Guest Blog: Craig Deeley on Round The Horne: Resuscitated

“Bold!”

I’m currently in rehearsals to reprise the role of Kenneth Williams, in a performance of Round The Horne: Resuscitated, which I’m also directing, and which is going to take place at Birmingham Comedy Festival on 7^th October. I first became aware of Round The Horne when I heard clips of the camp, jobbing actors Julian and Sandy on a radio comedy show, and I realised then, as a boy of 14 or 15, that this was the man from the Carry Ons. At that age, I was unaware of any of Kenny’s work outside the Carry Ons and when I received a compilation cassette of the Best of Julian and Sandy, I realised I needed to hear more of the show.

I fell in love with Round the Horne the first time I heard a complete show. It had so much going on: catchphrases, strong comic characters, funny songs, spoofs, and most of all, the thing that held it all together: a very funny script.

10 years ago I was lucky enough to play Kenny in Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, a play by Terry Johnson, exploring the semi-true relationship between Williams, Barbara Windsor and Sid James, during the filming of the for films in the title, with all the action taking place in Sid’s Merry Traveller caravan / dressing room. The director of the play, Nick Owen, and co-star Katie Merriman, who played Babs, Carry On fanatics themselves will also be in our RTH revival as Douglas Smith and Betty Marsden. Hugh Paddick will be played by Andrew Smith, with whom I worked on our original revival around 6 years ago, and completing the line-up, as the man himself, Marcus Hendry as Kenneth Horne.

Our show is basically a longer, ‘best-of’ episode, where we try to cram in as many of the popular characters, sections, and catchphrases from across all 4 series. Once we secured the rights to performs, it’s been a real labour of love trawling through so many episodes to scan scripts, transcribe recordings, and create sound effects and music links. Not to mention the fun we’ve had doing read-throughs and rehearsals. We want the audience to feel like they’re present at one of the recordings of the show, and get a sense of the fun the performers had, on and off-script! Although this will be only the second time performed by the troupe in its current incarnation, we’re very proud of the show, and would like to do more, because we know it’s definitely got allies.

Round The Horne: Resuscitated.

The Victoria, 7^th October, 5pm – 6pm.

Admission Free.

Part of Birmingham Comedy Festival

Photo (L-R) Andrew Smith – Hugh Paddick, Craig Deeley – Kenneth Williams, Marcus Hendry – Kenneth Horne, Katie Merriman – Betty Marsden, Nick Owen – Douglas Smith.

I interviewed Craig for the blog back in 2016 and you can read that again here

And you can find out more about the Birmingham Comedy Festival here: http://www.bhamcomfest.co.uk

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Wogan's Radio Fun: Julian and Sandy!

Every Christmas I post a series of special blogs on the run up to the big day. This year I posted a different festive image from the Carry Ons every day up until Christmas Day. In addition to this, I've also found some wonderful old clips to share this festive season.

The wonderful, late great Terry Wogan hosted his famous chat show on the BBC for several years during the 1980s and early 1990s. Those were the days of great guests, intelligent conversation, wit and warmth. Well, most of the time. Until the BBC rather unwisely pulled the plug to make way for the soap Eldorado (remember that?) Terry was the best possible replacement for Parky. 

This Christmas marks thirty years since a very special festive show which celebrated the very best of radio comedy. Terry reunited many classic stars from a bygone era and sadly, for some, it would be the last time we would see them perform. Amongst these big names were several actors with Carry On connections, so over the next few days I'm going to share some great clips from "Wogan's Radio Fun", originally broadcast back in December 1987.

We start today with the brilliant Julian and Sandy from Round the Horne. The camp, outrageous duo got away with all sorts of filth and innuendo when they took to the airwaves back in the mid-1960s and they were of course brought to life by the irreplaceable Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams:

Kenneth recounted the preparation, rehearsal and performance in his extraordinary diaries and although he always held Paddick in huge affection, I'm not sure he really enjoyed the experience!

Stay tuned for more in this series coming up soon!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram

Kenneth Williams in Season!

 

Here's another classic Carry On-tinged Christmas treat. The 1960s and 1970s saw many of our favourite comedy stars release some lighthearted novelty records. The likes of Joan Sims, Bernard Cribbins and Sid James all got in on the act. 

Kenneth was a regular recording artist, after all his vocal gifts were legendary and much sought after on the radio. He made several records capitalising on his classic BBC radio character voices from Round The Horne and the Hancock shows. One of my all time favourites is Rambling Syd Rumpo - some of his nonsense songs crack me up no matter how often I listen to them.

This recording, "Kenneth Williams In Season" sees Kenneth take on four classic Christmas songs, putting is unique comedic spin on them all! The tracks are 'Drop Your Portcullis' and 'Good Queen Wenceslas' on the A Side, and 'Twelve Switched-On Days of Christmas' and 'She Saw Three Ships' on the B Side. The final track is sung by Judie Bryan, with Kenneth doing his bitching and moaning about someone taking over his record!

I've never heard this record before - thank heavens for the internet! Anyway, I hope this recording and Kenneth's joyous vocal talents get you in the festive spirit!

Carry On Singing!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Carry On Blogging Interview: Craig Deeley

 

I recently caught up with the wonderful Craig Deeley to talk about stand up comedy, his involvement in some Carry On-related projects and to ask why he's such a big fan of the Carry On team...

First of all, I'd love to hear how you got into comedy in the first place?

I'd always been into comedy and written stuff, such as sketches, as I grew up. At university I had a show on the university radio station which I used to write silly things for, like a stupid handy-hints segment, an 'our tune' spoof, and listeners' problems. I'd never thought of performing stand-up, mainly because I didn't know how to get into it. Then about 10 years ago I saw an advert for a stand-up comedy course at the Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham. I joined the course, because I was fascinated by what they would teach us. Every week we'd perform a few minutes for the rest of the group, and at the end of the course we did a public performance, which went really well, and so I pursued it.

You are principally a stand up comedian - that always strikes me as an incredibly frightening thing to do! Can you describe what it's like to do?

When it goes well, it's exhilarating, exciting and extremely rewarding. It can be nerve-wracking when you arrive at a venue and have no idea how it's going to go. On the rare occasion that it doesn't go your way on stage, time can seem to stand still; but luckily that doesn't happen often.

How would you describe your style of comedy?

I'd say it's a mix of one-liner jokes and anecdotal observations. Basically me talking about myself!
 
I see from your Twitter page and our interactions on there that you're fond of a good Carry On! Why do you think these films have endured so long?

There's something so special about (the vast majority of) the Carry Ons. They capture a moment in time that we will never have again. There's also the performance of that wonderful troupe of character actors. Each one of them wonderfully weird on and off-screen.

You played Kenneth Williams on stage in a production of Cleo, Camping, Emmannuelle and Dick. Can you tell me a bit more about that experience?

I was a member of the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham, and when it was announced they were doing the play, I made it my mission to be in it. I'd seen the TV version (Cor Blimey!) and just thought it was a dream role. I'd always been able to do a decent impression of Kenny, and I knew that the director was a massive (obsessive) fan and would go over and above a normal director's remit to make it a true Carry On fan's dream. A very good friend of mine was cast as Barbara Windsor, and the role of Sid was played by a man who had only ever seen one film but looked and suonded a lot like Sid, which is a very tough impression to get right. Although I'm nowhere near as slim as Kenneth, I think I pulled it off with my mannerisms, gestures and a trick of the trade to make my nostrils massive. And we got to spend 2 weeks acting in a cutaway caravan which we came to love and were so distressed when it was destroyed at the end of the run.

 

A lot of people have been quite critical of that play for the way it depicts some of our comedy heroes. What's your view on this?

It's clear that some artistic licence has been taken with the timeline and certain characters, and although there are elements of truth in it (eg barbara's affair with Sid), it is made clear that it isn't a 100% factual re-telling. If you take it in this way, it's a really enjoyable play.

You also took part in a revival of the classic BBC Radio comedy series, Round The Horne. It's probably my favourite radio series ever - what was it like to be a part of that production? And out of all the characters in Round The Horne, which is your favourite and why?

I think it has to be Julian and Sandy. They got away with so much in the script, and they are played so beautifully by Hugh Paddick and Kenny. The timing, the delivery, everything is just perfect. I was very lucky to bring Kenny back for a performance of Round the Horne which we put on a few years back; just a handful of us standing in front of microphones, but the shows sold out which is testament to just how popular they still are.

Can you tell me what you are working on at the moment and about any future projects?

As well as stand-up gigs, I'm also a member of Foghorn Unscripted: a longform comedy improv group. We're currently working on new show formats to add to our current repertoire, which includes a made-up murder mystery and a made-up Charles Dickens show. I also want to start work on a project I would like to take to Edinburgh next year. I don't want to say exactly what it is, but there's a Carry On connection.

 

If you could work with any famous comedian (living or dead) who would it be and why?

Victoria Wood, because she was my first comedy influence. Morecambe and Wise. French & Saunders.

Who's your favourite Carry On performer?

I love them all but I would have to say Joan Sims. Her range was incredible.

Finally, I have to ask, what's your all-time favourite Carry On?

It's a toss-up between Camping and Abroad. All the gang together. Love it.


A big thank you to Craig for agreeing to an interview - it was fantabulosa!

You can follow Craig on Twitter here

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

Carry On Radio 4 Extra!

 

I just want to take a moment to blog my praise for the wonderful BBC Radio 4 Extra. I started listening to this fantastic station a couple of years ago and it was my first proper introduction to the glorious Round The Horne.

It is brilliant to have a radio station devoted to airing classic comedy and drama from years gone by. As well as the familiar series, it also regularly turns up forgotten or rarely broadcast gems. Only recently I have discovered two programmes starring my heroine, the late great Joan Sims, that I had never heard of before. So many top, talent actors appear in radio plays and I think radio drama and comedy does bring out the best in them. The vocal talents of the likes of Joan Sims, Kenneth Williams, Liz Fraser and June Whitfield cannot be underestimated.

 

I adored the rest celebration of Kenneth Williams on the 90th anniversary of his birth. Not only did we get to glory in the likes of Just a Minute and Round The Horne, but 4 Extra also shared rarely heard gems such as Diary of A Mad Man and a 1970 recording of Rambling Syd Rumpo in full flight. It was a wonderful way to spend three hours of my weekend!

For those who say radio is a dying medium, I point you in the direction of BBC Radio 4 Extra. It ticks every box - it makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you think. The sheer range of subjects, genres and talents available makes you realise the power of the  wireless. 

 

Long may they continue! 

You can find out more about BBC Radio 4 Extra on their website 

You can follow the station on Twitter: @BBCRadio4Extra

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also on Facebook

 

Celebrating 50 years of Round The Horne

One of my all time favourite radio shows is the classic comedy sketch series Round The Horne. Originally broadcast between 1965 and 1968, the series starred Kenneths Horne and Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Douglas Smith. And now the classic scripts are being revived at the Museum of Comedy for the show's 50th anniversary.

Here are more details about the show from the Museum of Comedy's website:


From 1965 to 1968 there wasn’t a bigger radio programme in Britain than the ground-breaking Round the Horne.  For half an hour every Sunday afternoon, audiences of up to 15 million people would gather around the wireless to listen to Kenneth Horne and his merry crew get up to all sorts of mischief.

With its infamous movie spoofs and hilarious regular characters such as Rambling Sid Rumpo, Charles and Fiona, J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, and Julian and Sandy, Round the Horne was one of the biggest and best radio comedy shows of all time, and still endures today, 50 years on.

So come and take a step back in time to the BBC’s Paris Studios and experience this comedy classic live.

Original scripts by Barry Took and Marty Feldman

Compiled and directed by Tim Astley


“a superb evening’s entertainment and I left the theatre wanting more” – British Theatre Guide


“everyone on stage seems to be having great fun and so does the audience” – Spencer Media


“does a splendid job of recreating this extraordinary show… sterling performances from all” – Do More Mag


“Colin Elmer's Kenneth Williams was hilarious and endearing" - Reading Chronicle

“Jonathan Hansler does a truly remarkable job of emulating Hugh Paddick” – Get West London


“I laughed so much… I was in danger of being led out of the theatre” – Scene One


This sounds like a fantastic show, a great tribute to the original stars and a chance to wallow in some good old fashioned nostalgia. I will definitely be getting along to the Museum of Comedy to check this out for myself. The show is running now and is playing until 12 March.

For more information and tickets, you can visit the Museum of Comedy Website

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also on Facebook

Celebrating 50 Years of Round The Horne

One of my all time favourite radio shows is the classic comedy sketch series Round The Horne. Originally broadcast between 1965 and 1968, the series starred Kenneths Horne and Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Douglas Smith. And now the classic scripts are being revived at the Museum of Comedy for the show's 50th anniversary.

Here are more details about the show from the Museum of Comedy's website:


From 1965 to 1968 there wasn’t a bigger radio programme in Britain than the ground-breaking Round the Horne.  For half an hour every Sunday afternoon, audiences of up to 15 million people would gather around the wireless to listen to Kenneth Horne and his merry crew get up to all sorts of mischief.

With its infamous movie spoofs and hilarious regular characters such as Rambling Sid Rumpo, Charles and Fiona, J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, and Julian and Sandy, Round the Horne was one of the biggest and best radio comedy shows of all time, and still endures today, 50 years on.

So come and take a step back in time to the BBC’s Paris Studios and experience this comedy classic live.

Original scripts by Barry Took and Marty Feldman

Compiled and directed by Tim Astley

“a superb evening’s entertainment and I left the theatre wanting more” – British Theatre Guide

“everyone on stage seems to be having great fun and so does the audience” – Spencer Media

“does a splendid job of recreating this extraordinary show… sterling performances from all” – Do More Mag

“Colin Elmer's Kenneth Williams was hilarious and endearing" - Reading Chronicle

“Jonathan Hansler does a truly remarkable job of emulating Hugh Paddick” – Get West London

“I laughed so much… I was in danger of being led out of the theatre” – Scene One

This sounds like a fantastic show, a great tribute to the original stars and a chance to wallow in some good old fashioned nostalgia. I will definitely be getting along to the Museum of Comedy to check this out for myself. The show is running now and is playing until 12 March.

For more information and tickets, you can visit the Museum of Comedy Website

 

Please click on the link to vote for Carry On Blogging in the UK Blog Awards

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also on Facebook

Whatever Happened To ... Betty Marsden?

Betty Marsden is both an instantly recognisable face and voice to a certain generation of the British public as well as to fans of classic comedy. She rose to fame in the late 1950s as the star of two very popular BBC radio comedy shows - first of all Beyond Our Ken in 1958 and then the follow up series, Round The Horne from 1965 until 1968. 

Such was the popularity of these shows that it is easy to forget that Betty Marsden had a successful career away from the radio microphone. She was undoubtedly a gifted comedienne. She stood her ground against the combined forces of Kenneth Williams and High Paddick to create some wonderful characters in these shows at a time when female performers weren't well represented at all. Who can forget her characters which included Dame Celia Molestrangler, Daphne Whitethigh and Buttercup Gruntfuttock? 

Away from the radio shows, Betty did of course appear in two Carry On films. Her first appearance, as the Mata Hari character in 1961's Carry On Regardless is a fairly brief yet memorable cameo. She stars opposite Kenneth Connor and yet again demonstrates her wonderful vocal abilities, not to mention giving poor Ken a good slap across the chops! Betty returned to Pinewood at the end of the 1960s for another romp with the gang. This time she got a starring role opposite Terry Scott in Carry On Camping. As Harriet Potter, she will forever be remembered for her tandem riding and hyenah-like laugh. Harriet was a truly dreadful character although eventually she did see the light. Betty's scenes in the tent with Terry and Charles Hawtrey were hilarious and must have demanded a certain resilience! 

Sadly Betty didn't return for any further Carry On adventures, so what else did she get up to in her long career?

Betty Marsden was born in Liverpool in February 1919. Sadly the young Betty spent much of her childhood living in near poverty in Somerset before her acting talent was spotted by her music teacher, who eventually became her guardian. Betty trained at the Italia Conti Stage School in London before touring with ENSA during the Second World War. 

Betty made her West End debut in 1935, appearing in the play Closing At Sunrise at the Royalty Theatre. This would begin a long stage career for Marsden, who went on to star in a vast number of plays including twelve years of intimate reviews, starting at the Irving Club and including such hits as After The Show, Airs On A Shoestring and From Here and There. In 1958 she co-starred with colleague Kenneth Williams in the pantomime Cinderella at the London Coliseum. Betty played the Fairy Godmother opposite Tommy Steele, Yana and Jimmy Edwards.

Other theatre work included productions of What The Butler Saw by Joe Orton and On The Brighter Side, starring Stanley Baxter. Betty was due to appear in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Jeeves in 1975, however her character was cut before the opening night. The resulting production was a notorious flop. In 1964, Betty also starred in a comedy play called Everybody Loves Opal which also featured Liz Fraser and Warren Mitchell. Sadly the reviews were awful and the play closed after just four days!

Betty also enjoyed a long career in film. She appeared in films such as Ramsbottom Rides Again (1956);  The Boys (1962); The Wild Affair (1963); The Leather Boys (1964); The Best House In London (1969); Eyewitness (1970); Britannia Hospital (1982) and The Dresser (1983). On television, Betty turned up in all manner of productions. Her first role on the small screen came way back in 1937 in a play called The Rat - she was credited as Beatrice Marsden.

Later roles included parts in The Pickwick Papers (1952); Mostly Maynard (1957); Before The Fringe (1967); Callan (1969); Doctor in Charge (1973); Blakes 7 (1981); French and Saunders (1987); Inspector Morse (1990); The Darling Buds of May (1992) and Maigret (1993). Betty's last screen acting credit saw her teamed up with her old Carry On Regardless co-star Kenneth Connor for an episode of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, starring Jeremy Brett. The episode was broadcast in 1994, Kenneth having sadly passed away in the November of the previous year. 

As a postscript, there is another Carry On connection with Betty. When she decided to leave Round The Horne at the end of 1968, Kenneth's Carry On co-star Joan Sims was drafted in as a replacement. Sadly, Kenneth Horne, who held all these shows together with a masterful  sense of calm, died suddenly in early 1969 and plans for the new series were scrapped. Such a shame Joan never got the chance to join that wonderful team. Joan did team up with Kenneth Williams for a follow up show, Stop Messing About, later in 1969 however this series lacked the magic of Round The Horne and just isn't as funny despite starring two of my very favourite comedy actors.

Betty Marsden was married to an army doctor from Edinburgh, Jimmy Wilson Muggoch, for over three decades. Together they had two children. Muggoch sadly passed away in 1975. Betty continued to act right up until her death. She had moved to the actors' home, Denville Hall in the Spring of 1998. She died at the bar in July of that year, at the age of 79. She had been suffering from heart problems. 

Dilys Laye recounted a story about Betty during the recording of an audio commentary for Carry On Camping. Apparently Betty had always claimed to want to "die with a gin in my hand". I think she probably just about managed that. 

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Oooh What A Beauty!

Today has been rather a grim day all things considered. To cheer us up, here's a bit of Kenneth Williams at his outrageously camp best, singing Oooh What A Beauty, or The Marrow Song as it's sometimes known.

I absolutely adore Kenneth as you all know. I have a particular soft spot for his performances in the classic BBC radio comedy show, Round The Horne. Broadcast between 1965 and 1968, it followed on from the original Beyond Our Ken, featuring the same cast and even more outrageous stories, sketches and songs. It's the kind of series you just don't get any more and I love them all.

So without any further ado, here's Kenneth in typically camp, brash Cockney form:

If that doesn't cheer you up, nothing will!

Carry On!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan 

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Let's Go Round the Horne!

Some classic Kenny for a Friday morning! I love Kenneth's radio performances in Round The Horne. He really was a master of the medium and I still can't believe quite how much they got away with given it was the mid-1960s!

Here, first of all for your delectation is Kenneth giving his all as Rambling Syd Rumpo: 

And if that wasn't enough to get you tittering, here's a bit of my own personal favourites. Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick as the truly outrageous Julian and Sandy. This still makes me laugh today. The use of Polari might be rather lost of modern listeners but I absolutely adore this:

British radio comedy just doesn't get any better than this. Such a shame that the show was brought to an abrupt end by Kenneth Horne's sad death in 1969. It came at a time when Carry On favourite Joan Sims was just about to join the team following Betty Marsden's decision to leave. How interesting that might have been.

Thankfully we still have these wonderful recordings! BBC Radio 4 Extra regularly repeat classic episodes.

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

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