Life moves pretty fast

Yesterday I was one of many “froody” people around the world who were participating in Towel Day. This event honours the life of the late, great writer Douglas Adams. This wonderfully eccentric little commemoration is a celebration of the life of someone who has had a great and fun influence on many lives, including my own. Therefore on this day, fans of his work carry a towel with them all day, wherever they go, in his honour!

This is based on a theme in his most famous work, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, where it states, amongst many points on the usefulness of a towel, that “any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.”! (For further information see Towel.org, the Facebook group or Fandom page – or of course just ask the Guide!).  

I have mentioned in a previous post that the first time I read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy it had a profound effect on me. It was the summer between Year seven and eight and I took the four books of the trilogy(!), (there is now a fifth!), home as my summer reading from the school library. Within its pages, I discovered bizarre characters that I had never imagined and everything from aliens whose poetry could be deadly, to the musings of a sperm whale and bowl of petunias as they fell to their doom over an alien planet! Like many, I fell in love with poor old Marvin the depressed and paranoid android and discovered that the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42!

From that time on, the Guide became a cornerstone of my identity and my sense of humour. Thus yesterday, on a trip to Lords Cricket Ground, ironically an important location for both the story of the Guide and the home of Douglas’ favourite sport, I was proud to have with me my towel and my Kindle, which like the Guide, has the words “Don’t Panic!” on the front in nice, friendly letters.

This day, where sadly Middlesex lost to London rivals Surrey but conversely, I had a fun time with my Cousin-in-Law drinking beer and chatting about the world, led me to think about that cornerstone. Why I have adopted these stories, among so many others, as an indelible part of my identity? Did they appeal to my sense of humour, or did they shape it?

It is a well-known fact, as described by highly successful comedians like Bob Monkhouse and Jimmy Carr, one thing that is never humorous is trying to analyse comedy! It literally takes the fun out of funny! Thus, I am not going to attempt to say why I find the things funny that I do. I know I like silliness and that I think the best humour takes intelligence to compile and perform. Being in the live audience also helps. I remember being in pain from laughing watching Avenue Q and seeing Tommy Tiernan at a comedy festival. My Dad often recalled similar feelings seeing Tommy Cooper, who had the crowd in stitches before he even got to the stage after doing a bit about not being able to get out of his dressing room. But generally, I shall leave that thread alone.

However, I can list some of the shows and performers that I do find funny and have influenced me as I think they make up the picture of what is the jigsaw of my sense of humour. In no particular order these include Douglas Adams of course, Grant and Naylor’s Red Dwarf, Eddie Izzard, Alan Davies, Monty Python, the Two Ronnies, The Young Ones and Bottom, Billy Connelly, Blackadder, Dara O’Brien, Fry and Laurie, Bill Bailey, Sean Lock, Dad’s Army, Pegg and Frost, Naked Gun and American shows like The Muppet Show, Friends, Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory, 60’s classics with Terry Thomas – Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines and Monty Carlo or Bust, and the Carry-On movies! What a mix!

That last one got me thinking of the incredible character that is another major influence of mine, Kenneth Williams. I am probably quite unusual for someone of my generation in that my sister and I were introduced to some of the great comedy radio shows from my parents’ era – specifically I am thinking of The Navy Lark, Beyond Our Ken and Barry Took and Marty Feldman’s Round the Horne, which made Kenneth Williams a household name even before the Carry-On movies. My Dad had many cassettes of these shows and I listened to them constantly in my teens. The silly voices and over-elaborate characters performed with such dexterity make me smile to this day just thinking about them and often still come up in conversations with my sister. They sit these days in my Audible collection ready to be dipped into at any time for a good chuckle.

Consequently, one of the important mediums for me in my comedy journey has been radio. A tradition that continues to this day. Following the Kenneth Williams thread led me to several Radio 4 shows, not least, Just A Minute, that he was a staple on, and then to I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. Two shows that have been running for over 50 years which I think says a lot about their quality.

In fact, I can say that discovering I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue in the past few years has helped me deal with grief. It was the first thing that truly made me laugh out loud after Jen passed away. Laughing when such things are going on becomes so foreign so quickly that when it does return and those endorphins flood through you, it almost shocking how much your body responds to it. It’s like the biggest caffeine hit of your life combined with the deepest of sighs as your body relaxes. As a result, I have been to three of their live shows in the past year or so and loved every minute of it. Jack Dee is a fantastic host. Laughter can be the best medicine sometimes.

I must also recognise just how much I have learned from all these different comedic sources. One of my favourite quotes is from one of the godfathers of science fiction, Isaac Asimov, “Jokes of the proper kind, properly told, can do more to enlighten questions of politics, philosophy, and literature than any number of dull arguments.”. I would extend this point to science and history as well and therefore, this week also saw me head to the BBC for the recording of another radio show, Physics Professor Brian Cox and comedian and writer Robin Ince’s, The Infinite Monkey Cage. This is the epitome of a show that uses humour to aid the process of learning by combining scientific experts with comedians to discuss a topic. It meant the hour or so conversation on fungi that I attended was both fascinating and enjoyable! The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry and You’re Dead To Me are similar style shows on Radio 4 looking at science and history respectively that fill up my BBC Sounds subscriptions. As a result of all this, I think my lifetime might just be one big episode of QI!

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy began as a radio show that evolved into that original novel that got me hooked but also a tv series, audiobooks and a slightly-controversial-for-the-purist-but-I-liked-it, movie. My morning mindfulness session today challenged me to think about teachers coming into my life in many and often unexpected forms. I think I can safely say that Douglas Adams has been one of my teachers and has helped shape part of my character. A part, it should be said, that I am very proud of and love to indulge and celebrate. Thus, this little tribute to him and all the comedy voices of my life. To Douglas, So Long and Thanks for all the Fish!