Wit

Harry Secombe was favourite of radio millions and had a singing voice that thrilled and captivated the audience

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By Barry Band

Harry Secombe got my vote last week to be the representative act of the 1950s at Blackpool’s Palace Theatre.

Harry (1921-2001) fits the bill because his Palace appearances spanned ten years; three visits on variety bills, 1950-52, and a summer season in 1960, a year before the big Promenade venue closed.

For 50 years the Palace brought more stars to Blackpool than any other; eight acts per week, two shows nightly, changing weekly.

As the Fifties dawned a new generation of artists appeared on Palace bills. Several had emerged as entertainers in the armed forces including Max Bygraves, Dick Emery, Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers – and Harry Secombe.

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Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge To Host Audible Podcast ‘From The Oasthouse’

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Steve Coogan’s comic creation Alan Partridge has landed his own Audible podcast, titled From The Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast.

Steve Coogan’s iconic comic creation Alan Partridge has landed his own Audible podcast, titled From The Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast.

The 18-part series comes out of Coogan’s Baby Cow Productions and will feature the fictional TV and radio presenter offering “audio vignettes” on his life.

The series will drop on Amazon’s audio app Audible on September 3.

“All national treasures have a podcast. With this series, I want to give my fans an intimate view of who I really am,” Partridge said of his new venture.

Monty Python’s 10 Funniest Movie Parodies, Ranked

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Monty Python’s comedy has maintained its impact over the years. But its their movie parodies in particular that stick out.

Widely regarded to stand among the most groundbreaking comics in the history of comedy, Monty Python trafficked in all kinds of humor. The troupe did regular sketches, sketches with a refreshingly absurdist sensibility, sketches with pitch-black comedy, musical numbers, live shows, animated segments, political satire, religious satire, social satire – and movie parodies

The Pythons’ own cinematic offerings were often parodies themselves, with further parodies layered into each scene, while a number of Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketches spoofed classic movies. Across their renowned oeuvre of comedy, the Pythons (each of them being cinephiles) delivered some of the most hysterical movie parodies ever created.

10 Ivan The Terrible, Part I

Prince Herbert, the effeminate prince played by Terry Jones who is pushed into a marriage he doesn’t want by his father in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, is a parody of Prince Vladimir from the movie Ivan the Terrible, Part I.

Both princes are shown to have limited intelligence and share the same terrible haircut. The movie was written and directed by Sergei Eisenstein, a pioneer of montage theory and one of the most revolutionary filmmakers who ever lived.

9 Goldfinger

Although Life of Brian is generally a spoof of religious epics, its opening title sequence takes satirical aim at the James Bond franchise.

The song that plays over the opening credits is a spoof of Shirley Bassey’s theme song from Goldfinger, while the title design itself complements that parody.

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Diane Morgan: ‘It sounds mad that I wrote, directed and star in Mandy. Like I’m Orson Welles’

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The motherland star on being showrunner on her new sitcom, working with famous friends – and being distantly related to Bet Lynch

Bolton-born Diane Morgan, 44, went to acting school, then worked in a chip shop and in telesales before trying standup aged 30. She’s now best known for her deadpan portrayal of dimwit TV pundit Philomena Cunk on Charlie Brooker’s Wipe series and the spin-off Cunk mockumentaries. Morgan also appears in parenting sitcom Motherland and Ricky Gervais’s black comedy After Life. She stars in the forthcoming BBC sitcom Mandy, the first show that she has both written and directed.

What inspired Mandy?
She’s based on a real person. I can’t say who she is but I met her and thought, if I ever get the chance, I’d love to play you. I just started impersonating her around the house, so when I got the opportunity to do this 15-minute comedy pilot for the BBC, I went: “I’m going to do that woman!” Her hair, clothes, voice, everything – it’s all exactly the same. Now they’ve given me a whole series, more fool them. I got Mandy’s entire costume off eBay. This woman was having a clear-out, selling her whole wardrobe, and it was all so Mandy. I bought up the lot. It’s quite a handy technique if you want lots of similar clothes for a character.

The show has a distinctive, daft tone. How did that come about?
Most people nowadays are doing downbeat, naturalistic comedy. I wanted to do something mad and silly. I crave silliness. A bit of pure escapism. It’s turned out much weirder than I imagined. It’s quite visual, like a Viz cartoon, but I’m happy with it. And Mandy by Barry Manilow is the theme song. I didn’t think we’d get the rights. I tried to get Jarvis Cocker to sing it but he never got back to me. I was worried we’d have to use the Westlife version instead, so I’m chuffed we got the original.

Each episode has a surprise guest star. How was working with Shaun Ryder from Happy Mondays?
When I was writing, I’d think: “Ooh, I wonder if we could get such-and-such?” Amazingly, they all said yes. I felt like Morecambe and Wise. I asked myself, if Mandy had an ex-husband, who would it be? Mark E Smith’s died, so it had to be Shaun Ryder. He got to fire two guns for this shootout scene and it was his best day out ever. Shaun was like: “I’m not an actor, I hope I’m not shit”, but he was brilliant.

Morgan as Mandy in her new sitcom.

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