Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Radio: Comedy Lecture: Hollywood Screams, Radio 4, Tuesday 11-11.30pm
The comedy lecture is an increasingly popular form. No doubt this is because it gives a comedian a theme on which to hang his quips and sketches. It is much easier to maintain audience interest for a half hour or one hour slot for a lecture than for a collection of one liners. The increase may well be down to the number of comic performers taking shows to Edinburgh. Unlike the club circuit where twenty minutes is a big slot performers are now expected to fill over an hour. It is not surprising that so many want a lectern to lean on.
Some comedy lectures are lectures in name only.You don't learn anything even accidentally. In Hollywood Screams on the other hand Michael Roberts clearly knows his stuff. His lecture on the early years of the 'talkies' in the cinema was a mixture of amusing anecdote, facetious asides and some fine impressions. When listening to a comedy lecture I am never confident what to treat as fact and what as comic embellishment but I was left with the strong impression of Michael Roberts mastery of his subject matter. He clearly loves these films.
His impressions of famous film clips were particularly good. So much so that the cynical radio listener such as myself wonders if perhaps some technical trickery is involved. This is of course (if untrue) the greatest possible backhanded compliment to his skills.
I enjoyed this show but I didn't find it moved me or grabbed me the way great comedy can. Perhaps this is due to the lecture form itself. As a comedy lecture this is a good one, it is informative and entertaining. But for myself I felt I could pop in and out of it without bothering about what I missed.
Film buffs should definitely catch this one. For everyone else: listen if it happens to be on.
For this week you can listen again here.
POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE CONTENTS: If you can't cope with this you need to lie down in a darkened room.
YOU’LL LIKE THIS IF YOU LIKE: Anecdotes about films and film stars.
RATING: ***
Some comedy lectures are lectures in name only.You don't learn anything even accidentally. In Hollywood Screams on the other hand Michael Roberts clearly knows his stuff. His lecture on the early years of the 'talkies' in the cinema was a mixture of amusing anecdote, facetious asides and some fine impressions. When listening to a comedy lecture I am never confident what to treat as fact and what as comic embellishment but I was left with the strong impression of Michael Roberts mastery of his subject matter. He clearly loves these films.
His impressions of famous film clips were particularly good. So much so that the cynical radio listener such as myself wonders if perhaps some technical trickery is involved. This is of course (if untrue) the greatest possible backhanded compliment to his skills.
I enjoyed this show but I didn't find it moved me or grabbed me the way great comedy can. Perhaps this is due to the lecture form itself. As a comedy lecture this is a good one, it is informative and entertaining. But for myself I felt I could pop in and out of it without bothering about what I missed.
Film buffs should definitely catch this one. For everyone else: listen if it happens to be on.
For this week you can listen again here.
POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE CONTENTS: If you can't cope with this you need to lie down in a darkened room.
YOU’LL LIKE THIS IF YOU LIKE: Anecdotes about films and film stars.
RATING: ***
