mostly david ephgrave

I unwound the good old-fashioned way tonight, by watching the film Carry on Cabby.  (The interchangeable double rr and bb combo-pack in the title is pleasingly symmetrical, so well done them.)  I've mentioned here before how I'm a big fan of Sid James, particularly in the late Fifties / early Sixties Hancock's Half Hour era. It's often forgotten just how subtle a comic actor he was, when he wasn't forced into a corner by the subject matter of his late-Carry On era. He's particularly enjoyable when he's in the company of Hattie Jacques, when years of working together makes their chemistry effortless. Good quality old-school comic performances like these often inspire me, giving me the fire to want to do the same sort of stuff myself. They remind how fun comedy can be; a simple fact I often forget. That's why I listened to an episode of the radio Hancock series every day before doing my show in Edinburgh; the quality of the writing and the comedic turn...