Victor Lewis-Smith (The Big Thread)

[TJ]

Well, I can't think of a better subject to kick off 'The Big Thread' with than Victor Lewis-Smith. Possibly the most under-appreciated comic of recent times, and it's a shame that he seems to be best known for easily-kickable newspaper columns rather than his startling radio work of the late eighties/early nineties. On a personal level, I don't think I've ever laughed harder or longer than I did at some of the sketches in his Radio 1 show, especially the extended baiting of "That's Life!".

Also, keep an eye on this thread, as we'll be posting up the odd surprise or two sometime soon...

[Ray Le Otter]

I do feel that "Buygones" was possibly the best thing that he's ever done - if only I'd recorded them all! I've still got a 20 minute compilation somewhere...

The pilot of "TV Offal" was far better than the following series IMHO. I'd have to agree that the Radio One "That's Life" hoax call is possibly still one of the funniest thing I've ever heard.

Is it true that VLS posts on POPBITCH though?

[TJ]

I do feel that "Buygones" was possibly the best thing that he's ever done - if only I'd recorded them all! I've still got a 20 minute compilation somewhere...

There were two compilations of the Buygones shorts from Club X, weren't there? They surfaced on UKNova a while back. There was also at least one compilation of Up Your Arts.

The pilot of "TV Offal" was far better than the following series IMHO.

Oh definitely, although I still rate the series itself. Did you ever see the inserts he did for BBC2's TV Hell night? They were in much the same vein, but a lot more concentrated and worked fantastically as a result. "There he is... the cad!".

I'd have to agree that the Radio One "That's Life" hoax call is possibly still one of the funniest thing I've ever heard.

"I *forgive* you?"

Is it true that VLS posts on POPBITCH though?

No idea about that. I'd find it unlikely, though.

[Cack Hen]

Oh definitely, although I still rate the series itself. Did you ever see the inserts he did for BBC2's TV Hell night? They were in much the same vein, but a lot more concentrated and worked fantastically as a result. "There he is... the cad!"..

Yeah, they were fantastic.


Any idea of what he's up to these days?

[TJ]

Here, have this Victor Lewis-Smith Midland Bank advert, dating from around 1989. This is the only one that I have, but I'd imagine he did loads more ads for commercial radio.

[Ray Le Otter]

Yep, the TV Hell stuff was excellent as well.

It still makes laugh thinking about his pronounciation of "Radio Times" (RaddyOttyMees).

[Catalogue Trousers]

Love the guy and his work. Especially Ads Infinitum. That running "I WANT TO BE SIIIIIIIIICK" gag in the second series really got me.

Does anyone have any copies of the Buygones stuff, by the way? I'd dearly love to see that again. PM me if you have. Ta!

[Partridge's Love Child]

May as well post this here, then.

Chef Ramsay wins £75,000 damages

Chef Gordon Ramsay has accepted £75,000 libel damages over a newspaper article claiming scenes in his hit programme Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares were faked.

[...]

The article, written by Victor Lewis-Smith, [...] alleged that Ramsay and production company Optomen were guilty of "gastronomic mendacity" by installing an incompetent chef and fabricating culinary disasters.

[Ignatius_S]

In the early 90's, a friend gave me a (now pretty damaged) tape of VLS'  contributions to Loose Ends. Does anyone know how long he appeared on the show for? Also, from the few bits I've heard, Ned Sherrin didn't seem to like him much whilst VLS was pretty cheeky about Loose Ends and the other contributors - was this the case.

Going back to the '90s again, another friend had a cassette album by VLS which contained various prank telephone calls (including Adrian MIlls/That's Life, Vatican Radio, Harrods' electrical department and offices of an American evangelical preacher) and perhaps songs as well. Could anyone let me know the album's name?

[Purple Tentacle]

Whatever happened to those Inside VLS encodes I did a while back, Teej?

[Catalogue Trousers]

Hmmm. I believe that I have a bootleg CD of that album - can let you know the title when I get home if no one else beats me to it.

Re Loose Ends - I'm lucky enough to have the tie-in book, which contains transcripts of quite a few of  VLS's weekly monologues. He does indeed get pretty cheeky about Sherrin and his fellow contrributors...although I can't scan them, I can transcribe some this evening, if anyone's interested...

[alan strang]

The LP was called 'Tested On Humans for Irritancy'.

I once asked Victor if I could cadge a freebie review copy. He said he didn't have any because "Virgin live up to their name and refuse to give me one..."

[Ignatius_S]

The LP was called 'Tested On Humans for Irritancy'.

Cheers - am I right in thinking that he recorded at least one other album

Re Loose Ends - I'm lucky enough to have the tie-in book, which contains transcripts of quite a few of  VLS's weekly monologues. He does indeed get pretty cheeky about Sherrin and his fellow contrributors...although I can't scan them, I can transcribe some this evening, if anyone's interested...

If you could that would be splendid - I remember VLS calling Craig Charles something like a 'ratfink Cockney Liverpudlian.'

Could anyone enlighten me about VLS early career at the BBC or point me in the direction where I could find out?

[Catalogue Trousers]

Okay Ignatius - I've got a free evening tonight, so I'll sit me down and transcribe some of his pieces. I forget the "ratfink Liverpudlian" bit, but I certainly recall that he frequently lambasts his colleagues as "buckets of goat-phlegm", among other things...

Edited to add:

Courtesy of Wikipedia, there's a nice general overview (with a fair amount of detail) of VLS's career to be found here:

http://www.answers.com/topic/victor-lewis-smith

[TJ]

In the early 90's, a friend gave me a (now pretty damaged) tape of VLS'  contributions to Loose Ends. Does anyone know how long he appeared on the show for?

Sporadically between 1986 (when it started) and 1990, although most of not all of the later appearances were repeats. I think he may also have contributed to an earlier similar show called The Colour Supplement.

Also, from the few bits I've heard, Ned Sherrin didn't seem to like him much whilst VLS was pretty cheeky about Loose Ends and the other contributors - was this the case.

I'm fairly sure those bits were pre-scripted and 'in character'. I could be wrong though.

[TJ]

Whatever happened to those Inside VLS encodes I did a while back, Teej?

I've no idea! Neil was looking after that, I think. Was yours a full set of the original thirty minute edits?

[TJ]

The LP was called 'Tested On Humans for Irritancy'.

Cheers - am I right in thinking that he recorded at least one other album

Yes - Nuisance Calls, which was cassette only and available from Associated Rediffusion. It contained some new material and some that had been cut from the second Radio 1 series.

Could anyone enlighten me about VLS early career at the BBC or point me in the direction where I could find out?

Join the club! As far as I know he started out working for Radio York, where his show was variously called The Snooze Button and One Way Family Favourites, but no recordings of those shows ever seem to have emerged. If anyone has access to back issues of Radio Times covering the Radio York region, maybe they could look up dates etc?

After that he spent a couple of years working as a 'proper' producer on Radio 4, but I wouldn't be surprised if he guested on a fair number of shows around then as well.

[Ignatius_S]

I'm fairly sure those bits were pre-scripted and 'in character'. I could be wrong though.

The reason I asked, one occassion Sherrin said somthing like 'It says here I'm to say' before reading a scripted lead-in for VLS and it was in such a weary tone (as where most of the other lead-ins that I heard) I wondered if there was any geuine animosity.

However, if they used VLS (even if it was as repeats) for such a long time it's logical to assume that Sherrin was in character.

[TJ]

It's out to-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Here are RealVideo encodes of the TV Hell inserts, which have been floating around the web for donkey's years. No idea who did them originally, but thanks anyway:


Credible Credits - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1ZB0OOQZ
Going Logo - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JJBDMQHP
The Secret Life Of TV - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=73VHO4MM

[Purple Tentacle]

Whatever happened to those Inside VLS encodes I did a while back, Teej?

I've no idea! Neil was looking after that, I think. Was yours a full set of the original thirty minute edits?

Yes it was. Neil's PM'd me, he should still have them, if not, I've got them somewhere. They're all encoded and ready to torrent anyway.

[alan strang]

Originally courtesy of Squidy, a very interesting article from the Sunday Correspondent magazine (25 November 1990):

 

[TJ]

That's fantastic! Wasn't there once a story about VLS, as Rees-Bunce, phoning one of the BBC's 'See For Yourself' programmes and berating the controller of Radio 4 for commissioning the soap opera Citizens?

[Gavin]

Pages 66-68 of LOOSE ENDS - THE BOOK.

[TJ]

Ignatius_S, do you have any idea of when the Loose Ends pieces you've got date from, or what their contents are? Bent Halo did a fantastic job in compiling all of the pieces that are currently known to exist as off airs, but there were still many gaps and it'd be interesting to know if any of them could be plugged.

[Catalogue Trousers]

Heh. So "Getting Into Television" is one less that I need to transcribe. Thanks for that, Gavin!

(But please do leave some for me, I'm in a typin' mood...)

[The Mumbler]

The Sunday Correspondent, in its very brief life (1989-90 - indeed it folded not long at all after that excellent article that Squidy captured), also printed quite a few Buygones columns.

[benthalo]

There was a set of around ten packages uploaded to the other place or somewhere similar last year, all in generally better quality than previous versions and with three or four packages which I couldn't immediately identify. Could those be yours, Ignatius_S? I've put together a fairly detailed guide to Loose Ends' first five years with descriptions and music info for the currently missing VLS packages, including revised repeats, but the ones I've just mentioned have left me a bit stumped.

TJ, you're welcome to start uploading the Loose Ends packages which I gave you. They've been held back for two years and we're obviously not going to do anything else with them.

Beloved Aunt linked to my encode of Steve 'More Music' Nage in the Audio Comedy Bonanza thread a few weeks ago.

[TJ]

This should really have gone in the first post, but what the hey...

Basic Lewis-Smith-ography


Radio

One Way Family Favourites/The Snooze Button (Radio York, ???)
The Colour Supplement (Radio 4, 1985?)
Loose Ends (Radio 4, 1986-90)
Steve 'More Music' Nage (Radio 1, 1988)
Victor Lewis-Smith (Radio 1, 1989-92)
The Jonathan Ross Radio Show (Radio 1, 1990)


Television

Club X (Channel 4, 1989)
Buygones/Up Your Arts (Channel 4, 1989)
TV Hell (BBC2, 1992)
Inside Victor Lewis-Smith (BBC2, 1993)
Ads Infinitum (BBC2, 1996-2000)
TV Offal (Channel 4, 1997-98)


Records

Sitting On The Bog (unreleased, 1990?)
Tested On Humans For Irritancy (1991)
Nuisance Calls (1994)


Books

Loose Ends (1988)
Buygones (1989)
Inside The Magic Rectangle (1996)

[benthalo]

Also, Mark Thomas interviewed Smith & Sparks for Radio 5's The Mix.

Are we including Associated Rediffusion productions? Loads of those, but the most obvious addition would be Funny Old World, an adaptation of Victor's Private Eye column, shown very late on C4 in 2001.

If INFAX was working we could point to a lot more, such as the Buygones promotion on Pebble Mill and that still unexplained appearance on Aspects Of The Fringe c.1980.

[TJ]

There was a set of around ten packages uploaded to the other place or somewhere similar last year, all in generally better quality than previous versions and with three or four packages which I couldn't immediately identify. Could those be yours, Ignatius_S? I've put together a fairly detailed guide to Loose Ends' first five years with descriptions and music info for the currently missing VLS packages, including revised repeats, but the ones I've just mentioned have left me a bit stumped.

If anyone else has these, could they possibly upload them? If they don't correspond to the details in your guide then I'm absolutely baffled.

TJ, you're welcome to start uploading the Loose Ends packages which I gave you. They've been held back for two years and we're obviously not going to do anything else with them.

I may release them in the Soulseek room first, as uploading's generally a bit of a hassle-fest for me, but obviously anyone who grabs them from there is welcome to upload them to here.