The Utterly Ultimate "My Word!" Collection (A Methuen humour classic) [Paperback]

How do I love this compilation of books?
Let me ...
Shout its praise.
Flout a phrase.
Oh, well. All right. I’ll count the ways: 147.
That’s how many stories make up the complete collection of tales from the “My Word!” panel game devised by Edward J. Mason and Tony Shrayne, and written, brilliantly, by Frank Muir and Denis Norden. There’s something, and oftentimes some several things, to be delighted by in each of the distinct entries that make up “The Utterly Ultimate ‘My Word!’ Collection.”
This tome encompasses the contents of five separate collections of “My Word!” stories:
• “You Can’t Have Your Kayak and Heat It”
• “Upon My Word!”
• “Take My Word For It”
• “Oh, My Word!”
• “You Have My Word”
The point of the game show, if point there had to be, involved a literary quiz in which contestants were encouraged to contrive some astonishing tale leading to an even more astonishing -- sometimes outright blood-curdling -- pun of a famous phrase, title, proverb -- what have you. And what you had when Norden or Muir were done was something familiar that can never again be looked upon in quite the same way.
How to gain strength from the assurance, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” when Denis Norden has explained to us the greater truth, that “Where There’s a Whale, There’s a Y?” How can one chance upon “Many are called, but few are chosen” in the Bible and not recall that Frank Muir has told us that “Many are cold, but few are frozen?” How to listen to Marlene Dietrich’s famous rendition of “See What the Boys in the Back Room Will Have,” without thinking of the way in which Norden arrived at “See What the Bach in the Boys Room Will Have?”
And the references! These two writers employ so many different literary references it is practically enough to send one off on a major reading jag, if only to savor “My Word!” stories over a longer period of time.
Also, there is much history in these pages. Reading “The Utterly Ultimate ‘My Word!’ Collection” is like taking a course on near-term English history, as written by two men who obviously paid it very little attention.
If puns are your thing, or merely outrage you and you like that sort of thing, this collection is the thing for you.
But the puns alone, no matter how pungent they may in some cases be, are not the only source of enjoyment. As the late American singer and songwriter Harry Chapin, who was evidently a better composer than he was a motorist, wrote:
“It’s got to be the going, not the getting there, that’s good.”
Although it’s difficult to know what Harry was driving at, save, perhaps, oncoming traffic, it suggests that the journey must be as sweet as the arrival. That is certainly true of the “My Word!” stories. While part of the fun is determining how Muir or Norden is going to arrive at the punned phrase at the end, comic joys abound within each of the pieces.
Also, and finally, there is sex. A lot of it. One or the other of the writers winds up nude at some point in seemingly half the stories and naked people figure prominently in many others. I defy anyone not to continue reading a work, the first line of which is:
“Full-frontal nudity -- and there’s as catch-penny an opening as you’ll ever see -- has now become accepted by every branch of the theatrical profession, with the possible exception of lady accordion-players.”

I used to listen to the radio show "My Word!" when I was a teenager living in Hong Kong in the early seventies.

The most popular and most talked about part of the show was when Frank Muir and Dennis Norden were asked to make up stories which culminated in an expression that was something close to a well known phrase or proverb.
I remember marvelling at the way that these two extremely clever, and funny, gentlemen managed to derive the expression that they revealed at the end of their stories. I tried to work it out before they arrived at their destination, which was fun, and very occasionally I felt the ecstasy of being right!

Having the privilege of being able to revisit these most enjoyable puzzles by being able to read through a book consisting 147 of them, is just too wonderful to describe. I have read through the book from front to back two or three times. However, it sits on my bookshelves and is frequently brought down so that I may just randomly enjoy a few of these stories at my leisure.

This is a book that you should obtain both for your personal pleasure and to leave lying around your house so that your friends and family can open it at any page and share your enjoyment.

Seemingly out of print - and perhaps another victim of the dumbing down of modern Britain - this is comic wordplay of an advanced order.
Frank Muir and Denis Norden took it in turns to write each chapter - it was originally a radio show - with the sole aim in each case of fitting an aphorism, everyday expression or literary quote (stated at the outset of the chapter) into the punchline of the most absurd, contrived and utterly hilarious stories imaginable. The really funny part was trying to see the punchline coming (even when you knew what it was!)
Read this (if you can still find it) and understand why Muir and Norden were among the funniest writers of their day (and their day lasted several decades). Should be on prescription for depressives everywhere.