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Why Bother with Why Bother?

Started by Black_Bart, January 26, 2015, 10:31:51 AM

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Black_Bart

My introduction to Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling came in the form of a dodgy best of comedy type tapes my mum gave to me (the Frog and Peach skit plus a couple of other bit inc the one legged Tarzan bit). I must of been early teens, and grew up on a lot of 60's comedy like ISIRTA, TW3 etc, either through albums (how many here have parents who own a Tom Lehrer LP?) or my mum ripping off jokes from said programmes. The Frog and Peach bit remains one of my favourite bits of comedy.

So, imagine my delight when, in the new year of 94, I heard that Cook was going to give SIr Arthur a comeback, and not only that Chris Morris was going to be involved.

It was like finding out who Neil Young got for his backing band on Mirrorball. Sadly, at the time I had a fairly piss poor radio and Radio 3 never seemed to want to tune in properly, and gave up after a couple of programmes. I never got to hear the repeats, as by then, I was on radio, and didn't have much time for listening to it.

Remember this was the 95, and the BBC only ever put out about 5 hours per week of listenable programming (this might be an exageration, but I was never a fan of the evening session, wow Steve, why are you playing this band? Oh, right, drool drool drool my Payola.

A few years later in 99 they released the cd of the five interviews, and the following year I picked it up for a quid fifty in a charity shop. Seems a TDT fan, or more likely a Brass Eye fan, had bought it and finding it a bit too tame, or subtle had dumped it on the steps with no doubt a load of crappy post John Major brit pop crap.

This is why I love charity shops, and fashion victims who buy whatever is hyped at the time. I went home and popped on the cd, interested to find out what this comedy duet would bring.

I'll be honest, I didn't laugh as hard as I did with the Cook and Moore stuff, but then, that isn't a surprise, I was older, and of course, already aware of the character.

But I was impressed with the interplay between Cook and Morris (or Moore-iss, if you will). Obviously the origional skits were scripted, and played out more or less that way, and that's all fine and good, but the way Morris would come back was great (give as good, as they say, which I think Moore was sometimes a bit too polite to do, tread on his "I'm the talent" friend, tho' he did do a good line in funny looks to the audience, which don't come across on a non visual medium, surprisingly enough).

I compare WB with an old jazz player coming out of retirement to jam with some super hot fusion band, while the Moore stuff would be the old school stuff. Moore= Blue Train, Morris= A Love Supreme, and I'm aware that Moore was a very accomplished Jazz piano player, if you've ever heard The World of Dudley Moore).

That's the first part out of the way, my relationship with said album. Now for part two.

A pal o' mine recently bought the same cd off of Amazon (sorry Admin, before I could tell him to do it via your little consumer window, I'm afraid) for something like £12, and was bitching about it, being a bit samey, and not very long. (btw, I checked Amazon and found that Derek and Clive was also over a tenner, really? DVDs over a tenner, a boxset maybe, but a single DVD?)

Well, as for the length, what can you do? Five shows at (on average) 10mins each, that's that. It's still longer than a Ramones album... Then I wondered, was it the price? £12 is a price I'd never pay for a cd, I recently bought the first Clash LP for £10 on vinyl, and that's me being flush (considering I paid under that for Colloseum 2 lp and two discs of Neil Young Decade, but then maybe that's why I splashed out).

My pal is more of a Morris fan, being younger, that was his reason for buying the cd, it was a Chris Morris Product. I was a Cook fan first (I'm the only person I know, who will admit to seeing Supergirl), and a Morris fan second. I'm not sure how much of a fan of Cook my pal is, tho' I suspect him of being the sort to not wanting to admit that he doesn't really like Cook, but knows that if he said that, he'd get shit from the comedy snobs.

I also suspect he may have bought the cd because it was something his other Morris fan friends didn't have, and he wanted to show off his knowledge of the Lamb Rogan Josh himself.

Now I've met these friends at a few club nights Ive DJ'd at, they are Comedy Snobs of the worst kind. Everything they are into is dictated by a handful of websites, which change every month, as soon as they become "sssoooooooo last month". Nathen Barley springs to mind, but sadly they are unaware of the similarity. I can imagine one of them, being a bit jealous of my pal and dissing Cook (because he certainly can't diss Morris, then he wouldn't be cool, would he?) in that Yoko voice "Oh that, well I would have bought it, but it's some old git, isn't it? You're being a fashion victim..."

It's not like these people actually know that much about Morris, some of them didn't know he was in the IT Crowd, which of course, when they found out, resulted in a chorus of "Yeah well, it's shit, it's got that ugly ginger cunt from Doc Martin, she needs a... insert sad threat of violence against women, which will never actually happen, will it?"


So:

Why Bother? Would you bother? Is it a great Cook album, and an okay Morris album? Or visa versa?

Also, does the price of product effect the enjoyment of said product? You ever feel you've been ripped of by a purchase? Feel free to list the comedy bargins you've picked up and at what price.

I'll start:

Jackie Mason Much ado About Everything. Years before Seth Green, before the Blue Aardvark there was Jackie. £3 (it's a double cd).

DNAYS comp £1 DVD

Max Miller Cheeky Chappy £1.50 vinyl.

Oh, and does anybody want to buy my spare copies of WB and Derek and Clive GTH?

checkoutgirl

Why Bother is great. No point going into the whys and wherefores. I'm sure that's been done before.

I haven't felt ripped off by a CD since I was 15 and used to just buy the odd CD on the strength of the cover and then when I got it home I felt stuck with it and even hated tracks would get 10 listens. Then I became 18 years old and would insist on listening to the CD before buying. Then 2008 happened and I doubt I've bought a single piece of physical material to listen to or watch since. Why Bother? Why Bother paying money for something free on youtube or freely downloadable on mp3?

The best comedy bargain I ever got was when I found an old Billy Connolly cassette tape in a drawer in my house that someone left there. http://www.discogs.com/Billy-Connolly-Billy-Connolly/master/526018
I got good use out of that and it cost me nowt.

That's the best I can do, your post is all over the shop.

Black_Bart

Are you one of these y'utz who have forsaken the physical object. Innt modern technology marvellous?

I'm an old git that still feels a certain emotional connection to records (big collector), I still have records I had as a kid, enough tho I've replaced them with mint versions.

Personally I'm glad he didn't bother listening to it (tho' I doubt that may have stopped him). I traded it with him for a couple of cds I got for a quid, hence the spare copy. It's a bit like currency I guess.

Also I'm a luddite, I think that if you have internet in the house, MI5 will use it to spy on me(!)

checkoutgirl

Paying money for records, DVDs and CDs is an insane indulgence for people with too much money. If I didn't steal stuff on the internet there would be no other way for me to enjoy these things. I'm that poor. I have Technics and have bought 400 records in my time but the credit crunch is still being felt by loads of people. That Billy Connolly cassette was free though so I can't complain.

Kane Jones

Quote from: checkoutgirl on January 26, 2015, 12:05:07 PM
Paying money for records, DVDs and CDs is an insane indulgence for people with too much money. If I didn't steal stuff on the internet there would be no other way for me to enjoy these things. I'm that poor. I have Technics and have bought 400 records in my time but the credit crunch is still being felt by loads of people. That Billy Connolly cassette was free though so I can't complain.

I spend about £100 a month on CDs/records and I'm certainly not rich. I just like owning the physical copy and looking at the artwork and liner notes, etc. 

Oh and Why Bother? is ace.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

The moment Chris laughs uncontrollably at the thought of Arthur dying is so great.


Black_Bart

I generally spend, maybe £50 per month, mostly most charity shops (A certain Mr Hornby fucked up records shops for the working class if you ask me, which some times works out, but sometimes not), which annoys the leafy Comic Relief types who boast about raising £79.43, when I tell them I raised many times that, and got to enjoy some top quality (mostly) entertainment, and then traded it in at the local record shop.

And I've found that people who actually go out to buy the physical copy (with liner notes etc) generally know a lot more about said subject (he said smugly(!)

@checkoutgirl, Technics are over rated and overpriced, but a USB deck from BHF and spend the difference on wax.

Sexton Brackets Drugbust

Why Bother is an embarrassment of riches. It's so densely packed with intensely vibrant comic invention, delivered with an absolutely straight, dry, earnest intonation that many of the ideas can completely pass you by on the first/casual listen. It really demands repeat listens and your concentration to get the full enjoyment.

Two masters of whimsical flights of imagination and a love of playing with language, bringing the best out of each other. It's a well worn analogy, but it really is like a chess game of imagination.

hummingofevil

Quote from: Sexton Brackets Drugbust on February 07, 2015, 01:23:36 PM
Why Bother is an embarrassment of riches. It's so densely packed with intensely vibrant comic invention, delivered with an absolutely straight, dry, earnest intonation that many of the ideas can completely pass you by on the first/casual listen. It really demands repeat listens and your concentration to get the full enjoyment.

Two masters of whimsical flights of imagination and a love of playing with language, bringing the best out of each other. It's a well worn analogy, but it really is like a chess game of imagination.

"Honda"

Black_Bart

"I was trying to test the strength of the eel, and whether its strength would be enhanced by an injection of thyabizalime; which, as you probably know, is a steroid used by Betty Grable in the early days of Hollywood, which gave her those wonderful legs, because she was born with legs only three inches long and her parents were determined to have a world-class film daughter, and through the administration of this drug, and what is called 'tugging' - pulling by the ankles - they managed to get Grable's legs up to the required film star length"

Revelator

From what I remember, Cook and Morris recorded hours upon hours of material--Why Bother? was the iceberg's tip. Given the talent involved, some of those outtakes must be pretty damn good. Enough for a "sequel"?

Skip Bittman

That'd be a great idea. Have some faux-documentary bits with Chris Morris ranting on about Sir Arthur's life if he needed an excuse to do new material to satisfy our desire for more snatches of Peter Cook ramblings.

Revelator

Quote from: Skip Bittman on March 22, 2015, 11:01:24 PM
That'd be a great idea. Have some faux-documentary bits with Chris Morris ranting on about Sir Arthur's life if he needed an excuse to do new material to satisfy our desire for more snatches of Peter Cook ramblings.

I'd buy that in a heartbeat. There has to be some gold in all those hours of outtakes. I don't know if Morris is the type to revisit past projects, but it would be worth his time.

Thomas

A bit of attention for Why Bother? on Radio 4 -

John Finnemore takes great pleasure in introducing a clip of two of his comedy heroes: Peter Cook and Chris Morris

The presence of Finnemore's audience allows for a Why Bother? laugh track, which lends an unusual air.

curiousbritishtelly

Quote from: Shoulders?-Stomach! on January 26, 2015, 04:38:52 PM
The moment Chris laughs uncontrollably at the thought of Arthur dying is so great.

Yep, easily my favourite bit too. I like all of the interviews, though, and it's such a good pairing.

Incidentally, does Why Bother remind anyone else of the Gerard Hoffnung / Charles Richardson interviews? It's a similar setup with surreal overtones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXns4yRUn7k