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For one of the most influential and inspirational figures
in British comedy, it comes as some surprise to find that so
little of Peter Cook's material has been published - until now.
Tragically I Was An Only Twin collects a wide range of writing
from the much-missed comic, from schoolboy poetry to newspaper
columns, to produce a rounded overview of his amazing career.
Comedy coursed through Cook's veins. He was so naturally funny
that he could create works of sheer genius with no apparent effort.
But that ease of manner, and Cook's lacksadaisical attitude
to the world in general, could easily give the impression that
he was a lazy writer, especially in later life when he had nothing
more to prove. He could turn up, be funny, and be back home in
time for his next cigarette.
Yet he remained prolific, even if his work could more likely
involve calling up a late-night radio phone-in that writing a
well-crafted sketch.
He created such a body of work that this book's claim to be
'The Complete Peter Cook' can never be fulfilled one volume.
However, editor William Cook, the Guardian's comedy correspondent,
doesn't leave any aspect of his career uncovered.
It has to be conceded that, as a broad generalisation, Cook's
earlier work was more consistently brilliant than his later,
though that could be an illusion of what is included and what
is omitted.
He truly was a prodigy, creating some precociously fantastic
work in the 1959 revue Last Laugh, including a precursor to his
iconic bore EL Wisty and a clever twist on the conventions of
police movies, when he was just 22.
He then wrote for the Kenneth Williams revue Pieces of Eight,
before being picked up for the Beyond The Fringe show that was
to make his name, and introduce him to Dudley Moore.
Potted biographical notes that preface each chapter put each
extract firmly in context, but Cook (the editor) rightly allows
the comic genius of Cook (the comic genius) to come across in
his own words.
Everything you would expect to be included, is, with much
of the volume covering his unforgettable collaborations with
Moore, not only in Not Only But Also, but also as their foul-mouthed
counterparts Derek and Clive.
Nutty aristocrat Sir Arthur Steeb-Greebling makes appearances,
too, with complete transcripts of the 1990 Christmas radio series
he recorded with Sir Ludovic Kennedy, and the 1994 Radio Three
show Why Bother, recorded with the soon-to-be-notorious satirist
Chris Morris. And Cook's appearances on Clive Anderson's chat
show in various guises are worthy of a chapter, too.
What works in performance doesn't always work in print. But
bizarrely, the best work here was that written for stage, screen
or radio, perhaps because you can hear Cook's voice infusing
ever line.
Yet the material written for the page comes across worse -
a couple of extended stories from his beloved Private Eye seem
very thin on gags, and samples of the column he wrote for the
Daily Mail rarely covey his brilliance, proving this is not the
best outlet for comedy.
(These, incidentally, are very oddly annotated, with the likes
of Jimmy Carter, James Callaghan and Raquel Welsh seemingly requiring
explanatory footnotes, yet it's assumed everyone knows who Russell
Harty is)
But what isn't funny is fascinating, and never more so that
in his conversations with late-night phone-in host Clive Bull,
when Cook posed as tragic Norwegian fisherman Sven for a series
of surreal, downbeat ramblings.
Despite such slow points, this book does nothing but enhance
Cook's formidable and well-deserved reputation.
Fans will no doubt need no convincing to buy it, anyone else
who reads it will surely be converted.
Tragically I Was An Only Twin is published by Century,
£17.99. It is available from Amazon at £12.59, click
here to buy it.
Steve Bennett
October 30, 2002
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