Sunshine on Putty
The Golden Age of British Comedy from Vic Reeves to The Office
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- 10,99 €
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- 10,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
The definitive history of a golden age in British show-business, Sunshine On Putty is based on hundreds of interviews with the leading comedians of the era, as well as managers, agents, producers, directors, executives and TV personalities.
In the 1990s, British comedy underwent a renaissance – shows like The Fast Show, The Day Today, Shooting Stars, The League of Gentlemen, The Royle Family and The Office were hugely popular with critics and audiences alike. Just as politics, sport, art, literature and religion seemed to move towards light entertainment, the comedy on the nation's televisions not only offered a home to ideas and ideals of community which could no longer find one elsewhere, but also gave us a clearer picture of what was happening to our nation than any other form of artistic endeavour.
From Ricky Gervais' self-destructive love affair with dairy products to Steve Coogan's suicidal overtaking technique; from the secrets of Vic Reeves' woodshed, to the stains on Caroline Aherne's sofa; from Victor Meldrew's prophetic dream to Spike Milligan's final resting place, Ben Thompson reveals the twisted beauty of British comedy’s psyche.
Reviews
'Brilliantly insightful, warmly appreciative, and chock full of observations of the most alarmingly accurate kind … Thanks to the perceptive Mr Thompson, I know now what I’ve been doing wrong all these years.' Jonathan Ross
'If you are passionate about comedy you'll want to read this book.' Time Out
'An awesome compendium'. Arena
'Can't fail to become definitive.' Observer
'A brilliant book'. Jimmy Carr, Radio 4's Loose Ends
'Erudite and funny … Thompson demonstrates both an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject matter and an astonishingly broad frame of reference.' Guardian
About the author
Ben Thompson's comedy career began in the winter of 1986-7, reading a photocopied Ronnie Corbett monologue to an audience of angry students. He never performed again, but later took the opportunity to parade his ignorance of the basic principles of stagecraft in front of a national audience as comedy critic of The Independent On Sunday from 1994-97. He has also written profiles of Britain's best known comedians for The Face, GQ, The Independent, Night & Day and The Saturday Telegraph.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This hefty chronicle brings together an assortment of newspaper articles and magazine pieces by British media critic Thompson spanning the past 14 years. Realizing that digression is the better part of valor, Thompson tosses in many funny footnotes as he writes in a whirlwind of whimsy, circling about his central premise: that modern British comedy found a new direction after the influential Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer launched Vic Reeves Big Night Out in 1990. To trace the evolution of the decade's surreal satires, Thompson did hundreds of interviews with Brit wits, from top comedic talents to producers, directors, executives, managers and agents. Highlighting memorable moments, he probes the creative elements of such shows as The Day Today ("inflate the familiar visual and verbal tics of the TV newsroom into... magnificently grotesque shapes"), the celebrity quiz show Shooting Stars and The Royle Family ("one of the most original pieces of British TV in years"). Full chapters are devoted to Johnny Vegas ("awesome comedic potential"), The Fast Show, Father Ted and the "dysfunctional characters" of The League of Gentlemen. Most of the series and performers Thompson discusses are unfamiliar to American viewers; however, the inclusion of a "Chronological Timeline" is helpful, and fascinating references and comparisons to American sitcoms abound.
