Hello again - hope you’re all holding up OK. If anyone needs a chat, then feel free to reach out on twitter. Gotta be here for each other, when things go sideways, right?
Anyway - here we are with week 2 of Lockdown TV - my weekly playlist of some of my favourite comedy, variety, circus, magic, dance, music and other kinds of culture and entertainment to distract and amuse you while we’re all stuck at home. There’s about an hour of fun stuff here, suitable for the whole family - so enjoy, share the link to this page far and wide, and - bearing in mind my entire income comes from performing in live shows, and I’m sitting here watching my whole year of bookings get cancelled - if you’ve enjoyed this, or anything else I’ve ever made, and can afford to, then please do consider clicking here and donating me the price of a coffee.
And now, on with the fun..
I’m a variety performer, so lets start with a nice, safe, professional variety act and WHOAAA
We’re all on lockdown, so now’s the time to do some home improvements, and boy do I have the product for you…
Would you be interested in watching a calming video of an expert preparing a traditional Japanese meal specifically created for cats? Of course you would, you’re not a monster.
This lovely little thing is a short film by the Coen brothers. Made in 2007 as part of a collection of shorts celebrating the Cannes film festival, and film in general. For some reason when they made a DVD of all the films, this wasn’t included.
I perform a lot in Europe - particularly in Germany, where the rich history of variety and cabaret is still as strong as it ever was. People sometimes ask me if I do my act in German. Well, I do speak a little German, but since I’m the quintessential sarcastic English gentleman, it’s much more fun to play that up and spend my whole act being joyfully confrontational. Hope it’s not too long before I get to get to rile up some more beautiful European audiences.
This is the climactic duel from the 1940 movie “The Mark Of Zorro” between Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone. the thing to remember here is that Rathbone was two time British army fencing champion, and Power was doubled by legendary fight choreographer Fred Caverns, who was also pretty handy with a blade, which all meant the the swordplay is fast, technical and beautiful. The moment of silence before the final hit - come ON.
Just kids being kids, in one of my favourite movies - Jacques Tati’s “Mon Oncle”
Get Krackin is, for my money, one of the sharpest and funniest shows on TV over the last decade. Savagely smart, and goofy as hell, too. Like a modern “The Day Today”, but with a righteous agenda. Really, really, really worth seeking out. Here’s one of my favourite recurring segments, and one of the goofiest - the amazing Helen Bidou.
The Dior Dancers. One of the most spectacular variety acts to ever grace a stage. Sit back and let your jaw hang open from start to finish, and then click on the video underneath and listen to my interview with the star of the act, Merian Ganjou, conducted live on stage at one of my “London Varieties” shows. One of my most treasured moments on stage was showing my audience that clip and then springing the surprise on them, that Merian was sitting in the crowd the whole time. Sadly, Merian is no longer with us, but she left us that clip, some amazing stories she told me in the interview, and some very warm and shiny memories.
And finally, to play us out this week, if you’re a fan of Tom & Jerry (and if not, why not?), then Scott Bradley’s music sends you somewhere beautiful and mischievous. Here’s the John Wilson orchestra playing a medley of music used in those cartoons. Keep your eyes on the percussionists!
And that’s all for this week. I’ve been really enjoying putting these together, and I hope you’re enjoying watching them. I’ll be posting new stuff every week, and in the meantime you can do two things for me:
(1) Share this page with anyone you think might enjoy it
(2) If your wages are unaffected by the current situation, then consider clicking here and donating me the price of a coffee so I can offset the fact that I’ve got no income for..well.. who knows how long? (If you’re also suffering financially from this thing, then of course, it’s free and always will be)
Both are much appreciated - stay safe and healthy in both body and mind, and I’ll see you next week.