CHRIS MORRIS:
ON THE HOUR
Chris Morris is the anchorman for the On The Hour main evening
Radio news. Winner of the 1992 Writer's Guild of Great Britain Award
For Comedy/Light Entertainment. This is a superb production, richly layered
with elements to create at times a completely convincing spoof on the
BBC's main evening radio news. It also lampoons several programming
and broadcasting quirks, features and personalities found throughout the
BBC.
The news items from America are particularly hilarious and also reveal how
the U.S. is perceived by Britain.
ISBN 0 - 563 -40633 - X
WHY BOTHER ?
Peter Cook & Chris Morris. Five improvised interviews as heard on
BBC Radio 3. Chris Morris's surreal questioning of Peter Cook in
character as Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling. Peter Cook was legendary in
Britain for his spontaneous wit and for being able to hold a straight face
when saying the stupidest things. These interviews are a landmark in
improvisation on radio. Entirely convincing until you come to grips with
what Cook's Sir Streeb-Greebling's is actually asserting. It demonstrates
what's possible to do with just two persons in front of a microphone.
ISBN 0 - 563 - 55747 - 8
BLUE JAM
From the BBC Radio 1 series Blue Jam
Chris Morris and his cast perform a series sketches for his Blue Jam CD.
Be warned however, some listeners may find certain portions offensive
even obscene. A lot of this however stems from the extremely clever use of
radio's power to draw on the listeners imagination. In other words what you
think you might be hearing is only as obscene or as violent as your own
imagination. Some of the sketches are straightforward funny and some dare
I say it border on the profound others are very abstract. This series has
been a big hit with the upcoming University crowd in part because of its lush
use of ambient dance trance music.
Produced by Talkback. Warp Records Ltd.
Warp CD79
www.warprecords.com
5021603079120
A NOTE ON CHRIS MORRIS:
An extremely clever scathing humorist. Very adept at
parodying the foibles of the media. A kind of Jerky boy for Intellectuals
who uses his facades to highlight the pomposity and hypocrisies of leading
Political Leaders and Media Celebrities. Some might argue that his work is
not Audio Theatre but I believe it is. Just as film and television media
created the 2 second establishing shot as a legitimate Scene, so the
Audio and Radio medium offers unique ways to create drama. Much of this
involves drawing on the peculiar forms and formats of radio. There's a lot
of excellent pseudo-actuality location recording involved with naturalistic
acting so spot on you're convinced they're either making it up as they go
along or that it's all real and not acting at all!
In this vein also very much worth getting hold of is KNOWING ME, KNOWING YOU
WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE, an Award winning lampoon of a Radio Talk Show [a
Johnny Carson type of talk show ] -the complete BBC radio series of which
is available in a 3 tape box set. ISBN 0563402210
RG
