The Goon Show: v. 29 (Radio Collection) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

The Goon Show - Volume 29: I usually listen to the Goons (when I catch them) on BBC Radio 4 extra (formerly Radio 7) but I often don't hear a full episode.So it was a treat to listen to 4 whole episodes.This being Volume 29 I was a bit concerned that these episodes might be less than the best but this was not the case.I enjoyed every minute (almost 2 hours) of the insanity and surreally inspired comedy that is The Goons.I count myself as quite a fan of these original 'Mad Men' but had not previously heard any of the shows on these 2 discs.Spike, Peter and Harry are the Godfathers of this kind of humour - inspiring everyone from the Pythons,the Young Ones, Vic & Bob and the Mighty Boosh.Well worth a listen!

Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe perform four episodes of The Goon Show.

"The Thing on the Mountain" (S8 Ep15 from 6 January 1958). In which Dai the Hair encounters a terrible apparition on Snowdon and it appears that the Mayor of Llandahoi is a Pakistani gentleman. Seagoon steps forward to rid the mountain of the terrible monster but Moriarty and Grytpype-Thynne have other ideas.

"The Collapse of the British Railway Sandwich System" (S4 Ep24 from 8 March 1954, re-recorded on 12 January 1958). Where's the mustard? Where's the cress? Where's the curly bread? Captain Gladys Seagoon investigates to discover that young Timmy Bluebottle (arch criminal and master of the Teddy Tale Junior Disguise Outfit, price two shillings at all good chemists) may be to blame.

"The Great Statue Debate" (S8 Ep26 from 24 March 1958). The leather statue of James the second is to be replaced with a compressed tobacco one of Walter Raleigh. Events are cut short as the MP's are evicted by H Grytpipe-Thynne, landlord of the Houses of Parliament.

"The Silver Doubloons" (S10 Ep5 from 21 January 1960).

I used to listen to The Goon Show quite a lot as a lad. Not, I hesitate to add, during the '50's and '60's but during the 1980's - I suppose it was retro enough to be cool in a geeky sort of way. It's been a while now and, in reacquainting myself, it is been a joy to discover that the comedy is as fresh and funny now as it was then.

The Goons can probably lay claim to the title of progenitors to pretty much all of modern day comedy. The anarchic and surreal style certainly influenced Monty Python and can be detected in more recent offerings such as The Young Ones, Bottom, The Fast Show and League of Gentlemen.

Written largely by that comedy genius Milligan, it is a testament to his abilities as a writer and, with Sellers and Secombe, as performers, that despite being carefully scripted (he believed that the writing workload was a big cause of his mental breakdown) it sounds so organic, free-form and natural. In fact the whole thing sounds like a bunch of mates mostly just having a laugh. However, if you look (listen) carefully, you will actually discover that the humour is, under the surface, very sophisticated indeed; recursive, transcendental and avant-garde with (for the period) ground-breaking use of special effects.

All of the old favourites are here: Seagoon, Eccles & Bluebottle, H. Grytpype-Thynne & Count Jim Moriarty, Henry Crun and his Modern Min and Major Bloodnok. Wallace Greenslade comperes and Max Geldray and Ray Ellington provide musical interludes. If you've never heard The Goons but love quality comedy, this is for you.

BLOODNOK: (About Eccles) He comes here every day for a swim.
SEAGOON: But there's no water here.
ECCLES: Well that's ok - I can't swim. I never had a chance to learn.
SEAGOON: Why not?
ECCLES: Oh, there's no water here. You can't swim without water my man. Who is this idiot?

Another manic collection of Goon humour. Good value, with four episodes. The live recording means that references are sometimse a little lost - it is not always clear what has prompted the audience's laughter.

Theses could be written - no doubt have been - about the place of the Goons in the history of British entertainment. They were a very significant post-war development. Britan's population - especially the men who formed its wartime armed forces - had given heriocally during the war years. But post-war Britain was not a shining and sparkling place. Rationing was still in place, housing was scarce, and there was perhaps little overall regard from Authority for the heroism that had been shown. The Goons had been in the forces, and their humour - the product, really, of Spike Milligan as writer, but realised by all of them - was anti-authoritarian, in an age that was still rather authoritarian. They struck a nerve, and audiences appreciated the whole thing.

References to the Rent Act and one or two other things of the time, mark the social context of the period.

To me, this anarchic humour still works, unlike some other comedy writing from that time. It's interesting, perhaps, that I was playing one of the episodes in the car while giving a lift to a young french couple I know, and the humour immediately caught their attention and intrigued them.

It must be said, too, that Milligan's writing kept the Sound Effects department busy in a way that probably no-one else did at the time!