A Comedy Turn At Highbury Corner

I went up to the new littleWaitrose at Highbury Corner this afternoon. No problems in the shopping and in fact the shop is better than its medium sized sister at Islington, as the gluten-free selection is better and the self-service tills are easier to use.

Catching the 277 bus home, I was treated to one of the funniest comedy drunk acts in quite a few years.  An obese lady, probably about fifty, with hair died a bright purple, was trying to board a bus. The stream of invective would have outshone a navvy, who had just dropped a sledge-hammer on their foot. When I arrived the lady driver of the bus, opened the door and let me in.  she seemed totally unmoved at the invective and smiled widely, when I said thanks for waiting for me.  In the end, the drunk was left on the pavement, still screaming loudly, much to the amusement of passengers.

One of the great advantages of Routemasters and their predecessors, was that the conductor could give a signal for the driver to leave quickly. I’ve actually seen a conductor do this, when a drunk was balanced on the rear platform and then give a small push, to make sure the drunk toppled into the road. Health and safety would stop such extreme measures these days.

I Tend To Live Life in the Wonderful World of my Head, Where Every Day the Sun Shines

The title of this post is from a leader in today’s copy of The Times and it was said by Eric Sykes, who died yesterday. His obituary was also felt by the paper to be worth two pages.

Has there ever been a comedian and scriptwriter, who succeeded so well, against all of the odds?

C and I once saw him in the theatre in the play, Run for your Wife, where he appeared in his eighties, despite being totally deaf and virtually blind. An absolute tour de farce!

Jo Brand Has Trouble in Streatham

According to this report in the Standard, Jo Brand is in trouble with some of the things she said in Streatham.

I don’t think I’ve ever knowingly been to Streatham, as I do know it is south of the river and people born in the north of the city rarely cross the river without either a good reason or adequate precautions and preferably both.

The Mersey Ferries in the 1970s

They’ve just shown the opening clip of the Liver Birds on BBC2, with its picture of the back of the Mersey Ferry, Mountwood, which is still going, but after being renamed Royal Iris of the Mersey.  In three years time, I will have known those boats for sixty years.

Incidentally, I don’t remember much of the first series or two of the Liver Birds, as C and I didn’t have a television until about 1973, although we had seen the odd episode at our parents respective houses. I think the first series we really saw was about 1975, when Elizabeth Estensen joined the show.

Jo Brand Has Had Her House Extraordinarily Rendered

She just said this on HIGNFY.  She also said the builder called it stone cladding.

A Comedian With Cerebral Palsy

BBC Breakfast this morning showed a comedian from Newcastle, with cerebral palsy called Lee Ridley, who works under the name of Lost Voice Guy. If he appears near you, I think he would be worth seeing and not for the curiosity value.

It reminds me of a time in the United States, where there was a blind comedian with a guide dog.  I never saw him, but there is one in New York now called Brian Fischler. In the act I heard of, the dog got into it, by reacting appropriately to some jokes.

 

Dame Edna Retires

It is being reported that Dame Edna Everage is being retired by Barry Humphries.

Some will think it sad, but then we have a lot of audio and video records to keep us rolling in the aisles.

in fact, these days great acts, never really retire because of this.

 

Max Miller

Max Miller, the Cheeky Chappie, has a statue in the Pavilion Gardens.

He really was a comedian with a unique style and if you ever get a chance to listen to one of the recordings made of his act, you should.

Instant Sunshine

Instant Sunshine is not an easyJet flight to Spain or a new breakfast cereal, but a four-piece music and comedy group in the British tradition of Flanders and Swan.  Read their own views on what they are on their web site.

C and I used to listen to them on the radio forty or so years ago.

I went to see them last night at the Rosemary Branch theatre just down the road. The show was worth at least three times the £10 it cost to get in.

If you can catch their stage show then do.

One thought they left me with, was that there is no rhyme for Islington.

A Very Stupid Question

Richard Bacon on BBC Radio 5 Live, has just asked the comedian, Paul Foot , if after his degree in Mathemetics at Oxford, he was planning to be an accountant. Mathematicians would never lower themselves so much to do something as boring as accountancy.

Does this just show how narrow the average interviewer on the media is?