The Essential Spike Milligan

by Spike Milligan

"This, the first posthumous anthology of his work, compiled with the co-operation of his closest circle, provides a comprehensive guide to Milligan's work" -- Book jacket.

Genres: Humor, Poetry, Comedy, Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Ireland

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Terence Alan Patrick Seán Milligan, known as Spike, was a comedian, writer and musician. He was of Irish descent, but spent most of his childhood in India and lived most of his later life in England, moving to Australia after retirement. He is famous for his work in The Goon Show, children's poetry and a series of comical autobiographical novels about his experiences serving in the British Army in WWII. Spike Milligan suffered from bipolar disorder, which led to depression and frequent breakdowns, but he will be remembered as a comic genius. His tombstone reads 'I told you I was ill' in Gaelic.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of The Essential Spike Milligan with a selection of books by Spike together with a trophy, which was an inscribed nicely finished plank of wood with a giant nail set on an angle, as first prize in the inaugural Spike Fest art show as part of the Spike Milligan Comedy Festival held some years ago (2004) at Woy Woy by the Shire Council on the Central Coast.
Spike's quip about Woy Woy being the world's largest above ground cemetery went down a treat with the locals.

Apparently British tourists are delightfully surprised to discover that Woy Woy is an actual place. And a nice place and part of the world it is too. Many a time I've enjoyed fish and chips sitting by the water.
Spike's mother lived at Woy Woy.
I'm wondering, after Brexit, if a few Brits might get the same idea and desire to move to sunnier climes. Actually at present Australia is experiencing severe drought and unprecedented bushfires.
Cheers.

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of my fondness for this is the experience of sharing it with my son, quoting bits to each other, but I hope many of them could raise a smile even in a jaded adult.

It's a wonderful medley of very short poems ("There are holes in the sky where the rain gets in, But they're ever so small, that's why rain is thin.") to longer ones such as On the Ning Nang Nong, and also a couple of bizarre funny stories (several short chapters each): The Bald Twit Lion and the hapless knight, Sir Nobonk.

And the illustrations are a delight as well.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spike Milligan was a British institution - now I will admit that I am not sure how well he is know outside the UK but here his life and career has had a huge impact on comedy. You speak to anyone of a certain generation and the his name will be connected from books to radio to TV and cinema. The man was a creative powerhouse never stopping never failing to create something new. There were many reasons for this from his own personal experiences and adventures (not to mention his own demons) but also the sheer fire in his life. This book (and the compulsive Spike Milligan) are random dives in to the world of Spikes creations, from cartoons to scripts and more.
I will admit that his sense of humour is not for everyones taste but in a world when at times it seems that comedy and humour either follows its own trends or tries to shock as much as make us laugh - Spikes works remind me at least that nothing more than a slightly skewed view of the world has enough material to keep us laughing indefinitely. Though he died in 2002 I think his legacy will live on a very very long time to come.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spike Milligan was a hysterical writer and performer. One gets the impression that he had periods of great depressioin. But like his fellow traveler Peter Sellers, he was brilliant and the humor (or humour) was spot on. "Essential" is a good title for this collection.

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

i didn’t rly care about the script and podcast extracts but i liked some of the short stories and loved the poems

[Laura C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. There were things I really like and which made me laugh. He’s an amazing writer with excellent imagery and metaphor. The war diary excerpts were very interesting and funny as were the letters. Some of the poetry was great too. One goon scene made me chuckle. Lots of the rest though I would read and then instantly forget. Some I also just didn’t get and don’t know if it’s because it’s from a generation or several ago or just not all of it is my thing. Also some problematic shadows of the racist and more misogynistic times of writing

[Tom S · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this Essential compilation material lies somewhere between Dad's Army and Monty Python; too dated now to recommend really, not that funny and the surreal barmy madness of it is better performed on radio or tv than read.

Spike Milligan may be best known and fondly remembered for his Silly Verse for Kids and for his characteristic vulnerability. But he was maybe something of a founder member in the canon of random daftness in English comedy which I think has its highest points through Peter Cook and onto Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in their shows like Shooting Stars and some of Lee Mack's stories in Would I Lie to You.

Like a lot of talented or creative comedians he was also a deeply serious and sensitive person and even suffered mental breakdowns. Some of the way he humourises his experiences serving in WWII, and his correspondence with the writer Robert Graves, are actually the most interesting parts of this book and possibly demonstrate the relationship between incomprehensible pain and nonsensical destruction and that of farcical absurdity.

It's not included here but here's a wonderful poem that shows what a quiet, gentle and thoughtful person he could be.

Emptiness

by Spike Milligan

I've learned mine can't be filled,
only alchemized. Many times
it's become a paragraph or a page.
But usually I've hidden it,
not knowing until too late
how enormous it grows in its dark.
Or how obvious it gets
when I've donned, say, my good
cordovans and my fine tweed vest
and walked into a room with a smile.
I might as well have been a man
with a fez and a faux silver cane.
Better, I know now, to dress it plain,
to say out loud
to some right person
in some right place
that there's something not there
in me, something I can't name.
That some right person
has just lit a fire under the kettle.
She hasn't said a word.
Beneath her blue shawl
she, too, conceals a world.
But she's been amazed
how much I seem to need my emptiness,
amazed I won't let it go.

[Jason Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This career-spanning anthology (Millelany?) includes poems, sketches, stories and excerpts from Spike's novels and war memoirs. It is organised in sections such as Cracking Up and Beaming Down, whose titles bear no obvious connection to the contents. Much of the writing goes for instant and momentary half-chuckles, both trivial and wearing in quantity. The poetry particularly (at least that selected here) is mostly throw-away nonsense, though there are a few more serious efforts that earn their keep.

Similarly, the prose is at its best when some feeling and sense of the man comes through, somewhere in the relentless barrage of wise-cracks. The excerpts from Puckoon suggest something of substance, and those from his war memoirs evoke both the fun and the strain of chaotic events. Near the end is the script for an episode of an ill-fated broad sitcom about multiculturalism: revelling in its political incorrectness, it's perhaps the funniest thing in the book.

Although I was only moderately impressed, Spike did have a facility with language and word-play. It would have been worth reading this entertaining collection just to acquire a few wonderful nuggets like these:

The M.O. gave us all some foul-tasting pills that left you feeling like you'd slept with an Arab's toe in your mouth.

Gad, it's hot... You can grab a handful of air and squeeze the sweat out of it.

And from that sitcom, an exchange in London between Van Gogh (a Pakistani) and Colonel Grope (a bigot):

VAN GOGH: We are told that you feed starving Indians.
COLONEL: Yes, but we don't serve the food here. You have to go to Calcutta, lie on the pavement and hold up one withered arm with a tin.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is basically the literary equivalent of a “best of”, and that made for a surprisingly good read, even though I’d already read half of the stuff that was in here. That’s because it brings together bits from a bunch of different Milligan books, from his war memoirs to his novel, Puckoon.

Because of that, I was able to skip a lot of the stuff that was in here because there was no point in me re-reading it, and so I was able to whizz through it super quickly simply by skipping what I’d already read. Of course, the same wouldn’t hold true for everyone, and in fact a mark against it might be the fact that it has so many random excerpts.

It’s fine to just share poems and stuff, but it seemed a bit weird to share three different random chapters of Puckoon, even though it’s not exactly the most linear of stories to begin with. Then there were the excerpts of his war diaries, which will either not interest you at all or will interest you so much that you might as well read them in full.

I’d still say that it’s quite an accessible little introductory book if you’ve never read any Milligan before, but I’m also not convinced that it’s necessary. His books are pretty short to begin with, and so why bother with an introduction like this when you could instead read one of his war memoirs, one of his poetry collections and another of his books of your choice in the same amount of time it would take to get through this.

Still, I do enjoy Spike Milligan’s stuff, even though I have a complicated relationship with him on account of his occasional casual racism. I think he’s worth reading at least once, and I guess this is one of the best places to start for a more overall view of things.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this paperback when it came out in 2003, Spike Milligan being an inspiration to me and a constant reference in my own absurdist sense of humour, as moulded by my late father’s sense of humour. I read this book with pleasure and nostalgia back then, but, flicking through the pages once more, I find this is not an easy book to read, being snippets of things that all require some familiarity with Spike’s audio work or television work, which I thankfully have. I can hear him and see him perform these lines, and that makes them work. And that makes these snippets very funny indeed, as well as poignant. It must be very difficult for anyone new to Spike’s work to grasp what he was doing. It is true that Spike was very much a humorist for his times as he found absurdity in the mundane and the everyday. The everyday has changed so much, so fast, since the 1950s. Nevertheless, Spike was a cultural giant of the second half of the twentieth century and his influence runs deep to this day. I’ll treasure this book, but probably not read it often.

[FP · Rating 2 out of 5]

El libro es un compilado de escritos de Spike Milligan, específicamente al principio de su carrera. Incluye guiones del Goon Show, poemas, partes de su autobiografía (Adolf Hitler: mi parte en su caída y las secuelas) y sketches varios. El humor en general es bastante bueno, absurdista, ridículo e ingenioso. Lo que encontré malo fue que las selecciones parecían ser algo disímiles entre sí, algunos textos mucho más graciosos que otros. Eso y que las selecciones se pierden un poco al estar divorciadas del texto original. De todos modos, es un buen modo de conocer al cómico irlandés, lo que vale la pena ya que es bastante gracioso.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love Spike, but somehow my interest waned towards the end of the book. Perhaps because I have read/ seen a number of them before from other books I possess of his. A good collection of stories/ poems, though he certainly would be attacked (or even banned) in this current era of 'woke'! I have not read any of the 'Melting Pot' (1983), and based on the extract here, have no intention, as it made me feel a little uncomfortable. I can see why the BBC TV series was cut after the first episode, even for that time.

[Wyktor Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of Milligan's poetry, scripts, and stories.
Everything was seriously enjoyable, except for a script near the end of the book which was highly inappropriate for this day and age: The Melting Pot.
Everything else aged really well.
A must-read for any and all fans of Spike Milligan.
Highly recommended.

[James Traxler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mildly amusing in places.
He does have a lovely turn of phrase/use of words.
And quite an energetic imagination!
Disappointing racial stereotyping towards the end, but then he was from a different era.

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I struggled through this, dipping in and out over a number of weeks.
Spike was a man of his time and the comedy has not aged well. I found a lot of the sketches cringeworthy.
A few of his poems struck chords with me and I'm more inclined to delve further into those.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sone of it made me laugh out loud, some of it was shocking when considered in today's world, but very much of it's time. I have fond recollections of books my dad had - Mrs dighty in her nightie and there are holes in the sky where rain comes in. Sadly neither were included. Spike was a genius

[Ronan Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy god! If anyone is out there, this is the book to read. Very entertaining. MUST HAVE.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spike has been one of my favourite poets since childhood

[Kani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have book for first-timers who are unfamiliar with Spike Milligan. It is vulgar, hilarious, witty, and sad. Just read it!

[Alec Downie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sketches do not really work unless you have imagination enough to insert the burps, clangs, bngs, raspberries and farts on your own.

Other than that a snapshot of utter brilliance!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great compendium. Skim-read for the poetry.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicously bonkers as you'd expect 😂

[Jerry Capote · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still love Spike's way of writing. Still relevant and funny as always!!

[Kathryn Parry · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF

Used to find him funny but don't know if it's how it's written or if he's no longer funny to me.

[Finley Anderton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Spike Milligan. Couldn’t get into this tho.

[Devisha Kumar · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me personally, it wasn't a sustained piece of comedy as the Times suggest. The drama was a little boring. The only writing i liked was the ABC poem which i give 5 stars for but the rest of the poems. Keeping the parlance and years in mind, i'm sure the writer has recieved much adulation from his fans.

[Cathal Kenneally · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comedy genius. They don't make them like him anymore

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spike Milligan was a famous early television personality in England - he was a musician, performer, comedian, script writer and author. He was also a bit of an everyman's everyman on the entertainment circuit. This is a collection of scripts, silly poetry for children, memoirs about his time spent in the Italian theatre in WWII which ultimately led to battle fatigue and the commencement of his real entertainment and comedy career.
I found the WWII memoirs to be completely compelling; some of the poetry and other short stories were very funny ('On the Ning Nang Nong' was my favourite), but the scripts seemed dated because of course the material although original at the time have now been mined for comedy ideas and presentation by many others since. There is a particular generation and audience that they no doubt appeal to. It is for this reason I've only given the collection a 3/5. It should really be about a 3.75though.

[James Specht · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between Flann O'Brien and Mad Magazine (which is not a diss, those are two institutions I have huge fondness for), this collection runs the gamut from silly to serious rage. Collecting Goon show scripts, limericks, children stories, letters to Robert Graves, war memoirs, etc. this is a pretty comprehensive collection and a great introduction to Milligan's work. It is very, very British; a lot of the jokes went over my head or I only got them because I've heard of some of the characters from the Goon Show before. Still, the collection is worth it alone for the excerpts from his novel Puckoon, which is very "At Swim Two Birds" funny.

[Mike Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Spike but this collection is ultimately frustrating.



There's some brilliant pieces in this collection but reading scripts of radio shows isn't very funny and single chapters of his wonderful novels again frustrate the reader - as soon as you become interested in a character or scenario you have to move on.



For someone who doesn't already own a lot of Milligan, this is a good taster or introduction. For established Milligan fans, it is a waste of time.