humph and JD.
A whole evening’s entertainment for 2 30 minute shows!
The scripted bit for each round was a couple of goes each, then it descended into ad lib heaven/hell, depending, and what you heard were the best bits.
“Beware the green kazoo” – is this the ISIHAC equivalent of “Don’t have the brown acid”?
I like Naismith’s joke. I believe it is his sole one 🙂
Fcuk me I’ve only just noticed I spelt the venue name wrong……
It’s OK. Your name isn’t appearing as the thread author, so nobody knew. At least, not until you were picked out by that pesky red outline to your post.
I listened to Stephen Fry’s radio comedy show from the late 80s the other day and there was a sequence with Barry Cryer that was funny as hell. A female character (possibly Emma Thompson) drinks a magic potion and becomes Barry Cryer. Much funnier than it sounds.
I have that show on my iPod!