Tag: comedy

Doctor Who: The Romans

Doctor Who: The Romans

by Donald Cotton (Target, 1987)

Cotton_Doctor Who_The Romans

Without reference to the televised serial, this odd and irreverent epistolary novelisation comes across as something of a fever dream. Even in context, it takes liberties in elevating and expanding upon the plot’s farcical elements. Nonetheless, a funny and uncommonly erudite read.

 

 

Hello, Darlings! The Authorized Biography of Kenny Everett

Hello, Darlings! The Authorized Biography of Kenny Everett

by James Hogg & Robert Sellers (Bantam, 2013)

Hogg_Sellers_Hello Darlings

Kenny Everett once wrote an autobiography; or rather, he didn’t. It was ghost-written by a friend and Kenny didn’t even read it. He wasn’t interested in the past. For those who are, Hogg and Sellers’ comprehensively researched biography is well worth reading.

 

 

The Two Ronnies

The Two Ronnies

(BBC Audiobooks, 1976/2010)

Two Ronnies

Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker were at their witty, rip-roaring, wordy best in this mid-1970s LP collection of Two Ronnies sketches, faux news items and assorted titbits – an uproarious comedy hodgepodge of what should have been said (‘and it’s goodnight from him’).

 

 

The Gun Seller

The Gun Seller

by Hugh Laurie (Heinemann, 1996)

Laurie_The Gun Seller

Hugh Laurie is a funny man, and his only novel to date — a cynical, conversational, fourth-wall-breaking take on the conspiracy/thriller genre, submitted pseudonymously to the publisher — is very witty, very British, and a very accomplished romp, boldly self-deprecating where Bourne only bores.

 

All Three Of Us

All Three Of Us

dir. Kheiron (2015)

[subtitled, from the French “Nous trois ou rien”)

Kheiron_All Three Of Us

Hibat, a young Iranian activist, survives the autocratic regime of the shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the religo-political purges of the ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, before finding a new life and purpose in France. A sombre story made uproariously palatable in the telling.

 

Lolly Scramble

Lolly Scramble: A Memoir of Little Consequence

by Tony Martin (Pan, 2005)

Martin_Lolly Scramble

The best comedians are those whose humour derives from perspective. Kiwi turned Aussie Tony Martin is one such person, shunning the celebrity world to glean amusement from his everyday life. (Read aloud, his recounting of an amateur theatre mishap becomes life-threateningly funny.)

 

Monsters vs. Aliens

Monsters vs. Aliens

dir. Conrad Vernon & Rob Letterman (2009)

Vernon_Letterman_Monsters vs Aliens

Monsters vs Aliens is an animated comedy with a surplus of incidental humour but a concomitant deficit of cohesive, character-driven plot. The jokes are funny enough but the heroine’s journey of discovery is no more compelling than a walk to the shops.

 

Despicable Me

Despicable Me

dir. Pierre Coffin & Chris Renaud (2010)

Coffin_Renaud_Despicable Me

Amidst a glut of animated films, Despicable Me is one of the few that remain consistently funny and engaging. Gru, the ingeniously drawn and distinctively voiced (by Steve Carell) Cold War -styled supervillain, is one of the great characters of modern cinema.

 

The Goodies, Series 1

The Goodies, Series 1

by Graeme Garden & Bill Oddie (with Tim Brooke-Taylor) (BBC 1970)

Goodies_Season 1

In 1970 comedy trio the Goodies arrived under their own names, riding a trandem bicycle and pioneering a freeform sitcom where they claimed to do anything, anytime. Exuberant, irreverent, chaotic: Tim, Bill and Graeme soon found themselves (to quote their song) needed.