Geezers
Old time radio, tv shows and English Music Hall
Lost Goon Show sketch to be performed for first time in 70 years
A lost Goon Show sketch written by revered comedy duo Ray Galton and Alan Simpson will be performed later for the first time in 70 years after being unearthed in a university archive.
The skit was found among a trove of work by the pair, who created hit shows including Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half Hour and are often credited with inventing the British sitcom.
Running on the BBC from 1951 to 1960, the Goon Show featured Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe.
Richard Usher, chair of the Goon Show Preservation Society, said the discovery of the sketch – found amongst a portion of the Galton and Simpson collection owned by the University of York – was “insanely exciting”.
Gary Brannan, keeper of archives and research collections at the University’s Borthwick Institute for Archives, said: “Galton and Simpson invented modern British comedy as we know it, with their wit and humour leaving a profound and lasting imprint on the shows we watch today.
“Real-world or situation comedy simply didn’t exist before them.”
He described The Case of the Missing Two Fingers sketch, which will be performed later at the York Festival of Ideas, as a Shakespearean parody, believed to have been first written by Galton and Simpson just before Hancock’s Half Hour started and the pair became household names.
“They’re just on the edge of their big career moment when here they are writing these Goon Shows, which to me I think are brilliant and are really very funny,” Mr Brannan said. [ . . . ]
Continue at source: Lost Goon Show sketch to be performed for first time in 70 years
Jack Stafford – The King of Eccentric Dance
Jack Stanford (June 26, 1900 – 1968) was an English actor, singer, dancer and mime. He is known for his “eccentric” dance style, which featured unusual versatility, frenetic motion, optical illusions and acrobatic motion. Stanford’s nickname was The Dancing Fool
Falling Behind: The Miseducation of America’s Boys
American boys are falling behind in academics as early as eight years old. It’s a gap that only grows as those boys become men. This special On Point series explores why America’s boys are falling behind in school and what can be done about it.
Episode breakdown
Episode 1. Do we treat boys like malfunctioning girls? Boys are falling behind academically from the earliest ages. What’s happening in elementary schools that’s leading to that — and what would it take to fix it?
Episode 2. Troublemakers There’s a discernible difference in the behavior of boys and girls at elementary school age. Yet expectations about how they behave and perform in the classroom are the same. What are the differences, and how do they shape the years to come for boys and men?
Episode 3. The opportunity gap By every academic metric, Black boys are falling even further behind than white boys. They graduate at lower rates, have lower test scores, higher rates of special education, and are suspended and expelled more often. On Point goes into classrooms that are bucking that trend to find out what they are doing, and what other schools could learn. Hear the episode on April 16.
Episode 4. Where have all the men gone? Today, male teachers make up less than a quarter of the public school teaching force. And while the number of male teachers joining the profession has only been declining over the past few decades, the number of male teachers leaving it has been increasing. What’s driving men away, and what would it take to bring them back? Hear the episode on April 17.
Episode 5. ‘We’re in jail with our emotions’ Teenage boys learn men are supposed to be strong, and vulnerability isn’t strong. Believing that makes it hard to identify when mental health is suffering. On Point takes listeners inside a school that’s created a culture around building strong, emotionally vulnerable men. Hear how those lessons can help teen boys before they enter adulthood. Hear the episode on April 18.Â
How to listen
Radio
- From April 14 to April 18, listen to installments of Falling Behind on your local NPR station during On Point.
- We also air live through our site at 11 a.m. ETÂ here.
- Find more ways to listen to On Point here.
Podcast
- After the show airs, you’ll find the series in On Point’s podcast feed, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Source: Falling Behind: The Miseducation of America’s Boys | On Point