The Marvellous Mrs Maisel

It's the middle of the night so I am a little fuzzy and cannot remember who it was that suggested I watch The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. I have just watched the pilot ep, and am hooked. Maybe it's because my first ever primary school teacher was called Mrs Maisel? Probably not. Maybe it's because the show was created by the mind behind the Gilmore Girls? Possibly. Maybe it's because I clocked that the comic was ripping off Bob Newhart before it became a big plot point? Quite probably - a shared comedy palate is very attractive (aka it feels good to feel smart like that). Anyway, it is beautiful to look at, it made me laugh aloud, and it's great to see a Jew decide to not be a victim. I look forward to the next one. Now I lay me down to sleep.

Showing Iry the Ropes (& Chains)

er, you've got a bit of a thing ...

I asked Iry for the name of an artist she admires. She said "Tracy Emin". Not my cup of tea, but this post is not for me. So here's a bit of Tracy for Iry:

and for me? The source of the title comment, i.e., Rowan Atkinson's sketch when he was the devil welcoming people to hell. It's the original version, so only audio I'm afraid.

Goodnight Jack Ego - Mike Nichols z"l

This was the album I found in my mother's stash of non-classical music when I was about 11. She had seen Nichols & May on Broadway, and bought it as a souvenir. The record was moved to its new home in my bedroom next to my father's Woody Allen, Mort Sahl and Nina Simone albums. There were only four tracks from the show, but I memorised them all, and waited for moments in my life when I might quote them. 1970's England wasn't quite the place, although I had a close shot with the spelling gag … "K as in knife, A as in aardvark, P as in pneumonia, L as in luscious, A as in aardvark again, N as in newel post". However, not knowing what a newel post was, I didn't have enough conviction, and it all went a bit flat.

A couple of years later, visiting our friends Bob & Elizabeth in Hamden CT, I discovered there were 2 more albums:  Examine Doctors and Improvisations to Music. I also discovered that there were no more albums, as the duo went their separate ways after 4 or 5 years.

Now Mike Nichols is dead. When the news broke, most of the online reports referenced the same opus:  The Graduate movie. It may well be his most well-known work. I've even seen it seventeen or eighteen times. I'd love to think, though, that the obituaries might introduce people to the improvisational comedy. It's (mostly) timeless and absolutely humorous even if you don't know what a newel post is.

I'm off to listen to "Disc Jockey" & "Telephone". Here are a few links to the obits. If you only have time to look at one item, the Vanity Fair interview with the duo is excellent.

Who's Afraid of Nichols & May - Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair obit
The Guardian obit
New York Times obit
Telegraph obit
BBC online obit
Daily Mail report
The Independent obit

Telephone - sketch
Mother and Son - sketch
1959 Emmy Awards speech
(from a man who actually won a Grammy, an Oscar, Emmys and Tony awards)
It's Not Nancy - sketch
$65 Dollar funeral - sketch

ok, am going a bit mad here but whatever - here's an 1960 ep of What's My Line that featured N & M. They show up at 16:47. Of course Bennett Cerf guesses who they are.

15/1/5 UPDATE

all the links to the sketches are down - they appear to have been removed due to copyright infringement. The company noted as making the complaint is named as Hamilcar & Icarus. They don't appear when Googled, although I have learned that Hamilcar is apparently a Carthaginian name and a version of it was a given name of Mussolini. Sigh. And then of course there's our old friend Amilcar Hasenfratz.

Apart from the famous Icarus, the only other cultural reference that comes to mind is that the spaceship whence came Charlton Heston in the original Planet of the Apes movie was called Icarus I think.

The What's My Line link, however, is still working as of today.

no no no no no no no no no!

"LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – The Fox network has picked up the pilot "Absolutely Fabulous," a U.S. version of the cult British comedy about a neurotic fashion publicist, Edina, and her best friend, Patsy, an outrageous fashion editor, who drive Eddie's sensible teen daughter, Saffron, up the wall with their wild behavior. Christine Zander wrote the adaptation, which is set in Los Angeles. Zander is executive producing the pilot with Jennifer Saunders, who wrote the original series and starred as Edina."

Why can some people not let a good thing alone? 'Kath and Kim' anyone?

do i dare to insult the pope?

sabine guzzanti, an italian comedian, is being threatened with jail by the public prosecutor in rome for saying naughty things about pope benedict. the times of london reports:

"Giovanni Ferrara, the Rome prosecutor, is invoking the 1929 Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Vatican, which stipulates that an insult to the Pope carries the same penalty as an insult to the Italian President. Prosecution requires authorisation from the Ministry of Justice, for which Mr Ferrara has applied."

responses in italy are mixed, but sabina's father commented:

"Paolo Guzzanti, Ms Guzzanti's father and a centre Right MP, said the move was "a return to the Middle Ages”. "Perhaps my daughter should be submitted to the judgement of God by being made to walk on hot coals," he added"

the cause of free speech never runs smooth. meanwhile, aren't there other things in the world that could do with such energy and attention? o, right, berlusconi (the italian p.m.) is after the catholic vote ...

here is the rest of the article

the engastrimyth

in my new-found fervour (don't ask how many times i have viewed nina conti videos this week) for the art of ventriloquism, i have been trying to find a good book for beginners. the 1904 version of practical ventriloquism by robert ganthony is not available in my local library network. however, i did discover what, according to the grauniad, "the great ken campbell" considers the perfect practice sentence for ventriloquists to be:

"Who dared to put wet fruit bat poo in our dead mummy's bed; was that you, Verity?"