There is a Norse myth where Thor, Loki, and Thor?s servant boy are traveling and come to a city of giants. They each compete in a contest. Loki in an eating contest, the servant in a foot race, and Thor in a wrestling match.
Thor?s opponent is a little old lady. Thor loses to her and Loki and the servant lose their contests too. It turned out that Thor was wrestling with old age, Loki was pitted against fire, and the servant raced against thought.
Back in the 80s I was at ComicCon with a bunch of friends. My friend Adam had just bought a toy catbus from My Neighbor Totoro and was playing with it. Another friend commented that he was easily amused. I then said ?You should see him with a piece of string!?
String was the topic of one of my favourite "The Goodies" TV episodes when they look for something wholesome and clean to start selling and end up selling string. Still remember the jingle "String, string, string, string, everybod y loves string."
(For those unaware The Goodies was a British comedy TV series in the 70's-80's starring three comedians coming from the same school of comedy as Monty Python. Very popular here in Aus.)
I was sorry to hear of Tim Brooke Taylor's death of COVID-19 related illness. He was a terrific comedian. Amongst many other roles he had a brief part in the original Willy Wonka movie as the computer guy trying to program the computer to predict the location of the last golden tickets.
The Goodies were quite the thing in the UK. The giant Kitten climbing the Post Office Tower was a favourite (Kitten Kong).
I've got into the habit of listening to old comedy shows on the radio, and that's when I realised that the Goodies and Monty Python were so good because all of the comedians worked together on I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again. Actually, that's when the penny dropped that there were several decades of top radio comedy behind loads of TV hits. There's also a goodies/ Python mash up in the At Last, the 1948 Show! (broadcast in the late '60s). There's also Doctor in the House (which I've not seen). Loads of the writers (Brooke Taylor did some of that too) would move around shows too, like Marty Feldman.
A radio spinoff of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again was I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. I've only listened for 6-7 years, but Taylor's been on it probably since it started in the early '70s. In my listening, it's hosted by deadpan Jack Dee and when Brooke-Taylor was on, they'd invariably have a round where he had to sing a tune with the lyrics of another tune. But pretty much everything about it is funny.
A big loss across lots of media and another bit of cherished childhoods across generations sadly gone.
I also feel for Barry Crier. He's been involved in so many of these shows across TV and radio. Before that, he would have performed in clubs where they all got their starts. He's so often heard saying kinds words and reminiscing about all the comedians, and friends, who have now gone.
"...not having to believe in a thing to be interested in it and not having to explain a thing to appreciate the wonder of it."
The dye packs that banks use are made to look like a packet of money. In a robbery that happened in the bank I worked at (but a different branch), the robber pointed to the dye pack and said ?I want those bills too?. The teller dutifully gave him the dye pack.
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