With a Ying Tang Iddle and a Needle Nardle Noo, in 1951 the UK's comedians took their first step on the road to the world of satire, surrealism and borderline insanity that was to define the Brit Com and indeed much of the UK's sensibilities and outlook and who else but Spike Malligna (that well known typo) could have lead the way?
The Goon Show is weird. This, I cannot deny. But it is a good weird. OK, so some of the jokes have not aged well, the political references are a little impenetrable as are the music hall references and there are some jokes that border on the offensive by virtue of race or religion being central to the gag. But that aside...
I was born decades after The Goon Show ended. And yet so much has not changed. So much is still the same. The essential Britishness parodied here, and many of its consequences, is still alive and well. Most of the jokes are brilliant, the characters are hilarious and it all hangs together in a web of mad, twisted logic that can, after listening to a few episodes back to back, start to make more sense that life if you are not careful.
Well worth a look anyroad, the Christmas specials set of episodes are a very good starting point, the origin point of much that is British and much that is funny.
Radio It all started here folks.
With a Ying Tang Iddle and a Needle Nardle Noo, in 1951 the UK's comedians took their first step on the road to the world of satire, surrealism and borderline insanity that was to define the Brit Com and indeed much of the UK's sensibilities and outlook and who else but Spike Malligna (that well known typo) could have lead the way?
The Goon Show is weird. This, I cannot deny. But it is a good weird. OK, so some of the jokes have not aged well, the political references are a little impenetrable as are the music hall references and there are some jokes that border on the offensive by virtue of race or religion being central to the gag. But that aside...
I was born decades after The Goon Show ended. And yet so much has not changed. So much is still the same. The essential Britishness parodied here, and many of its consequences, is still alive and well. Most of the jokes are brilliant, the characters are hilarious and it all hangs together in a web of mad, twisted logic that can, after listening to a few episodes back to back, start to make more sense that life if you are not careful.
Well worth a look anyroad, the Christmas specials set of episodes are a very good starting point, the origin point of much that is British and much that is funny.
I falled in the water!
SHUT UP ECCLES!