Sunshine On Putty

The Golden Age Of British Comedy From The Big Night O ut To The Office

By: Ben Thompson

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Paperback | 4 October 2004

At a Glance

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496 Pages

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19.6 x 13.4 x 3.1

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The definitive history of a golden age in British show-business, Sunshine On Putty is based on hundreds of interviews with the leading comedians of the era, as well as managers, agents, producers, directors, executives and TV personalities.

In the 1990s, British comedy underwent a renaissance - shows like The Fast Show, The Day Today, Shooting Stars, The League of Gentlemen, The Royle Family and The Office were hugely popular with critics and audiences alike. Just as politics, sport, art, literature and religion seemed to move towards light entertainment, the comedy on the nation's televisions not only offered a home to ideas and ideals of community which could no longer find one elsewhere, but also gave us a clearer picture of what was happening to our nation than any other form of artistic endeavour.

From Ricky Gervais' self-destructive love affair with dairy products to Steve Coogan's suicidal overtaking technique; from the secrets of Vic Reeves' woodshed, to the stains on Caroline Aherne's sofa; from Victor Meldrew's prophetic dream to Spike Milligan's final resting place, Ben Thompson reveals the twisted beauty of British comedy's psyche.

Industry Reviews

'Brilliantly insightful, warmly appreciative, and chock full of observations of the most alarmingly accurate kind ... Thanks to the perceptive Mr Thompson, I know now what I've been doing wrong all these years.' Jonathan Ross 'If you are passionate about comedy you'll want to read this book.' Time Out 'An awesome compendium'. Arena 'Can't fail to become definitive.' Observer 'A brilliant book'. Jimmy Carr, Radio 4's Loose Ends 'Erudite and funny ... Thompson demonstrates both an encyclopaedic knowledge of his subject matter and an astonishingly broad frame of reference.' Guardian

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Introduction	p. xi
Chronological Timeline	p. xxvii

On the Launchpad: The Reeves and Mortimer despot/democrat trajectory is about to commence	p. 3
'Don't Mention the War' Conflict aftermath and comedic rebirth, from The Goons to Richard and Judy	p. 23
Morris, Iannucci, Coogan, Lee, Herring and Marber: a.k.a. The new school of linguistic exactitude	p. 42
The Great Mythological Armour Shortage of 1993-4: Parts One to Five	p. 65
Constructing the Citadel: The comedy edifice needs bricks and mortar, just like any other (in five more parts)	p. 82
The Illusion (or Otherwise) of Spontaneity: Eddie Izzard and Phil Kay play different 'danger edges'	p. 103
It's Frank's (and Chubby's and Jo's and Jenny's) World: The rest of us just live in it	p. 121
'Sensation' or Given that we consume culture with the same hearty appetite with which we might approach a tasty meat or cheese product, why not savour the two pleasures in the same language?	p. 142
A Class of His Own: Paul Whitehouse, The Fast Show, and the poetry of social insecurity	p. 154
Cry Harry for England: Hill, Murray and the absence of empire	p. 174
'That Would Be an Ecumenical Matter' Father Ted answers the Irish Question	p. 193
The Chat Nexus	p. 211

David Baddiel Syndrome or The tyranny of obligatory irreverence	p. 235
Vic Reeves Welcomes Us into His Beautiful Home: And shows us paintings differing markedly from those of Ronnie Wood	p. 251
A Grove of His Own: Steve Coogan fights to maintain his position in Virbius's gory lineage	p. 260
The Royle We: Caroline Aherne and the comedy of popular sovereignty	p. 272
'A Little Bit of Politics' or Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Elton?	p. 286
Morals: Cartoons, Brass Eye, a brief history of swearing and the real-life Mary Whitehouse Experience	p. 304
Equal Opportunities, the Ones that Never Knock: Race and Ali G, sex and Smack the Pony, and Spaced-the final frontier	p. 323
Families at War: The Reeves and Mortimer despot/democrat trajectory reaches its terrifying conclusion	p. 349
The League of Gentlemen: Three character actors no longer in search of an author	p. 358
Ceramics Revue: The Johnny Vegas story	p. 371
Script for a Jester's Tear: Reality TV and the comedification of the self	p. 384
The Office: Yea, though I walk through the Thames Valley of the shadow of death...	p. 401
'I Told You I Was Ill' Spike's last resting place and Back Passage to India	p. 417
Conclusion	p. 429
Afterword: Little Britain, BBC3 and the post-Office road map	p. 439
Bibliography	p. 449
Acknowledgements	p. 452
Index	p. 455
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Sunshine On Putty

The Golden Age Of British Comedy From The Big Night O ut To The Office

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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