Clue at the New-castle

Thursday began the trek up to Newcastle upon Tyne for the third recording of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue’s 51st series. It’s the furthest I’ve travelled to see a recording, but it was worth it. Not only did I get to see Rob Brydon hosting, but also got to meet up with several other fans who all post on the Saucy Gibbon site.

After a morning of picnic breakfasts on the train and enormous cake and coffee at the Baltic, it was time to meet up with the other Gibboners outside the theatre, as we’d arranged. I’d already been in to collect my tickets earlier in the day. Eventually all ten of us were gathered and we headed off to find somewhere for something to eat. We found a suitable place just round the corner and squashed round the largest table we could find. Food and drink ordered, we settled down to chatting and introducing ourselves to those of us who didn’t know each other. Massive plates of food arrived to sate our hungry tums, which was all washed down with the longest, and possibly silliest, game of Cheddar Gorge ever played in a Newcastle restaurant.

Then it was time to head back round the corner and into the theatre. We’d all booked separately, so all had seats spread throughout the auditorium. After finding our seats towards the front of the stalls and waving to the others, we settled down for a very amusing show.

At this point I could contrast Rob Brydon’s turn as host with Jack Dee’s, but I feel that would be unfair; not only are they two very different comedians with different styles, but Rob also had the advantage of having hosted the show before (on the final date of the tour last year when Humph was in hospital). I will say that Rob seemed very comfortable in the chair and was very relaxed, laughing away at the jokes and puns. It highlighted how nervous Jack had seemed in Southampton, although that may not be so obvious from the broadcasts.

The guest panellist for the evening was Phill Jupitus, who hasn’t been on the show for a good few years, so it was a welcome return for him. He fitted in perfectly and pitched his performance exactly right for the style of the show, which is much less frantic than his more usual appearances on Buzzcocks or QI.

As usual, I won’t say much about the content of the show before it’s broadcast, apart from to mention a few highlights which shouldn’t spoil anyone’s enjoyment of listening. Top of my list has to be Phill’s Dalek impression which, without the aid of a ring modulator, was almost spot on! Another highlight was the letter writing round – always one of my favourites to watch – which often has Tim and guest suffering with giggles, but this time the normally un-flappable Graeme Garden appeared to be desperately trying not to laugh on several occasions. And speaking of mirth, Phill had somewhat uncontrollable hysterics after Rob delivered a line about Samantha.

After the show it was a speedy exit to the stage door, avoiding the camera crew talking to people for breakfast news. Our rather large group was joined by quite a few others, so by the time everyone came out there was a substantial crowd waiting and it was difficult to get to speak to everyone. Our group managed to surround Phill first, and gave him the sign, as we all follow him on Twitter – he seemed astounded that there were so many of his followers there. Photos and autographs followed. Then I turned and spoke to Colin Sell, as he always seems slightly undervalued at the stage door, despite being an essential part of the team. Next I managed to find Graeme for a little chat. He asked about the sofa (again), which I assured him is still safe [it's sitting in front of me on my desk as I type].

Finally I got to speak to Tim, the others having been whisked away in taxis. He quickly solved the mystery of what had happened in Southampton – it seems he was busy elsewhere being gallant and helpful – but I honestly wasn’t complaining, just being concerned. There were plenty of hugs all round and just time for a group photo with all the Gibboners before he too had to leave.

As none of us wanted the evening to end just yet, the majority of the group had a wander round to find somewhere to have a drink or two. Having found somewhere, we chatted and laughed into the early hours before wearily wending our way to find sleep, until the next time …

New Clue

The invite said ‘wear blue’. Or so it appeared for those on stage. Apart from the rebellious one!

Sunday evening in a wet and windy Southampton, cosseted away from the worst of the weather outside, I sat in the Mayflower Theatre waiting to see the return of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. It’s been over a year since the much-loved and much-missed jazz legend and chairman extraordinaire, Humphrey Lyttelton, died, leaving a gaping void at the heart of the show. Everyone seemed to agree that it should carry on, and after a respectful break it’s back. (It has actually been back for a couple of weeks now, but because of greedy bastards snaffling all the tickets for the first recording to sell at huge profit on eBay, I didn’t get to go to that one)

The show began, as always, with the arrival of Jon Naismith on stage, armed with a plethora of jokes (old and new) with which to warm up the audience. But before the jokes began there was a beautiful and warm tribute to Humph to which the audience responded with a spontaneous round of applause. Jon explained that our chairman for the evening, Jack Dee, had volunteered on the understanding that he wouldn’t be first (that honour fell to Stephen Fry). He was welcomed on stage along with the teams, guest panellist Jeremy Hardy and Colin Sell, Samantha arriving a little later as usual.

And so the recording began.

I won’t say too much about the recordings, to save spoiling the broadcasts for those of you who will be listening. But there was a great selection of rounds, including the return of some much missed old favourites. There was, of course, a round of Mornington Crescent, played with the latest game-playing computer. There was a slight glitch with the laser display board for one of the sound charades when it displayed a slightly different title to the one being acted, which confused a large part of the audience, as well as the teams when there was only a smattering of applause after the correct title was guessed.

And I can’t talk about a recording with Jeremy Hardy on the panel without mentioning singing. I think all the practice must be paying off as he’s become rather good. His one song to the tune of another was in tune right until the final note. And his kazooing was pitch perfect!

After the show it was round to a cold, but thankfully dry, stage door to wait for what seemed like ages before anyone appeared. Jeremy popped out then went back in again. Colin Sell went past with a group of people. Then finally Barry and Graeme appeared, stopped to sign a few things and have a quick chat before heading off. Jack and Jeremy came out not long after and again signed autographs for people before going. But where was Tim? I still don’t know, as eventually everyone grew bored of waiting and the group of fans dwindled away, until it was late and I had to go home without finding out.

Silently laughing

The other night I finally got to see a show that I’ve been wanting to see for years, but kept missing it – Paul Merton’s Silent Clowns.

 Settling down for some good comedy, the rather sparse, but appreciative audience welcomed both Paul Merton and pianist Neil Brand to the stage. Paul introduced the evening, most of which would consist him him telling us about the clips and films he was showing us that evening. You could tell he was enthusiastic about the subject and keen to share these delights with all who were interested, and his love for the films and performers certainly came across.

He began with a couple of scenes from a Snub Pollard film, It’s a Gift, where he plays an inventor who has all of these Wallace and Gromit style gadgets to help prepare his breakfast and get him dressed, as well as a car powered by magnetic force. All very clever stuff.  Then there were a couple of very short French films, one which had a bloke playing the cello and another called Artheme Swallows his Clarinet. For both of these  Neil Brand explained what he was playing through the films to help us understand the demands of improvising the piano accompaniment.  He is amazing in his ability to play music and sound effects as well as help convey the story. We also saw a scene from Chaplin’s The Pawn Shop, and the house-front falling down bit from Keaton’s Steamboat Bill Jr, which was famously copied by The Goodies in their episode The Movies. 

We were shown two full films - Laurel and Hardy’s Liberty and Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances. I thought the Laurel and Hardy was great – I’ve never really seen much of their silent films, so it was good to be able to broaden my film experiences there. Although I will have to say it was both funny and terrifying and at times I was almost having to watch through my fingers because the stunts of them being at the top of a high building were far too realistic and scary. Interestingly Paul Merton was talking to some people at the stage door after the show and saying how Laurel and Hardy were really quite high up when they filmed it, not as high as it looks, but still dangerous if they fell.

I liked Seven Chances, which took up most of the second half. I’ve seen a clip of the bit where he’s on the hillside being chased by ever increasing amounts of before, so I was looking forward to seeing the rest of it. The story is partly taken from a stage play, and at times it does seem rather slow paced. But over all it was still very enjoyable.

After the show it was round to the stage door, as is usual for these things, to get the book signed and have a quick photo. Although I had lots of questions and comments in my head, I didn’t manage to formulate them into sentences to talk to either Paul or Neil, but I did listen to what they were saying to other people and I agree that it’s so much better to appreciate these films by seeing them on a big screen with live music. I want to see some more now!

Dead Again

Doctor Who – Planet of the Dead

[USUAL SPOILER WARNING]

I was looking forward to this the first of the four specials, but as there is such a small amount of new Who being broadcast this year I had made an extra special effort to avoid as many spoilers as I could. So I didn’t watch the trailers, read listings magazines, newspapers and restricted where I read and posted on various forums. So by the time the epsiode was broadcast I knew that it was set in the desert, having been filmed in Dubai, there was a bus which had been damaged on the way there and Michelle Ryan was guest starring. So there was lots I was going to discover.

The story began with Lady Christina de Souza stealing the cup of Athelstan from the international museum, supposedly in London (yes I did get excited at the mention of proper historical people, especially as they are slightly obscure). To escape the police she jumps on a red London bus, which just so happens to also have the Doctor on board. So obviously the bus gets sucked through a wormhole in space whilst being chased down a tunnel (which I recognised as I’ve driven it a few times!). The bus ends up on another planet, having been wrecked by the wormhole – a very clever bit of writing in the damage that was done to the bus in Dubai.

All the adventures set on the planet looked fabulous. The team had done a really good job finding the location in Dubai and dressing it to look very other worldly. You really couldn’t have done as well in Wales! And the creatures were fantastically realised and very scary.

The remainder story revolved around trying to get the bus back to Earth. The Doctor called his old friends at UNIT, who do their usual thing of shoot first, ask questions later (the Brigadier would be proud!) and this also introduced their new scientific adviser, played by Lee Evans. I had forgotten that I had read he was going to be in one of the specials, so it was a surprise when he appeared. But I thought he played the part of Malcolm well, with just the right amount of comedy and seriousness. And he had one of the best lines – naming a measurement ‘Bernard’ after Quatermass. I did enjoy the whole episode and Michelle Ryan’s character would have been good to keep as a longer term companion. But as a single, stand alone episode it worked that she came and went. I do miss the tension, cliffhangers and the build-up in these single specials as opposed to the series, but I suppose there is an arc to them which hasn’t perhaps hooked me enough yet.

And so at the end of the story the bus does return and the wormhole closed, and so the Earth is saved for another day. But not before a fellow bus passenger gives the Doctor a warning about the future …

But we’ll have to wait for the next special to find out what it all means.

Unbelievably Late!

It’s been over a week and I’ve just realised I haven’t written about the final recording of The Unbelievable Truth! Sorry about that – other stuff got in the way, but I’m here now to make amends.

I arrived early (but not so early as some of the others), and was glad to see we were allowed to wait inside this week, as it was spitting with rain outside. The other change to the waiting was one of those velvety ropes to keep the crowd away from the door to the auditorium so that people can use it easily to go in and out. Now we know from being there so often that the door is used a lot before we’re all let in, so will try and keep some space there. But there’s always so many people waiting in such a tiny space by the time we can go in that it’s easy for people to get in the way.

Anyway, as we were waiting we spotted three of the panel arriving – Jeremy Hardy, Fred Macaulay and Will Self, who walked past me and I thought ‘he’s very tall’, but it took C and me a while to remember his name. The missing panellist who had snuck in without us noticing was Jack Dee, which made a pleasant surprise when he was announced on stage. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

While we were waiting I was amused by some of the other girls who have also been to every recording discussing Jon’s introductory spiel and being able to recite several bits of it (see, it’s not just me!), and we were all laughing and joking about being able to do the audience participation exercise without prompting! So we were all in a good mood by the time we were finally let in to the auditorium and took our final front row seats of the series.

And so the show began with the usual introduction and (shock!) a new joke, which was apparently Jeremy Hardy’s, to which he pointed out a slightly better way of telling it once he’d been announced on stage with the rest of the panel.

The two shows that were recorded were good (although not as good as the previous one recorded on Sunday). I did find Will Self was dominating the recording with his long and meandering interruptions, but I’m sure that will be different in the edited broadcast. You’ll have to listen and see.

Overall, from the recordings, it’s going to be a good series. The highlight episode for me is definitely the Sean Lock, Arthur Smith, Miranda Hart, Sue Perkins combination – they seemed to gel better as a group than any of the other panels and really bounced the comedy off one another. The other’s were good and had some lovely moments of genuinely fall-off-the-chair hilarity, but just didn’t have that magic something that this episode had.

I’m still looking forward to listening to them all on Radio 4 at 6.30pm for the next few Mondays though.

And maybe another series next year … ?

A Thought

Why is it that Karl Marx, one of the fathers of socialism, is buried in the only London cemetarywhich charges an entrance fee?

So Unbelievable

Another week, another episode of The Unbelievable Truth being recorded. And again I was there (this is starting to get repetitive!). It was a Sunday this time, so there was plenty of time to get there without having to combat the rush-hour commuters. C and I arrived in plenty of time to join the group of people waiting outside, before the real queue formed behind us. We were let into the foyer promptly at 6pm, as the ticket said, which bade well for the rest of the timings being bang on time.

So the real waiting began.

Normally I would have spent some of thins time seeing if I could spot any potential panellists entering the theatre. This time my surprise had been somewhat spoiled by David Mitchell having posted on Twitter the previous day who the panellists were going to be. Nevertheless, they were all good names and so although I knew who to look out for, I was still excited to see them. First to arrive was Miranda Hart, who snuck through the doors as we were waiting outside. Sue Perkins arrived just as we’d been let in, followed not long after by Arthur Smith, who tried to get in through the wrong door. Finally Sean Lock walked in to complete the set.

We were let into the theatre and took some of the unreserved seats in the front row. I had thought when in the foyer that it seemed more empty than usual, but sitting and looking at the rest of the auditorium confirmed this, as there seemed a lot more empty seats than usual. Not that that was going to stop us enjoying the show – we’d just have to laugh even more than normal.

At 7.30 producer Jon Naismith appeared on stage to begin the introductions. Regular readers of my blog may have noticed that I’ve perhaps been focusing rather too much on this and the ‘genuinely funny joke’, so I’m going to say little apart from it was all good, as always. I will, however, point out that Jon preceded his jokes with a comment on how he was aware that some of us who go to these things regularly may have heard his jokes before (I wonder where he got that idea?), then proceeded to tell both the Doctor and the POW jokes (I still like the Goldfish one best!).

The panel were then introduced on stage, along with David Mitchell and the scorer, Abby. And so the recording began. It was another single recording instead of the two shows like last time. But I really didn’t mind as it was far and away the best, most enjoyable recording of The Unbelievable Truth I’ve been to. It seemed like hours of fun, and I’m glad I don’t have to select which bits make the edit for broadcast.

As usual, I won’t say much about the content, to save spoiling it for those listening later. However, I will say that it began well, with Arthur Smith completely missing the point and spotting lies not truths. He did get the hang of it later. There was quite a bit of ribbing of David Mitchell for not knowing everything, with much comparison to the all-knowing Stephen Fry and QI. As there’s been more than a few mentions of The Unbelievable Truth on QI recently, it seemed a far exchange.

Finally I must mention the buzzer incident – half way through the recording the buzzer stopped making a noise. The panellist’s lights were still lighting up on the box, but with no sound (not very useful for radio!). Very quickly someone leapt on stage to fix it, I think by replacing the box that makes the noise with another one. And so the game was able to continue. I’ve never known anything like that to happen before though.

And so, sadly the evening ended and we all made our way home. I could gladly have watched another show with that panel, but will have to make do with listening to the broadcast of the series which begins this evening.

Oh, and making the fourth and final recording on Thursday!

There is nothing so strange and so unbelievable

Less than a week later, and it was time for another recording of The Unbelievable Truth. Last night’s recording was for two episodes, so began earlier, which meant arriving earlier at the venue. On arrival, a notice on the door said no entry until 5.30pm (which is fair enough, as that’s what it said on the ticket), so I stood behind a couple of other people who were already waiting and watched the queue form behind me.

While I was waiting I did see three out of the four panellists arrive. First was Clive Anderson, who walked past the front of the line of people waiting, smiled and said hello, then went in the front door. Next up I spied through the gap between a pillar and a tree someone wearing a shirt in a very familiar shade of pink, who turned out to be Graeme Garden. He snuck in through the side door. Finally the diminutive figure of Lucy Porter squeezed past the queue, saying excuse me, before reaching the front door.

5,30 came and went and we were still standing outside in the cold. [note to self - take gloves next time!] Finally we were let in to wait in the warm foyer and thaw through. We took up our usual position by the doors to the theatre and settled down to wait. Whilst we were waiting we could see what was happening on stage, as the second set of doors had been left open. Photographs were taken and we watched the panellists take their seats. We took some time trying to identify the mystery fourth panellist from the tiny part of his curly haired head which we could see. We settled (rightly) on it being Chris Addison. We also had a little wave from Clive Anderson, who could obviously see us looking through the window from where he sat.

Eventually we were allowed to go into the theatre, so we chose some very good seats on the front row and waited a bit more. Eventually Jon Naismith, the producer, came on stage and began his introductions. I was a little confused as not only did he not tell us what to do in the event of the theatre catching fire (again!), or that if in any doubt that a remark is funny we should laugh, he then proceeded to tell a different genuinely funny joke from last week! Although he did then follow that one up with a second, being last week’s joke. He introduced the panel and host and the recording was underway.

Again, I won’t say much about the recording, apart from telling you to listen out for the line about how female penguins “put out for rocks”. I also spotted a few truths, including one about the Lunar Society (but then that is  a part of local history I’m very interested in).

After both recordings had finished, we waited around to say hello. However, all of the panellists seemed to have somewhere else they wanted to be as they all headed out of the building as quickly as possible. However, David Mitchell did hang around long enough for me to hear someone trying to persuade him to be in a Big Finish drama (which I thought was a great idea, and probably should have said so at the time).

The Unbelievable Things People Believe

Another year, another set of Unbelievable Truth recordings.

Because the clever people at BBC Audiences seem to be issuing tickets via email now, we didn’t have the problem with them being sent to the wrong address like last year. So C and I arrived promptly for the first of four recordings. Unlike previous years, when the six programmes were recorded in 3 double sessions, there are two dates with only one show being recorded at each. It’ll be interesting to see whether it’s eight completely different panelists between the two single recordings …

But I’m getting ahead of myself, and need to focus on this, the first. As you have to arrive early at these things to get a seat (tickets don’t guarantee one), there’s lots of time spent waiting around. We spotted a couple of faces who we recognised from the recordings last year, as well as Tony Hawks, who walked through to the theatre not long after I arrived. So that was one name on the panel – we wondered who the others might be.

Eventually we were allowed to go into the theatre, and took some very good seats on the front row (as usual). As is also usual, the show didn’t start on time, but eventually Jon Naismith, the producer appeared and began his usual introduction (and no, he hasn’t found a new ‘genuinely funny joke’, before you ask!). He then introduced the panelists, who were Simon Evans, Milton Jones and Johnny Vaughan, as well as Tony who we’d already seen.  After the host, David Mitchell, and the scorer were also seated on stage, the show began.

I won’t post much about the content of the show, to save spoiling it for those of you who want to listen to the broadcast. I did spot at least one truth that no one on the panel got (I know my standing armies!) and spotted a few more that they did. I think I’m getting better at not giving away when I do spot a truth – it’s dangerous sitting on the front row! I was amused by the introduction to Tony Hawks which mentioned his sitcom Morris Minor’s Marvellous Motors, making out that no one remembered it (I do – it also starred Una Stubbs and a pre-Doctor Who Camille Coduri as Morris’ love interest!). I was less amused by one panelist’s habit of insisting he was always right, talking over other people and trying to change the rules for his benefit. Maybe this won’t come across on the broadcast version, so I won’t dwell on it.

Overall it was a good fun evening. I look forward to hearing the broadcast when it arrives. The trailers that were also recorded suggested that the series would begin on 23rd March, so listen out then.

A little slapstick

It seems ages since I’ve been to a Goodies event, so when I heard that Graeme and Tim would be speaking about my favourite TV comedy show at the Slapstick Festival in Bristol I thought I ought to go. However, life intervened slightly and I wasn’t able to make proper arrangements to go. But after some careful planning I discovered that I could make it there and back in the same evening, and the man at the box office assured me that the show would finish in plenty of time for me to catch the last train home. So on Thursday night I sent off for Bristol …

I arrived at the Old Vic theatre in plenty of time and found some friendly faces already waiting. There was plenty of time for chatting before the show started, and by the time we went into the auditorium the place seemed quite full. And so it was with I sat with anticipation waiting for the show to start.

I had no real idea of quite what the format of the show would be, apart from that it would be some sort of discussion with superfan Phill Jupitus. The evening vaguely resembled The Goodies Rule OK Tour from a few years ago, which I did see once or twice(!), so some of the stories were familiar (including Tim’s story of being injured by wires during the filming of Kitten Kong – I’m sure the trandem gets higher each time he tells it!). But having Phill asking questions gave it a different dynamic and so there were quite a few new tales which emerged. The talking was interspersed with clips from various episodes, some of which had featured in the tour show as well as some new to the big screen, like a good part of Goodies Rule – OK? and some of the music items which appear as extras on the LWT DVD.

There was a lot talked about, and I can’t begin to remember it all, although I did come away with the distinct impression the Phill Jupitus seemed a little obsessed with the money aspect of the show – how they would cost jokes, and the running out of money so they did an episode in one room type stuff. They began at the beginning with the three meeting at Cambridge footlights (Graeme’s comment about of ‘bastard’ about the president at the time he auditioned made me laugh well before he explained who it was at the time), before going on through to creating The Goodies, various aspects of the show and other things like the tour and the love they have in Australia. Tim gave a very good plug for the UK fan site, as run by the Giddies, one of whom I could see applauding from the front row. They also spoke about their success outside of the show, including appearing on Top of the Pops with Pans People, the movie that never was, and how the idea of a Goodies Theme Park (or was it a ride within a theme park?) had been discussed.

Sadly I had to leave before the show finished in order to catch the last train home and not be stranded in Bristol. So it was, with a tear in my eye, I crept out of the theatre and away into the rain-drenched streets, leaving the sounds of laughter and merriment behind.