Speechification

Radio 4 recently ran a new episode of this occasional jem in which John Humphrys introduces 28 acts in 28 minutes. It’s like a contemporary variety evening from the comfort of your own armchair. There’s an impressively complete list of acts on Wikipedia, with links to the various acts. This one, episode three of the second Radio 4 series, was broadcast on Thursday 27th March at 6.30pm. (MP3)

The 28 acts included guitar-playing singers including Tom McRae, Francesca Beard Gwyneth Herbert, Lady Carol of the Moon and Neil Innes, all very enjoyable in their distinct ways. These musical slots serve as a relaxing break from the stand-up comedians who make up the majority of the show. I particularly enjoyed Phil Cornwell - (who plays Greg Dyke in Dead Ringers), Jon Richardson, Danielle Ward pretending to be Andy McNab, John Finnemore being Britain’s silent majority and Will Smith (the comedian rather than the actor). There was also some poetry, a reading from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and even a drum solo.

The stand-out item for me was Liam Mullone, whose standup segment about ‘unexpected item’ in a self-service checkout, had me rolling around the floor.

This entry was posted by by roo on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 7:24 am . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.