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Eyeballs: A Double Vision of Delightful Drivel
A collection of the best of Private Eye’s 'Dumb Britain' and 'Commentatorballs' columns edited by Marcus Berkmann and illustrated by Robert Thompson and Penelope Beech.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 22, 2012
About the author
Marcus Berkmann
39 books12 followersMarcus Berkmann was educated at Highgate School and Worcester College in Oxford in the UK. He began his career as a freelance journalist, contributing to computer and gaming magazines such as Your Sinclair. In the 1990s, he had stints as television critic for the Daily Mail and the Sunday Express, and has written a monthly pop music column for The Spectator since 1987.
With his schoolfriend Harry Thompson, Berkmann scripted the BBC Radio comedy Lenin of the Rovers. He came to prominence with his novel Rain Men (1995), which humorously chronicles the formation and adventures of his own cricket-touring team, the Captain Scott Invitation XI.
Berkmann has continued to write newspaper and cricket magazine columns, such as the Last Man In column on the back page of Wisden Cricket Monthly, while producing a number of critically well-received humorous books.
In Brain Men (1999), he applied his sardonic observations to the world of pub quizzes, adopting a similar approach to Fatherhood (2005). In 2005, Berkmann released Zimmer Men, a quasi-sequel to Rain Men describing his transition into middle age with cricket.
Berkmann is also credited as being part of the writing team of the BBC Three comedy show Monkey Dust, and compiler of the Dumb Britain column in Private Eye magazine. In 2009, he set up the quiz company Brain Men with Stephen Arkell and Chris Pollikett.
A Shed of One's Own: Midlife Without the Crisis was serialised by BBC Radio 4 in its Book of the Week slot during 2012. A fan of Star Trek since its first British screening by the BBC in 1969, Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek, aimed at the general reader, was published in March 2016.
With his schoolfriend Harry Thompson, Berkmann scripted the BBC Radio comedy Lenin of the Rovers. He came to prominence with his novel Rain Men (1995), which humorously chronicles the formation and adventures of his own cricket-touring team, the Captain Scott Invitation XI.
Berkmann has continued to write newspaper and cricket magazine columns, such as the Last Man In column on the back page of Wisden Cricket Monthly, while producing a number of critically well-received humorous books.
In Brain Men (1999), he applied his sardonic observations to the world of pub quizzes, adopting a similar approach to Fatherhood (2005). In 2005, Berkmann released Zimmer Men, a quasi-sequel to Rain Men describing his transition into middle age with cricket.
Berkmann is also credited as being part of the writing team of the BBC Three comedy show Monkey Dust, and compiler of the Dumb Britain column in Private Eye magazine. In 2009, he set up the quiz company Brain Men with Stephen Arkell and Chris Pollikett.
A Shed of One's Own: Midlife Without the Crisis was serialised by BBC Radio 4 in its Book of the Week slot during 2012. A fan of Star Trek since its first British screening by the BBC in 1969, Set Phasers to Stun: 50 Years of Star Trek, aimed at the general reader, was published in March 2016.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 6, 2024
A double sided book, bit of a rarity these days. One side is a collection of Colemanballs. Slip of the tongues and gaffs from commentators, mainly but not exclusively from the world of sport.
Flip it over and you have a collection of Dumb Britain. A compilation of bad and daft answers from a variety of quiz shows.
Both are regular features in Private Eye magazine so appear under their masthead. It's a fun, slight collection but makes an excellent toilet book. One for dipping in and out of rather than reading all at once.
Flip it over and you have a collection of Dumb Britain. A compilation of bad and daft answers from a variety of quiz shows.
Both are regular features in Private Eye magazine so appear under their masthead. It's a fun, slight collection but makes an excellent toilet book. One for dipping in and out of rather than reading all at once.
May 8, 2016
Great stuff to read in small snatches, as it is potent stuff indeed.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews