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Goon Show Companion: A History and Goonography
The 'Goon Show Companion' is the ultimate Goon book that no Goonatic should be without. In addition to tracing the history and development of the famous British comic radio show from its beginnings in 1951, it contains a meticulous Goonography, listing every Goon Show with its original transmission date, correct title, announced title (if this was different), and details if of writers, cast and producers. Compiled by Roger Wilmut and with a special memoir by the late Jimmy Grafton, in whose pub the first programs were hatched. 'The Goon Show Companion' is a must for all true fans.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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August 24, 2022
CRITIQUE:
Pre-Historic Sounds and Vision
I remember my school years as a succession of influences and obsessions.
During primary school, I was obsessed by "Scouting for Boys". If I was lucky and saved up some pocket money, I got to see the annual "Gang Show", a variety show staged by scouts. I had always assumed that Gang Shows were based on entertainment provided to the armed forces (particularly the RAF). However, it seems that the influence was the other way around, the common factor being Ralph Reader.
By the time I got to secondary school, the obsessions of my peer group had extended to cricket, Eric Clapton and Monty Python. Soon I would add David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Mott the Hoople, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Elton John, Bob Dylan, surfing, and Cheech and Chong. At university, I became a lifelong fan of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, not forgetting Woody Allen and New York Jewish intellectuals.
I mention this personal pre-history for two reasons. First, the first part of this book is a history of the Goon Show (the second is a "Goonography"). It appears that the background of the Goons owed much to their military service and experience in World War II:
Running Jokes (1) and Sunday Aftergoons
The second reason is a confession on my part: I don't remember ever listening to a Goon Show until my early twenties, when, at university, my friends and I would listen to repeats on ABC Radio, I think, at 1pm on Sunday afternoons. It was only then, that I realised how much my father's and my family's sense of humour was influenced by the Goons: I had been used to Dad exclaiming, like Little Jim, "He's fallen in the water!" (Peter Sellers' son Michael revealed he was the source of the catchphrase, when as a small child he used it to describe people jumping into their swimming pool.)
What my confession is intended to reveal is that I was exposed to Monty Python before I ever consciously heard the Goons. I was most influenced by the Pythons' zaniness and visuals, so I viewed the Goon Show through a Pythonesque lens. There was a temptation to view the Goons as old fashioned (especially because they were primarily radio-fodder), but this temptation soon dissipated. You couldn't help imagining and visualising the Goons your own way. (2) Besides, we never doubted that, without the Goons, there would have been no Monty Python. The Goons broke down the boundaries of British comedy, and constructed something unique, as a foundation for both themselves and others who followed them.
"You Silly Twisted Boy, You"
The history of the Goons is written by two people who knew and worked closely with the Goons: Jimmy Grafton and Roger Wilmut. They had an intimate knowledge of how the Goons and the style of their shows originated.
Especially interesting is the development of the format of an episode from a number of (usually four or five) unrelated sketches (the traditional music hall and variety format) to a single continuous story or plot.
Jimmy Grafton explains Spike Milligan's sense of humour as follows:
"Cease This Spurious Bonhomie!"
When assessing the role of Peter Sellers, Grafton elaborates:
The BBC was always concerned that, "with this type of humour there is always the danger of the cast having more fun than the audience."
Grafton adds, almost by way of proof:
"Thinking Comedy"
Spike Milligan has described the Goon Show as "thinking comedy". It's an oft-repeated comment that the show is "bringing any situation to its illogical conclusion." However, Roger Wilmut argues that "much Goon humour depends on the misuse of logic", for example:
These exchanges are somehow perversely and indubitably logical, except they use logic to create nonsense. Roger Wilmut concludes that their comedy was "rooted firmly in the nonsense of Lewis Carroll, the satire of Aristophanes, the anarchy of the Marx Brothers, the violence of the Hollywood cartoon, and the broad comedy of the English music halls."
You have to wonder whether "Catch-22" or Monty Python's logical witch sketch could have been written without these precedents.
Cover of "The Hoople" designed by Rosław Szaybo
Sound Effects, Catchphrases and Titles
The Goonography is an attempt to complete, correct and rationalise the detail about the individual episodes of the show housed in the BBC archive. It's probably of little interest to anybody but trainspotting Goons fans, but it does provide a useful insight into the naming of individual sketches and episodes, many of which are hilarious or close to catchphrases in their own right.
Roger Wilmut reveals that, "in a sketch in the first series Milligan had propounded the theory that a catchphrase was simply a meaningless remark repeated until the audience was brainwashed into laughing at it." Here are some examples of episode titles that amused me, some of which are linked to in the soundtrack below:
FOOTNOTES:
(1) The Goon Show Running Jokes
(2) The Goons were one of the reasons why a little girl, on being told how wonderful the new-fangled thing called 'television' was, compared to radio, replied "No, the pictures are better." Source
(3) My review/pastiche of "More Goon Show Scripts"
SOUNDTRACK:
Pre-Historic Sounds and Vision
I remember my school years as a succession of influences and obsessions.
During primary school, I was obsessed by "Scouting for Boys". If I was lucky and saved up some pocket money, I got to see the annual "Gang Show", a variety show staged by scouts. I had always assumed that Gang Shows were based on entertainment provided to the armed forces (particularly the RAF). However, it seems that the influence was the other way around, the common factor being Ralph Reader.
By the time I got to secondary school, the obsessions of my peer group had extended to cricket, Eric Clapton and Monty Python. Soon I would add David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Mott the Hoople, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, Elton John, Bob Dylan, surfing, and Cheech and Chong. At university, I became a lifelong fan of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, not forgetting Woody Allen and New York Jewish intellectuals.
I mention this personal pre-history for two reasons. First, the first part of this book is a history of the Goon Show (the second is a "Goonography"). It appears that the background of the Goons owed much to their military service and experience in World War II:
"Harry [Secombe's] first view of Spike [Milligan] was an Eccles-like apparition voicing the query, 'Anybody seen a gun?'"
Running Jokes (1) and Sunday Aftergoons
The second reason is a confession on my part: I don't remember ever listening to a Goon Show until my early twenties, when, at university, my friends and I would listen to repeats on ABC Radio, I think, at 1pm on Sunday afternoons. It was only then, that I realised how much my father's and my family's sense of humour was influenced by the Goons: I had been used to Dad exclaiming, like Little Jim, "He's fallen in the water!" (Peter Sellers' son Michael revealed he was the source of the catchphrase, when as a small child he used it to describe people jumping into their swimming pool.)
What my confession is intended to reveal is that I was exposed to Monty Python before I ever consciously heard the Goons. I was most influenced by the Pythons' zaniness and visuals, so I viewed the Goon Show through a Pythonesque lens. There was a temptation to view the Goons as old fashioned (especially because they were primarily radio-fodder), but this temptation soon dissipated. You couldn't help imagining and visualising the Goons your own way. (2) Besides, we never doubted that, without the Goons, there would have been no Monty Python. The Goons broke down the boundaries of British comedy, and constructed something unique, as a foundation for both themselves and others who followed them.
"You Silly Twisted Boy, You"
The history of the Goons is written by two people who knew and worked closely with the Goons: Jimmy Grafton and Roger Wilmut. They had an intimate knowledge of how the Goons and the style of their shows originated.
Especially interesting is the development of the format of an episode from a number of (usually four or five) unrelated sketches (the traditional music hall and variety format) to a single continuous story or plot.
Jimmy Grafton explains Spike Milligan's sense of humour as follows:
"I have always felt [Spike] looked at the world and denounced it as idiotic, preferring instead to create and live in his own world of idiocy..."
"Eccles, I have always maintained, is the real Milligan; his id or alter ego; a simple, happy soul, content for the world to regard him as an idiot, provided that it does not make too many demands upon him."
"Cease This Spurious Bonhomie!"
When assessing the role of Peter Sellers, Grafton elaborates:
"In common with Spike, Harry and Michael [Bentine], he possessed that sense of the ridiculous, that underlying irreverence, which was the strongest bond between them."
"The Goon Show was frequently in trouble for its lack of respect for the Establishment - or indeed for anybody."
The BBC was always concerned that, "with this type of humour there is always the danger of the cast having more fun than the audience."
Grafton adds, almost by way of proof:
"Many people have enjoyed it, but none more than those (at heart three small boys) who each Sunday, for more than a decade, were let out from the school of life to run amok in the playground of their imagination."
"Thinking Comedy"
Spike Milligan has described the Goon Show as "thinking comedy". It's an oft-repeated comment that the show is "bringing any situation to its illogical conclusion." However, Roger Wilmut argues that "much Goon humour depends on the misuse of logic", for example:
"Major Bloodnok, Intelligence has established that the people attacking us are the enemy."
"Gentleman, do the enemy realise that you have this information?"
"On no, we got 'em fooled, they think we're the enemy."
...
"Have these two seats been taken?"
"No, they're still there."
These exchanges are somehow perversely and indubitably logical, except they use logic to create nonsense. Roger Wilmut concludes that their comedy was "rooted firmly in the nonsense of Lewis Carroll, the satire of Aristophanes, the anarchy of the Marx Brothers, the violence of the Hollywood cartoon, and the broad comedy of the English music halls."
You have to wonder whether "Catch-22" or Monty Python's logical witch sketch could have been written without these precedents.
Cover of "The Hoople" designed by Rosław Szaybo
Sound Effects, Catchphrases and Titles
The Goonography is an attempt to complete, correct and rationalise the detail about the individual episodes of the show housed in the BBC archive. It's probably of little interest to anybody but trainspotting Goons fans, but it does provide a useful insight into the naming of individual sketches and episodes, many of which are hilarious or close to catchphrases in their own right.
Roger Wilmut reveals that, "in a sketch in the first series Milligan had propounded the theory that a catchphrase was simply a meaningless remark repeated until the audience was brainwashed into laughing at it." Here are some examples of episode titles that amused me, some of which are linked to in the soundtrack below:
"The Affair of the Lone Banana"
"The Dreaded Batter-Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill-on-Sea)"
"The Ghastly Experiments of Dr. Hans Eidelburger"
"The Mustard and Cress Shortage"
"Ned's Atomic Dustbin"
"The Silent Bugler"
"Six Charlies in Search of an Author"
"Ten Snowballs that Shook the World"
"The Thing on the Mountain"
"Where Do Socks Come From?"
"Who is Pink Oboe?"
FOOTNOTES:
(1) The Goon Show Running Jokes
(2) The Goons were one of the reasons why a little girl, on being told how wonderful the new-fangled thing called 'television' was, compared to radio, replied "No, the pictures are better." Source
(3) My review/pastiche of "More Goon Show Scripts"
SOUNDTRACK:
Displaying 1 of 1 review