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From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy, 1960 - 1980
Describes the development of stage, radio, television, and film humor in Great Britain and profiles the careers of British comedians
Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 5, 2026
For me there is no better survey of the first two decades of the Oxbridge comedy movement than this book by Roger Wilmut, and whilst it is now over forty years old it should be the starting point for anyone wanting to understand how the likes of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, the Pythons, the Goodies and others of their sizeable circle came to define English-language comedy in the latter years of the Twentieth Century. Taking a (mostly) chronological approach to the subject, discussing and analysing almost all the (British) theatrical, radio and television productions written and/or performed by the relevant comedic talents, Wilmut provides the reader with an excellent initial understanding of his subject, gathering together insights, interviews and illustrations that offers a great starting point for deeper dives once the book has been read. Whilst the narrative ends in 1980 and thus suffers from being inconclusive as to what these major comedic voices achieved since then, the overall substantial nature of Wilmut's book can't be denied.
Wilmut does his best within the confines of the 260+ pages of From Fringe to Flying Circus to speak to the complete and utter history of his chosen comedians, and in the process he also maps the development of British popular culture and social history. His initial reference point is Cambridge's Footlights Club, and within a short time he details the story of 'Beyond the Fringe'. This seminal theatrical revue, incorporating the talents of Cambridge's Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller, and Oxford's Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett, is discussed in great depth, and in the process Wilmut clearly establishes the significance of what the four artists achieved. From hereon all productions are recounted and analysed accordingly.
One of the most important aspects of the book, seen in Wilmut's consideration of all of the work produced by the Oxbridge comedians, is his integration of interviews with the men and women who contributed to these productions. For example, Peter Cook offers a fascinating insight into the older forms of comedy revues that 'Beyond the Fringe' "killed", as well as the links between his work and more conventional dramatic work:
"Cook: 'I loved that revue – it was Old Fashioned Revue, which was eventually killed off by Beyond the Fringe. I found nothing wrong with it. The other main contributor was Harold Pinter – I was very cross at the time because royalties were awarded on the amount of time your contributions took up. Well, Harold Pinter's contributions took up an immense amount of time because he'd written all these pauses into his sketches ... which I called the "pay pause". I eventually submitted a sketch to Michael Codron which consisted almost entirely of significant pauses. But he knew perfectly well what I was up to, and it was rejected. It was an odd combination, Pinter and me – I've always been stuck with this thing that most of my ideas are only worth about five minutes. I love the sketch form.' Pieces of Eight was followed in 1961 by One Over the Eight, again with Cook's contributions based on pieces he had performed at Cambridge. 'By the time I left Cambridge I had acquired an agent, and was a "professional writer"."
Peter Cook is one of the most important voices in From Fringe to Flying Circus, and Wilmut spends plenty of space talking to and about him whilst recounting the so-called satire boom of the early 1960s, or Cook's partnership with Dudley Moore on TV, film and in recordings. There are several hilarious sketches and monologues reproduced in the text, such as the 'One Leg Too Few' routine, as well as 'The Frog and Peach' and a few 'Pete and Dud' dialogues. Wilmut ensures the reader understands how Cook saw himself and his work through citing the late comedian's thoughts:
"In the earlier shows the sketches were either first improvised into a tape recorder by the two of them, and then transcribed; or, if they were written in the normal way, Cook would do most of the work. Cook: 'Gradually Dudley developed far more of a rôle in the writing. I tend to flutter off very quickly, and improvise, and ignore illogicalities – I'd rather get through a whole sketch quickly, and then come back and deal with whatever is wrong. Dudley began, when we had an idea, to examine what was logically incorrect, right at the beginning. I would regard this as pernickety, and he would regard it as logical. So the writing process became slower.'."
As the book tracks the output of the Oxbridge 'mafia' he makes sure to reference some key productions of chosen comedians, and it's pleasing to see forgotten or lost work such as 'The Late Show', 'Twice a Fortnight', 'Broaden Your Mind', 'At Last the 1948 Show' and 'On The Margin' getting meaningful consideration. The radio comedy 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again', which featured the collective work of Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie (latterly 'The Goodies') and Python alumni John Cleese and Graham Chapman (the latter a writer only) gets a full chapter and Wilmut is well disposed to the accomplishments of the program. He also offers a meaningful consideration of John Cleese's comedic persona:
"The writers traded on Cleese's personality. Oddie: 'There were elements about him which were endearingly arrogant ... Like, eventually he refused to come into rehearsal. He had it written into his contract that he didn't have to come to rehearsal.' In fact, Cleese was getting a bit irritated with the amount of time spent sitting about while the musicians rehearsed; he had married the American actress Connie Booth shortly before, and was a little reluctant to be away from home for the entire day every Sunday. In the end the rehearsal time was shortened, without any detriment to the show. Obviously, Cleese's slightly abrasive attitude was a gift to the writers; the version of Othello in the eleventh show of the fourth series is one of many occasions on which Cleese is given a scripted opportunity to harangue the audience."
In the latter chapters of From Fringe to Flying Circus the author develops a comprehensive interpretation of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus', the television phenomenon that arguably serves as the pinnacle of the Oxbridge comedy movement, and I would suggest his analysis of how the Pythons achieved what they did in terms of their comedic methodology is utterly correct:
"In so far as the series has any particular approach, it is to mock the techniques of television. There seems to be something of an obsession with television presentation, and the programmes regularly parody the use of captions and the then current BBC-1 'trade mark' (which shows a revolving globe). The new-found freedom in the sketches led to several techniques which were new in themselves, and for which it is helpful to coin new expressions. The idea of taking a basic premise and reversing it is older than Python – TW3 used it, as did the later satire shows – and this might be called a reversal sketch (for example, 'I was a Heterosexual'); but a particularly Python development of this is to take the format of something like a television quiz programme or discussion – or indeed anything with a strong and recognizable style of presentation – and then empty the content out of it, replacing it with something ludicrous. The most suitable term for this would be a format sketch. Another typically Python technique is to take an idea, and then allow it to get wildly out of hand, so that absurdity builds on absurdity. Idle's material often demonstrates this sort of approach, and much of this sort of writing also arose out of the discussions between the group where ideas could be expanded. The resultant effect suggests, at any rate to a technical mind, the effect obtained by overloading the input to a tape recorder, and thus producing a highly distorted recording in which the original material has become almost unrecognizable; but since the effect is normally produced by successive steps of logical escalation, the result can be labelled an escalation sketch. This, and the Gilliam linking technique, is often coupled with a delight in sheer silliness for its own sake. It was said of The Goon Show that it brought situations to their illogical conclusion; it would be more true of Monty Python's Flying Circus to say that it takes ideas to their logical conclusion, and then beyond that for a considerable way."
Again and again and again throughout From Fringe To Flying Circus Wilmut welds together historical narratives, interviews, sketch scripts and analytical and critical commentary to provide a comprehesive and insightful understanding of the Oxbridge comedy movement. It could be argued that he gets it wrong when he says that Eric Idle was the last of the successful comedians to emerge from the two universities, however one must be considerate of the time when he wrote the book. The provision of numerous illustrations ensures that reading the book is more pleasureable than if it had been a straight academic style survey, and the closing chapter where Wilmut looks into the (then) future is rather curious. By the end of the book one comes away entertained and more learned than might be expected.
All up, From Fringe To Flying Circus is a bible for those of us besotted with the Pythons, Pete and Dud, the Goodies etc. It's a crucially important text for this relatively narrow field of comedy or cultural history and study, and should be on the shelves of anyone who takes the Oxbridge comedians seriously. I will always treasure my own copy of this book and perhaps you'll be lucky enough to get one yourself.
Wilmut does his best within the confines of the 260+ pages of From Fringe to Flying Circus to speak to the complete and utter history of his chosen comedians, and in the process he also maps the development of British popular culture and social history. His initial reference point is Cambridge's Footlights Club, and within a short time he details the story of 'Beyond the Fringe'. This seminal theatrical revue, incorporating the talents of Cambridge's Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller, and Oxford's Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett, is discussed in great depth, and in the process Wilmut clearly establishes the significance of what the four artists achieved. From hereon all productions are recounted and analysed accordingly.
One of the most important aspects of the book, seen in Wilmut's consideration of all of the work produced by the Oxbridge comedians, is his integration of interviews with the men and women who contributed to these productions. For example, Peter Cook offers a fascinating insight into the older forms of comedy revues that 'Beyond the Fringe' "killed", as well as the links between his work and more conventional dramatic work:
"Cook: 'I loved that revue – it was Old Fashioned Revue, which was eventually killed off by Beyond the Fringe. I found nothing wrong with it. The other main contributor was Harold Pinter – I was very cross at the time because royalties were awarded on the amount of time your contributions took up. Well, Harold Pinter's contributions took up an immense amount of time because he'd written all these pauses into his sketches ... which I called the "pay pause". I eventually submitted a sketch to Michael Codron which consisted almost entirely of significant pauses. But he knew perfectly well what I was up to, and it was rejected. It was an odd combination, Pinter and me – I've always been stuck with this thing that most of my ideas are only worth about five minutes. I love the sketch form.' Pieces of Eight was followed in 1961 by One Over the Eight, again with Cook's contributions based on pieces he had performed at Cambridge. 'By the time I left Cambridge I had acquired an agent, and was a "professional writer"."
Peter Cook is one of the most important voices in From Fringe to Flying Circus, and Wilmut spends plenty of space talking to and about him whilst recounting the so-called satire boom of the early 1960s, or Cook's partnership with Dudley Moore on TV, film and in recordings. There are several hilarious sketches and monologues reproduced in the text, such as the 'One Leg Too Few' routine, as well as 'The Frog and Peach' and a few 'Pete and Dud' dialogues. Wilmut ensures the reader understands how Cook saw himself and his work through citing the late comedian's thoughts:
"In the earlier shows the sketches were either first improvised into a tape recorder by the two of them, and then transcribed; or, if they were written in the normal way, Cook would do most of the work. Cook: 'Gradually Dudley developed far more of a rôle in the writing. I tend to flutter off very quickly, and improvise, and ignore illogicalities – I'd rather get through a whole sketch quickly, and then come back and deal with whatever is wrong. Dudley began, when we had an idea, to examine what was logically incorrect, right at the beginning. I would regard this as pernickety, and he would regard it as logical. So the writing process became slower.'."
As the book tracks the output of the Oxbridge 'mafia' he makes sure to reference some key productions of chosen comedians, and it's pleasing to see forgotten or lost work such as 'The Late Show', 'Twice a Fortnight', 'Broaden Your Mind', 'At Last the 1948 Show' and 'On The Margin' getting meaningful consideration. The radio comedy 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again', which featured the collective work of Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie (latterly 'The Goodies') and Python alumni John Cleese and Graham Chapman (the latter a writer only) gets a full chapter and Wilmut is well disposed to the accomplishments of the program. He also offers a meaningful consideration of John Cleese's comedic persona:
"The writers traded on Cleese's personality. Oddie: 'There were elements about him which were endearingly arrogant ... Like, eventually he refused to come into rehearsal. He had it written into his contract that he didn't have to come to rehearsal.' In fact, Cleese was getting a bit irritated with the amount of time spent sitting about while the musicians rehearsed; he had married the American actress Connie Booth shortly before, and was a little reluctant to be away from home for the entire day every Sunday. In the end the rehearsal time was shortened, without any detriment to the show. Obviously, Cleese's slightly abrasive attitude was a gift to the writers; the version of Othello in the eleventh show of the fourth series is one of many occasions on which Cleese is given a scripted opportunity to harangue the audience."
In the latter chapters of From Fringe to Flying Circus the author develops a comprehensive interpretation of 'Monty Python's Flying Circus', the television phenomenon that arguably serves as the pinnacle of the Oxbridge comedy movement, and I would suggest his analysis of how the Pythons achieved what they did in terms of their comedic methodology is utterly correct:
"In so far as the series has any particular approach, it is to mock the techniques of television. There seems to be something of an obsession with television presentation, and the programmes regularly parody the use of captions and the then current BBC-1 'trade mark' (which shows a revolving globe). The new-found freedom in the sketches led to several techniques which were new in themselves, and for which it is helpful to coin new expressions. The idea of taking a basic premise and reversing it is older than Python – TW3 used it, as did the later satire shows – and this might be called a reversal sketch (for example, 'I was a Heterosexual'); but a particularly Python development of this is to take the format of something like a television quiz programme or discussion – or indeed anything with a strong and recognizable style of presentation – and then empty the content out of it, replacing it with something ludicrous. The most suitable term for this would be a format sketch. Another typically Python technique is to take an idea, and then allow it to get wildly out of hand, so that absurdity builds on absurdity. Idle's material often demonstrates this sort of approach, and much of this sort of writing also arose out of the discussions between the group where ideas could be expanded. The resultant effect suggests, at any rate to a technical mind, the effect obtained by overloading the input to a tape recorder, and thus producing a highly distorted recording in which the original material has become almost unrecognizable; but since the effect is normally produced by successive steps of logical escalation, the result can be labelled an escalation sketch. This, and the Gilliam linking technique, is often coupled with a delight in sheer silliness for its own sake. It was said of The Goon Show that it brought situations to their illogical conclusion; it would be more true of Monty Python's Flying Circus to say that it takes ideas to their logical conclusion, and then beyond that for a considerable way."
Again and again and again throughout From Fringe To Flying Circus Wilmut welds together historical narratives, interviews, sketch scripts and analytical and critical commentary to provide a comprehesive and insightful understanding of the Oxbridge comedy movement. It could be argued that he gets it wrong when he says that Eric Idle was the last of the successful comedians to emerge from the two universities, however one must be considerate of the time when he wrote the book. The provision of numerous illustrations ensures that reading the book is more pleasureable than if it had been a straight academic style survey, and the closing chapter where Wilmut looks into the (then) future is rather curious. By the end of the book one comes away entertained and more learned than might be expected.
All up, From Fringe To Flying Circus is a bible for those of us besotted with the Pythons, Pete and Dud, the Goodies etc. It's a crucially important text for this relatively narrow field of comedy or cultural history and study, and should be on the shelves of anyone who takes the Oxbridge comedians seriously. I will always treasure my own copy of this book and perhaps you'll be lucky enough to get one yourself.
November 5, 2024
Goodness gracious, but this book is chock full of information! It's a non-stop parade of names (of people and of TV series), half of which I knew and half of which I've never heard of, with all of it setting me a-whirl trying to keep it all straight in my head. Be prepared for a fascinating but very heavy read -- the print font is TINY, making each and every page a much longer read than you're expecting. In the last chapter, the author suggests where the comedians he's talked about might "go from here". With the gift of hind-sight (the book was written in 1980) it's interesting (and sometimes sobering) to compare his suggestions with where things really went.
One interesting omission, I think: For a book about 1960's and 70's British comedy, Benny Hill is conspicuous in his absence. He's not mentioned once.
One interesting omission, I think: For a book about 1960's and 70's British comedy, Benny Hill is conspicuous in his absence. He's not mentioned once.
November 3, 2026
Look, From Fringe to Flying Circus is a fast, fun, slightly ridiculous ride, and I'm not mad about it. Roger Wilmut throws in car chases, double-crosses, and a villain who's way too charming, and it never pretends to be deep. The ending is predictable, but the ride there is a blast. Great beach read. If you want something that makes you think, keep walking.
February 1, 2018
A brilliant history of the sixties/seventies British comedy boom.
October 30, 2026
From Fringe to Flying Circus: Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy, 1960 - 1980 hits like a wake-up call because Wilmut, Roger shows how quickly freedom disappears when people start outsourcing their critical thinking.
July 1, 2016
Loved this book i purchased in 1980 I think . Having just seen the Secret policeman's ball i was interested to read about the birth of English satire including the Pythons , Goodies , Cook and Moore and other stuff. I still have my copy and it's real beat up due my rereading it so many times .
August 21, 2007
Stumbled upon this in a small book fair while escaping the wind in Howth, and was very, very, VERY thrilled. A score indeed.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews