Synchronicity

In between trying to get actual work done, we slipped off to check out the 20% off sale at Half Price Books, as all good bibliophiles must. As usual we found a few things too good to pass up -- especially at that price. As some of you know, I've been on a British comedy kick for some months now -- or should I say a more pronounced kick. I suppose I have been on a British comedy kick since I first saw Monty Python in my early teens (or did hearing the Goon show come first? I cannot remember anymore; maybe Robert does). Anyhow, this summer I have been immersed in reading things like Sunshine on Putty and A Great Silly Grin as well as the scripts in Peter Cook's Tragically I was an Only Twin. Thanks to a certain online auction service, I have also found some terrific (and cheap!) DVDs as well.

On Friday, we watched a recent Ebay purchase, Not Only But Always, the film based on one of the biographies of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. It was pretty good as these things go (condensing anyone's life into 100 minutes is going to leave out a lot). But what a surprise to be looking through the drama section at Half Price the next day, and find a UK edition of Dud and Pete: The Dagenham Dialogues. I just stared at it for a minute -- it just seemed a little too much like a thought made manifest, but it's real enough. How odd, though, that it should make its way to a suburban Texas bookstore at just this time.

I think one the funniest things I heard recently was when Alan Moore was interviewing Brian Eno for Chain Reaction, a Radio 4 show, that Eno said when he and Bowie get together they slip almost unconsciously into Pete and Dud voices. I've found my own inspiration from all this by writing a very silly play. I'll be sure to pass it around when it's done.

"I've got a viper in this box. It's not an asp..."