Thursday, September 21, 2006

Where the Hell is Roger?

I am in the course of reading Mr Chris Donald's autobiography, Rude Kids. Chris Donald, for our foreign friends, is the founder of Viz, a comic for grown-ups (and students, on whom I believe it to be wasted). It's a bit rude, as is the book in parts.

I was entertained by his recounting of a tale concerning the late great Peter Cook, Mr Donald's greatest comic hero. During the 90s some low budget animations were made of a couple of the strips at the behest of John Brown the publisher, namely Billy the Fish and much to Donald's chagrin, his pride and joy Roger Mellie, the Man on the Telly. Again for the unititiated or colonial, Roger Mellie is a complete grotesque, the most profane and misogynistic gentleman alive and a television presenter to boot. An utter delight in other words. Chris Donald was unsure until he found that Peter Cook had been hired to give voice to Mellie. One would have thought this to have been a most apt choice as Pete was not a stranger to the scatological. Many will remember the three Derek and Clive albums he made with Dudley Moore as being the highpoints of English sweary comedy.

Everything went very well. Except, that is, for the rather unusual fact that the great Peter Cook, arguably our greatest comic genius, was totally incapable of saying the word "twat", preferring instead to pronounce it "twot" like someone forced to repeat it against their will in front of a disapproving relative. He had to be repeatedly coached in the correct form by the upstart humourists.

It must be the only sweary word in the English language capable of being mispronounced and that rather defeats the object, surely?

16 Vegetable peelings:

Blogger Vicus Scurra said...

So you want us all to waste our day thinking up bizarre mispronunciations of profanities?
You facking kernt.

6:16 am  
Blogger tom909 said...

Richard, Derek and Clive has got to be the most significant influence on my humour ever. I was about 15 when 'you fucking cunt' happened and I've been laughing about it ever since.
By the way, have you seen Roger's Profanisaurus (can't spell that). It's a laugh out loud book, that's for sure, but some of it is so gross it has me wondering at times.

8:55 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, well Done Vicus. No encouragement needed but I fear you may have peaked early.

Tom, indeed I have seen Roger's Profanisaurus. I don't believe it's stocked in Crewe Library though.

9:48 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I find myself at a complete loss as to how there two different fonts in that post. I don't appear to be able to alter it either.

10:07 am  
Blogger Vicus Scurra said...

The book may not appear in the library, but "Crewe Library" appears in the book. It describes a practice which decorum prevents me from describing here.
Tom, I think your recollection is wrong. Derek and Clive were mid 70s. You are much older than that. You are probably thinking of Nervo and Knox.

10:48 am  
Blogger Vicus Scurra said...

Richard - I have had that problem with fonts as well.

10:50 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, I haven't got that far yet. I was going to bring the self same point up regarding Tom's recollection of the 70s.

11:48 am  
Blogger The Mistress said...

Lobsterisimus Bummakisimus. Try to pronounce that.

1:31 pm  
Blogger tom909 said...

Sorry guys, it must have been Pete and Dud from the 60s, getting me warmed up for the full onslaught of Derek & Clive a few years later.
Definitely 1965ish - I remember it well because we were talking in their voices for days. We thought we were so cool too - thank god no-one had a video at that time.

8:38 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bloody Greta Garbo

9:31 am  
Blogger Istvanski said...

"Cum dis way, sah..."

11:13 am  
Blogger Geoff said...

If Chris Donald had started Viz today, would he have blogged it?

And would many people read it?

3:45 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's an interesting one Geoff. I wonder how many new readers he gets. I probably only buy it once or twice a year now.

3:49 pm  
Blogger Geoff said...

I last bought it about 18 years ago. What happened to all the Viz-lite comics that started up? Do male students now buy Nuts and Testes or whatever all those men's mags are called? Why have I got so many questions?

6:13 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's your insatiable thirst for knowledge, obviously. The others went to the wall as did the cricket one, Sticky Wicket, which was actually very funny.

6:38 pm  
Blogger krusty the baker said...

I haven't bought Viz for years either. Not a lot of point after their attribution of a letter to 'Nigel Wankshaft, Sheffield University', which I read a month after I'd told the president of said establishment's union that he was a dogwanker (well, he was) - I couldn't believe how so many of my contemporaries took offence at that joke - and Roger's description of 'Marietta Frastrup' as "one of my favourite wanks." I bet even the Pope found that funny.

6:48 pm  

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