eBook - ePub
Most of What Follows is a Complete Waste of Time
Monologues, Dialogues, Sketches and Other Writings
- 176 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Most of What Follows is a Complete Waste of Time
Monologues, Dialogues, Sketches and Other Writings
About this book
'a one-off from the word go, and no history of English humour could overlook him.' Tom Stoppard
N.F. Simpson (1919-2011) was a leading exponent of the Theatre of the Absurd, with the Royal Court classics A Resounding Tinkle (1957) and One Way Pendulum (1959) sealing his reputation as a comic master with a subtle philosophical undertow.
Emerging during a revolutionary period in British theatre, Simpson rose to prominence alongside Harold Pinter, John Osborne and Arnold Wesker. His work has been embraced and performed by comedy legends including Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Beryl Reid and Dick Emery. His influence spread widely, from Peter Cook's much loved character E.L. Wisty to Monty Python's Flying Circus, and helped spawn a generation of outstanding comic talent.
This authorised collection presents the best of Simpson's short works for audiences new and old. Featuring more than sixty pieces from across six decades, the full spectrum of an extraordinary career is brought together in one volume for the first time: monologues, sketches, criticism and poetry, written for radio, television, stage and print. It includes all of Simpson's anarchic collaborations with Willie Rushton for Private Eye, a generous selection of previously unseen pieces from his final manuscript, as well as a critical introduction by Simpson collaborator Simon Usher.
'A wonderfully funny collection of the sort of short pieces that can only really find a suitable home in…well…a wonderfully funny collection of short pieces. Comic genius.' David Nobbs
'This is a treasure trove of the work of a fine, original, comic mind.' Sheila Hancock
'A marvellous collection, showcasing the best of Simpson's benignly radical, gently subversive genius. The truly remarkable thing is that his characters' bizarre flights of lunacy seem saner and more rational with every passing year.' Jonathan Coe
'Reading N. F. Simpson for the first time all those years ago was a revelation, a Taj Mahal to the head. He laid the foundation for most of what I truly love about comedy; he was the fifth Goon, the seventh Python, the Wally in Pete'n'Dud'n'Wally, the third Booshista, the Godfather of English Absurdism and a phenomenally good writer. You should read him as a matter of extreme urgency.' Chris Addison
'N.F. Simpson is one of the greatest British philosophers and funniest playwrights of all time.' David Quantick
'You might call N.F. Simpson a surrealist if he were not so funny. Or the Spike Milligan of suburbia if his plays were not so crafted. But really he was a one-off from the word go, and no history of English humour could overlook him.' Tom Stoppard
'Laugh out loud funny with a delightful sense of the absurd. A hilarious ode to the absurdity of the human spirit. Original, silly, and very funny.' Isy Suttie
N.F. Simpson (1919-2011) was a leading exponent of the Theatre of the Absurd, with the Royal Court classics A Resounding Tinkle (1957) and One Way Pendulum (1959) sealing his reputation as a comic master with a subtle philosophical undertow.
Emerging during a revolutionary period in British theatre, Simpson rose to prominence alongside Harold Pinter, John Osborne and Arnold Wesker. His work has been embraced and performed by comedy legends including Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Beryl Reid and Dick Emery. His influence spread widely, from Peter Cook's much loved character E.L. Wisty to Monty Python's Flying Circus, and helped spawn a generation of outstanding comic talent.
This authorised collection presents the best of Simpson's short works for audiences new and old. Featuring more than sixty pieces from across six decades, the full spectrum of an extraordinary career is brought together in one volume for the first time: monologues, sketches, criticism and poetry, written for radio, television, stage and print. It includes all of Simpson's anarchic collaborations with Willie Rushton for Private Eye, a generous selection of previously unseen pieces from his final manuscript, as well as a critical introduction by Simpson collaborator Simon Usher.
'A wonderfully funny collection of the sort of short pieces that can only really find a suitable home in…well…a wonderfully funny collection of short pieces. Comic genius.' David Nobbs
'This is a treasure trove of the work of a fine, original, comic mind.' Sheila Hancock
'A marvellous collection, showcasing the best of Simpson's benignly radical, gently subversive genius. The truly remarkable thing is that his characters' bizarre flights of lunacy seem saner and more rational with every passing year.' Jonathan Coe
'Reading N. F. Simpson for the first time all those years ago was a revelation, a Taj Mahal to the head. He laid the foundation for most of what I truly love about comedy; he was the fifth Goon, the seventh Python, the Wally in Pete'n'Dud'n'Wally, the third Booshista, the Godfather of English Absurdism and a phenomenally good writer. You should read him as a matter of extreme urgency.' Chris Addison
'N.F. Simpson is one of the greatest British philosophers and funniest playwrights of all time.' David Quantick
'You might call N.F. Simpson a surrealist if he were not so funny. Or the Spike Milligan of suburbia if his plays were not so crafted. But really he was a one-off from the word go, and no history of English humour could overlook him.' Tom Stoppard
'Laugh out loud funny with a delightful sense of the absurd. A hilarious ode to the absurdity of the human spirit. Original, silly, and very funny.' Isy Suttie
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Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Most of What Follows is a Complete Waste of Time by N.F. Simpson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Literature & British Drama. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction
- After the Birds
- Always or More
- ‘Birth is the First’
- Anyone’s Gums Can Listen to Reason
- Introducing Leisure Promotions
- Can You Hear Me?
- Canoe Salesman
- The Chinese Box
- Cross Examination
- First First Now
- The Crozier
- Dame Hettie 2
- Dame Hettie 3
- Dame Hettie 5
- Are You Being Given a Fair Crack of the Whip?
- Escape
- The Fourth Dimension
- The Gift of Laughter
- God’s Whippet
- The Grave My Silencer
- I Could Have Died
- ‘I Know It’s Not...’
- The Insomnia Case
- Interview
- Tired Tired Tired
- Introduction to ‘The Hole’
- J.C. Mulligan
- Leibnitz and the Boot Cupboard
- Leslie Cricklehurst
- Letter to Private Eye
- Making Nonsense of Nonsense
- Be In At Your Own Death
- New Life
- Not Just Now, Thanks
- Your Finger on the Scalpel
- Nudism
- The Odd Crustacean Won’t Come Amiss
- Oh
- ‘Memo: Due in Galashiels... ’
- Oh, This Grinding Comfort!
- On Teeth
- ‘How far...’
- One Blast and Have Done
- One of Our St Bernard Dogs is Missing
- ‘It has been put to me...’
- The Overcoat
- Prediction
- The Private Lives of Some Very Great Thinkers Indeed
- Renoir
- Make This a Bumper Xmas for Everyone
- The Seabed
- Snippets
- Trips
- A Visit to a Prisoner in a Condemned Cell
- Twins
- You May Never Have Another Chance
- Unfounded Optimism!
- A Visit to Ken Wood
- Make This a Bumper New Year
- War
- Why I Write
- Window
- With His Bare Hands
- ‘I suppose you’ve heard.. . ’
- World in Ferment
- World of Books: Where Do We Go From Here?
- The Wrapped Gift
- Your Flame, Or Mine?
- ‘Hide nor Hair’