Whimsy: September 2016 Archives
How We Met: Ray Galton & Alan Simpson | The Independent
The British comedy writing duo who brought us Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son met as teenagers in a tuberculosis sanitarium and bonded over their shared love of American comedy on the American Forces Network -- "Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Don Ameche."
Simpson: "Sometimes we'll reminisce. Some of my fondest memories are from the Hancock days. He was a dream to work with - one of those rare performers who could read something perfectly first time. He had his problems and was never a great party man, but he was funny. When we had readings with Hancock, Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Bill Kerr - some of the biggest laughers in the business - they would be on their knees roaring, eyes watering. It was incredible, and Ray and I would stand there like kids thinking, 'We did that.'"
Come On, Fhqwhgads: A Look Back at the Music of Homestar Runner - Noisey
A conversation with Mike and Matt Chapman, the creators of the early web cartoon sensation, about how Homestar Runner grew in the years before social media made it easy to share things on the web.
Voices of Variety » Chesney Allen
A page devoted to British comedian of music hall and movies Chesney Allen, one-sixth of the Crazy Gang, half of "variety's greatest double-act," Flanagan and Allen.
"The act always featured a number of songs - nostalgic or patriotic or, more likely, evoking hard times and the camaraderie of ordinary people bonding against misfortune. And they invariably ended with that song, which had been growing slowly in popularity.
"'Underneath the Arches was written by Bud, words and music, in some digs in 1928,' said Ches, 'and we sang it for two or three years before it really caught on. In those days, you see, a lot of people really did have to sleep under the arches and I think the song was written partly with them in mind. Bud had roughed it a lot earlier. He'd been a taxi driver and he'd been to America and roughed it there. He once walked from London to Glasgow. So he did know something about 'the arches.' Then, in 1934, the song became the best-seller in this country. Later on it was a tremendous seller in America after the war, too, because American soldiers used to come over here and they got to know the song.'"
