Radio comedy, or comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve sitcom elements, sketches and various types of comedy found on other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic elements, as these can be conveyed on a small budget with just a few sound effects or some simple dialogue. Because of this, it is often less restrictive and can allow for more imaginative and inventive comedy.

Background and history[link]

Radio comedy in the United States began when Raymond Knight launched The Cuckoo Hour on NBC in 1929, along with the 1931 network debut of Stoopnagle and Budd on CBS. Comedians such as Fred Allen, Jack Benny, Judy Canova, Bob Hope and Red Skelton were top-rated in the decades that followed. Even after the big name comedians moved to television, radio comedy continued, notably from Bob and Ray, The Firesign Theatre and segments heard on NBC's Monitor.

Although traditional comedy was once a significant part of American broadcast radio programming, it is now mainly found in the archives of Old Time Radio enthusiasts and in Internet streaming of comedy recordings. The majority of mainstream radio comedy now consists of personality-driven shows hosted by talk-radio hosts such as Howard Stern or comedic duos such as Armstrong & Getty and Bob & Tom. Exceptions to this are WSRN's "Audience of Two", Garrison Keillor's work on Minnesota Public Radio: A Prairie Home Companion and Comedy College, and NPR's Car Talk, a comedy show thinly disguised as car advice, and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!. Shows featuring comedic music are also popular; one of the better known national comedy music programs is the long-running weekly program hosted by Dr. Demento, and several other local stations (mostly college radio, freeform and eclectic formats) have similar programs. Several networks program 24 hours a day of stand-up comedy routines; several channels on the Sirius XM Radio platforms focus on this format, as does the terrestrial All Comedy Radio network. Rock music stations often play bits of stand-up comedy within the bounds of their regular formats, usually under the banner of a "five o'clock funnies" feature.

In Britain and Canada, however, the BBC and CBC respectively have continued making new radio comedy and drama. British radio comedy also has a home on Australia's Radio National and in Ireland there are always a few comedy shows in the week's programming on RTÉ.

Many of the BBC's most successful television comedies began life as radio shows. These include Hancock's Half Hour, Goodness Gracious Me, Knowing Me, Knowing You, The League of Gentlemen, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Room 101, Have I Got News For You, (based on Radio 4's The News Quiz), Dead Ringers and most recently Little Britain and Absolute Power. The science fiction comedy Red Dwarf was developed from ideas in a radio show called Son Of Cliché. Another science fiction comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was created for radio, but also went on to great success in book, television and film formats. This has unfairly led to some people viewing radio as just a stepping stone to television, ignoring the many advantages of the medium.

Examples of American radio comedy can be heard on streaming internet radio stations. Humorous storytelling is the focus of The Moth Radio Hour. Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion can be heard on public radio stations in the United States and a different version of the shows can be heard on BBC7 and RTÉ under the name Garrison Keillor's Radio Show. Old shows can be listened to online at the websites of "A Prairie Home Companion" or RTÉ. British radio comedy can be heard on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 2 and BBC7. Minnesota Public Radio maintains a website where it is possible to listen to episodes of Comedy College. A British commercial station Oneword broadcasted American vintage radio comedy as part of their 24 hour-a-day programming of books, comedy and drama and this was streamed on the internet until the station closed in 2008.

Interest in radio comedy and radio drama is currently enjoying a resurgence. Epguides.com, which provides encyclopedic information on television shows, has recently begun to build a similar list of radio shows.^[1]

In America, new groups have formed to try to bring about a renewed interest in the art-form. At the forefront of this new wave of audio-only comedic groups is Peeper Radio Theatre. Veteran NPR Producer Joe Bevilacqua is creating new radio comedy for The Comedy-O-Rama Hour, which airs on XM Satellite Radio's Sonic Theater Channel 163, five times per week. In the UK, recent standup and revue comedy performances are also now receiving airing on radio.^[2]

List of radio comedies[link]

Produced independently[link]

• Man of the People: The Only-Recently Discovered Secret Political Recordings of Acting Mayor Francis "Woody" Woodson
• The Sound of Young America
• The Comedy-O-Rama Hour
• The Wireless Theatre Company^[3]

[edit] Produced by ABC (Australia)

• The Idiot Weekly
• Yes, What?/The Fourth Form at St Percy's (discontinued)

Produced by or for the CBC[link]

• CBC Festival of Comedy
• CBC Festival of Funny
• Canadia: 2056
• Chas Lawther's Stand Up Documentaries
• The Chumps Without a Net
• The Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour
• Double Exposure (comedy series)
• The Frantics Frantic Times, Fran of the Fundy, and The Frantics Look at History
• Gary & Ivan's Winnebago Tour
• Great Eastern
• Growing Up and Having Babies
• The Happy Gang
• Here Come the Seventies (radio show)
• How to Seem Smart
• The Irrelevant Show
• Laugh in a Half
• Madly Off in All Directions
• Mr. Interesting's Guide to the Continental United States
• The Muckraker
• The Norm
• Radio Free Vestibule
• Rick and Pete Grow Up and Have Babies
• The Royal Canadian Air Farce
• Running with Scissors with Mr. Interesting
• Steve, The First
• Steve, The Second
• Sunny Days and Nights
• This Hour Has 17 Programs
• Those People Across the Street
• The Vinyl Cafe
• What a Week

Produced by or for US public radio[link]

• A Prairie Home Companion (Minnesota Public Radio)
• Comedy College (Minnesota Public Radio)
• Le Show (KCRW)
• NonProductive (WRSU-FM)
• Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! (Chicago Public Radio)
• The Comedy-O-Rama Hour (Joe Bevilacqua)
• Dave and Chuck "The Freak" (CIMX-FM)

[edit] Produced by or for RTÉ

• The Apocalypse of Bill Lizard
• The Comedy Improv Radio Show
• Beyond the Back of Beyond
• Scrap Saturday

[edit] Produced by or for the BBC

• 15 Minute Musical
• 15 Minutes of Misery
• 15 Storeys High
• 4 at the Store
• The 99p Challenge

• Absolute Power
• And Now in Colour
• The Arthur Smith Lectures

• Beat The Kids
• Boothby Graffoe, In No Particular Order and Big Booth Too
• The Burkiss Way

• The Christopher Marlowe Mysteries
• Creme de la Crime
• Concrete Cow
• The Consultants

• Dead Ringers
• Delve Special
• Dial M For Pizza

• Educating Archie

• Fist of Fun
• Flight of the Conchords
• Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel
• The Franz Kafka Big Band

• The Game's Up
• Genius
• Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off
• Geoffrey Boycott's Proper World History of Cricket
• Getting Nowhere Fast
• Goodness Gracious Me
• The Goon Show

• Hancock's Half Hour
• The Harpoon
• The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• The Hole In the Wall Gang
• The House of Milton Jones
• The Hudson and Pepperdine Show
• Hut 33

• I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
• I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
• In One Ear
• It's Been a Bad Week
• It's That Man Again

• Jackie Mason
• Jammin'
• Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation
• Just a Minute

• King Street Junior
• Knowing Me, Knowing You

• The League of Gentlemen
• Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World
• Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead
• Linda Smith's A Brief History of Timewasting
• Little Britain
• Loose Ends

• Mackay the New
• The Mark Steel Lectures
• The Mark Steel Revolution
• The Mark Steel Solution
• The Mel and Sue Thing
• Men from the Ministry
• Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music
• Much Binding in the Marsh
• The Museum of Everything

• The National Theatre of Brent
• The Navy Lark
• Nebulous
• Newsjack
• The News Huddlines
• The News Quiz
• Nightcap
• The Now Show

• Old Harry's Game
• The Omar Khayyam Show
• On the Hour'

• The Party Line
• Paperback Hell
• People Like Us
• Police 5...to 12
• The Problem with Adam Bloom

• Quote... Unquote

• Radio Active
• Recorded for Training Purposes
• The Remains of Foley and McColl
• Robin and Wendy's Wet Weekends
• Room 101
• Ross Noble Goes Global
• Round the Horne
• Route One, USA

• Saturday Night Fry
• Son of Cliche
• Steptoe and Son
• The Sunday Format

• Take It From Here
• Think the Unthinkable

• The Very World of Milton Jones

• We've Been Here Before
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?
• World of Pub

• Yes Minister (adapted from television)
• You'll Have Had Your Tea (a spin-off from I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue)

[edit] Produced by or for Resonance FM

• Entrance of the Gladiators

See also[link]

• Books on the radio
• List of old-time radio people

References[link]

External links[link]

• Necrology of Old Radio Personalities
• OTR Actors and Their Roles

The Penny Dreadfuls
The Dreadfuls From left to right: Humphrey Ker, David Reed, Thom Tuck.
Medium	Theatre, Radio, Television
Years active	2006–
Genres	Sketch Comedy
Subject(s)	Victoriana
Influences	The Goons, Monty Python, Pete and Dud, Reeves and Mortimer, The League of Gentlemen.
Notable works and roles	Aeneas Faversham (Stage show, 2006) Aeneas Faversham Returns (2007) Aeneas Faversham Forever (2008) The Brothers Faversham (Radio series, 2008-present) Guy Fawkes (Radio play, 2009)
Members	Humphrey Ker David Reed Thom Tuck
Website	The Penny Dreadfuls

The Penny Dreadfuls are a British sketch-comedy troupe consisting of comedians Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck. The sketch team perform regularly on the London comedy circuit.

History[link]

The Dreadfuls met performing in Edinburgh based improv comedy show The Improverts in 2001. They performed together for the next four years before forming, along with founding member Jamie Anderson, The Penny Dreadfuls. In 2006, they made their debut appearance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with their Victorian-themed sketch show Aeneas Faversham and an improv show entitled Shamwagon, also featuring Edinburgh comics Peter Cameron and Idil Sukan.

Their first appearance on television soon followed with a sketch in BBC Three's Comedy Shuffle before returning to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007 with another sketch show, Aeneas Faversham Returns.^[1] From here they made the transfer onto radio with their own show, The Brothers Faversham, broadcast in January 2008 on BBC 7 and guest starred Miles Jupp and Ingrid Oliver. Each episode of the four-part series followed the life and demise of one of the Faversham brothers; Horatius, Theseus, Leonidas and Augustus. A second series, More Brothers Faversham, was broadcast in October 2008 and later transferred onto BBC Radio 4 over Christmas and New Year. Their 2008 Edinburgh Fringe show, entitled Aeneas Faversham Forever, was a departure from their live sketch roots to a full narrative in the vein of their radio shows. The story followed a mild mannered children's author as he tried to foil a mysterious plot surrounding the newly constructed Tower Bridge. Following on from this shift to writing narrative comedy, in 2009 they wrote a comic retelling of the story of Guy Fawkes for the afternoon play slot on Radio 4. They returned to the sketch format for their 2010 Edinburgh Fringe show.

Notable appearances[link]

• In June 2008 they appeared in The Supersizers Go... Victorian alongside Sue Perkins and Giles Coren.
• In 2009 they appeared in the UK tour of hit improv show, Totally Looped,^[2] alongside Phill Jupitus, Marcus Brigstocke, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Hattie Hayridge.
• In 2009 they provided additional voices for Joan of Arc, and How She Became a Saint, a radio play written by Patrick Barlow for BBC Radio 4, starring Dawn French, Jim Broadbent and Kevin Eldon.
• In 2009 they presented a broadcast for BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play slot, Guy Fawkes. This covered the life of Guy Fawkes, his failed attempt to blow up Parliament and his subsequent interrogation in the Tower of London. Guest starring Kevin Eldon as Guy Fawkes, and also featuring Miles Jupp and Andrew Pugsley.^[3] It was re-broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 5 November 2011.^[4]
• In 2011 they presented a broadcast for BBC Radio 4's Saturday Play slot, Revolution. This takes place during the French Revolution and covered an imagined meeting in prison between Maximilien Robespierre and the imprisoned Marie-Therese, the 16-year-old daughter of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Guest starring Richard E. Grant as Robespierre and Sally Hawkins as Marie-Therese, and also featuring Margaret Cabourn-Smith.^[5]

Awards[link]

External links[link]

• Official Penny Dreadfuls website
• MySpace page for The Penny Dreadfuls

References[link]

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There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.^[1]

The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)^[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".

The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).

Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.

Rulers[link]

• Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
• Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
• Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
• Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
• Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
• Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
• Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
• Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
• Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
• Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
• Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
• Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
• Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
• Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
• Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
• Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
• Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
• Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
• Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
• Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
• Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
• Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
• Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
• Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
• Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
• Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
• Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse^[3]
• Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
• Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
• Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
• Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
• Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
• Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea^[4][5]
• Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
• Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
• Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
• Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
• Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
• Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
• Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
• Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
• Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
• John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
• John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
• Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
• Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
• Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
• Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
• Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
• Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
• Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
• Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
• Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
• Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
• Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
• Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
• Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
• Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
• Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
• Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
• Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
• K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
• Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
• Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
• Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
• Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
• Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
• Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
• Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.^[6][7][8]
• Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
• Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
• Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
• Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
• Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
• Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
• Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
• Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
• Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
• Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
• Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king^[9]
• Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
• Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
• Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
• Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
• Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
• Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
• Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
• Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
• Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
• Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
• Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
• Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
• Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
• Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
• Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
• Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
• Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
• William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
• William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
• Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
• Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China

Religious figures[link]

• Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
• Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
• Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
• Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
• Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
• Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
• Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
• Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
• Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
• Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
• Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
• Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
• Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
• Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
• Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
• Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
• William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites

Other[link]

• Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
• Emmy the Great, folk singer
• Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
• Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia

See also[link]

• Epithet
• List of monarchs by nickname
• List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
• James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
• Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"

Notes[link]

Dr. Demento
American radio personality Dr. Demento
Background information
Birth name	Barret Eugene Hansen
Also known as	Dr. Demento
Born	(1941-04-02) April 2, 1941 (age 71) Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genres	Comedy, parody
Occupations	Disc jockey
Years active	1970–present
Associated acts	"Weird Al" Yankovic, Whimsical Will

Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941),^[1] better known as Dr. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present.

He created the persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles station KPPC-FM.^[1] After Hansen played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, DJ Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play that. Thereafter, the name stuck. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974^[1] and from 1978 to 1992 was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.

Hansen has a degree in ethnomusicology, and has written magazine articles and liner notes on recording artists outside of the novelty genre. He is credited with introducing new generations of listeners to artists of the early and middle twentieth century whom they may not have otherwise discovered, such as Haywire Mac, Spike Jones, Benny Bell, Yogi Yorgesson, and Tom Lehrer, as well as with bringing parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic to national attention.

Early life[link]

Hansen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of an amateur pianist. He claims to have started his vast record collection as early as age 12, when he found "that a local thrift store had thousands of old 78 RPM records for sale at 5 cents each."^[1] He attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where he was promoted to Program Director of KRRC in 1960 and General Manager in 1961. He wrote his senior thesis on Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck and Claude Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande. He graduated in 1963, and later studied at UCLA, from which he earned a master's degree in folklore and ethnomusicology.

After earning his master's degree, he lived for two years "in a big house on a hill" in Topanga Canyon with members of the rock band Spirit. He also served briefly as a roadie for Spirit, and for Canned Heat, before being hired as an A&R man, or talent scout, for Specialty Records. The Doctor began his weekly radio show while working for Specialty, and he later worked for Warner Bros. Records.

Career[link]

The Dr. Demento radio show[link]

Hansen created the persona of Dr. Demento in 1970 while working at Pasadena station KPPC-FM.^[1] The positive listener response to the offbeat novelties that Hansen included in his rock oldies show led to his eventually turning it into an all-novelty show. At the end of 1971, he moved to KMET in Los Angeles. From 1972–83, he performed a four hour live show on KMET. Later, the show would be a two hour live show on KLSX, and after they converted to a talk-only format, moved to KSCA.^{[citation needed]}

His weekly show went into national syndication in a two-hour all-novelty format in 1974,produced by his manager Larry Gordon of Gordon/Casady^[1] and during 1978–92 was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network. The Westwood One period marked the height of the show's national popularity; it was carried in most major radio markets, airing mainly on FM rock stations, usually late on Sunday evenings. The producer Westwood One assigned to work with Hansen from 1978 to 1982 was Lynnsey Guererro, a former track star from UCLA and Senior Producer at the company. In 1982, he handed off the show to a new producer from San Diego, professional journalist Robert Young. It was under Robert Young's guidance that the show gained in popularity, mainly due to his willingness to foster relationships with national media and with nationally-known and up-and-coming artists, including John Mammoser, Judy Tenuta, Emo Philips, Pinkard and Bowden, Wally Wingert, and Mark Davis (Richard Cheese). Young accompanied Dr. Demento to Portland, Ore., Dallas, Texas, New York City, San Diego, Montreal, Phoenix, and other cities to do live performances and PR Events, taking photos, setting up interviews and even 'running the board' at some of the live shows. He left the radio network in 1992 during a business downturn.

From 1992 to 2000, the show was syndicated by On the Radio Broadcasting. Hansen, under the name "Talonian Productions," handled syndication himself from 2000 until discontinuing syndication in 2010 (though Hansen did not reveal he was Talonian until being forced to respond to significant criticism of the company in 2007; this despite the fairly obvious fact that Talonian had no involvement in any other show than Dr. Demento). Between the mid-seventies and the mid-nineties, Hansen continued to do live broadcasts on KMET and other California stations, in addition to his weekly taped syndicated show. He also made occasional television appearances, on such shows as Bobby's World and The Simpsons, and on the Barnes and Barnes music video for "Fish Heads".

The syndicated radio show normally started with an hour of randomly chosen records and listener requests. The second hour was normally mostly devoted to a specific theme (cars, sports, pets, romance, movies, etc.) with a final segment taken up by a "Funny Five" countdown of the most requested songs. There were also shows devoted to holidays and seasonal events, with the most important being the Halloween and Christmas shows (Hansen produced multiple Christmas shows during the holiday season consisting solely of novelty Christmas music), because of the large number of novelty records those holidays have inspired.) The final radio episode each year was the Funny 25, a countdown of the 25 most requested novelty songs that year (see below). For most of the syndicated show's history, Hansen produced 52 original weekly shows every year; repeat broadcasts were rare.

The current online-only show follows a similar format, except that, no longer being limited by a radio time slot, the show usually exceeds two hours and may include "bonus tracks" at the end of the show. Also, the weekly "Funny Five" has been replaced by a monthly Top Ten in order to allow for more comprehensive special topic segments. This format, along with the ability to play records that previously would have been censored on the radio, has allowed Hansen to delve more deeply into his collection than was possible on the syndicated radio show.

The program's opening theme is an instrumental version of "Pico and Sepulveda" recorded for the show by The Roto Rooter Good Time Christmas Band. The same Los Angeles area group recorded some of the musical teasers used on the show, such as "It's time for number one...." The other "countdown" intros come from "Barstow" by the American maverick composer Harry Partch. Hansen's opening line, "Wind up your radios," refers to the rare 78rpm novelty records from the days of wind-up phonographs that he has featured on the show, especially in its early years. The closing theme is "Cheerio, Cherry Lips, Cheerio," a 1929 vocal by Scrappy Lambert (recording under the name Gordon Wallace), which Hansen tells listeners he discovered in a thrift shop. The Doctor closes each show with "Stay Dement-ed!"

Whimsical Will (real name: William Simpson^[2]) has produced a weekly "Demented News" for the show since the early 1990s. He also has recorded false comedy interviews "break-in" style, following Dickie Goodman, including "Hey Dickie" (1989), which is available on iTunes.

Recent years[link]

Starting in the late 1980s, the show began to lose affiliates, a victim of media consolidation and other changes in the radio industry that were pushing many alternative rock stations and individualistic broadcasters off the air. In 1992, Westwood One dropped the show which was immediately picked up by another syndicator, On the Radio Broadcasting.^[3] This allowed the syndicated show to air records which were popular on the local Los Angeles show, but Westwood One would not allow such as "It's A Gas" by Alfred E. Neuman and "Moose Turd Pie" by Utah Phillips. It also allowed Whimsical Will's Demented News, a fixture of the local Los Angeles show, to also air on the national show. In 2000, Hansen formed Talonian Productions to syndicate the show himself.^[4] According to Hansen, the show has steadily lost advertisers, and as such, he had to restructure the distribution of the show from the usual barter system to a system in which stations pay a rights fee for the program (though he apparently made exceptions in some major markets, such as WLUP in Chicago). He stated in October 2007 that "unless the show's financial situation changes soon, I will be unable to continue the show much longer."^[5] After approximately two and a half years, and no significant change in the show's financial situation, the Dr. Demento official website announced on June 6, 2010 that the show that aired that weekend would be the final broadcast in the terrestrial radio version; however, new episodes of the online streaming version will still continue to be produced for the foreseeable future, with new episodes posted every Saturday. In addition, according to the site, "...by special agreement and due to contractual considerations, a version of the internet show will be heard weekly on KACV-FM (in Amarillo, Texas), at least through the summer."^[6] The show was removed from KACV-FM in January 2011.

Beginning in approximately 2006, The Dr. Demento Show began offering audio streaming at the show's official website. Large archives from 1992 to the present, as well as a few select archives from the early 1970s, are available, but the syndicated programs from 1978 to 1992 are not because the broadcast rights are held by Dial Global (Dial Global purchased Westwood One in 2011). Some live local shows which aired in Los Angeles from this period are slowly being added, with a small per-show fee levied for this service so as to make the show profitable. As part of the contract between Dr. Demento and radio stations, radio stations were prohibited from streaming the program online. Several radio stations have been forced to drop the program because of this policy, thus reducing Dr. Demento's affiliate count (seven affiliates in 2008, versus over 100 at its peak), further exacerbating the show's financial problems. Despite the show's terrestrial cancellation, new online episodes are expected to be produced for the foreseeable future. The show ended its terrestrial broadcast on a cliffhanger, with the last terrestrial broadcast devoted to songs involving the word "big" and the first post-terrestrial broadcast devoted to songs involving the word "little."

From 2003 to 2005, XM Satellite Radio aired a weekly "Best of Dr. Demento" show (featuring a mixture of old and new material) initially on the Special X channel and then on the 60s on 6, Deep Tracks, and Laugh USA channels.

Dr. Demento was inducted into the Comedy Music Hall of Fame in June 2005.^[7] He was interviewed in the 2005 documentary film about outsider musician Wild Man Fischer, titled Derailroaded: Inside The Mind Of Wild Man Fischer,

In September 2007, Dr. Demento portrayed the role of Hippocrates on The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd.

In addition to his syndicated show, he still makes occasional guest appearances for other shows. His most recent guest-hosting stint was for Montel Williams on the now-defunct Air America Media. (Despite the network's politically-driven format, the guest stint followed his normal format of novelty music, specifically Halloween music, since the show aired on October 30, 2009, the day before Halloween.) ^[8]

On November 7, 2009, Dr. Demento was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.^[9]

Personal life[link]

Hansen has been married since 1983 to Sue Hansen, a former clerk and training officer at the Union Pacific railroad for twelve years. Hansen describes himself as "an armchair railfan", sometimes sampling his extensive collection of railroad-related songs on his show.

Hansen has a longtime interest in the roots of rock 'n' roll in R&B and country music, and he has written about it in many magazine articles, liner notes to compilations and new recordings by a variety of artists, and two chapters on early R&B for The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll. His shows and public appearances display an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of recorded music in general, from the earliest Edison cylinder recordings onward.

Influence[link]

Dr. Demento may be best known for bringing parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic to national attention. In 1976, Hansen spoke at the then-unknown Yankovic's school where Yankovic gave a self-recorded tape of comedy songs and parodies to Hansen. The first song, "Belvedere Cruisin'" about the family station wagon, was featured on the show. Positive listener response encouraged Yankovic to record more parodies, leading eventually to a record deal and pop chart success in the 1980s. Hansen has appeared in a number of Weird Al's music videos, as well as Weird Al's movie UHF.^[10]

Other artists who made the pop charts after getting exposure on the Dr. Demento show include Larry Groce ("Junk Food Junkie", 1975) and Elmo and Patsy ("Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", 1979). The show helped revive and maintain interest in novelty hits from the 1950s and 1960s that received scant airplay on mainstream pop or oldies radio stations, including "Alley Oop" by the Hollywood Argyles, "The Ballad of Irving" by Frank Gallop, "The Battle of Kookamonga" by Homer and Jethro, "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter from Camp)" by Allan Sherman, "I Want My Baby Back" by Jimmy Cross, and "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV. Hansen also revived interest in the double entendre songs of 1940s Borscht Belt comedian Benny Bell, especially Bell's signature tune, "Shaving Cream". He introduced a new generation to the manic big-band parodies of Spike Jones, the musical black humor of Tom Lehrer, and the many novelty records recorded by satirist Stan Freberg in the 1950s.

Another frequently-featured artist is Frank Zappa, whom Hansen cited as a major influence on the show and who appeared several times as a guest. The tribute show following Zappa's 1993 death was the first time the entire two-hour show was devoted to a single artist.

Another of the show's highlights occurred in the late 1980s when the satire/parody/improv hard rock trio Spinal Tap came in for a visit. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer appeared in full regalia and stayed in character for a three hour visit. Similar 'big moments' occurred in a visit from Screamin' Jay Hawkins ("I Put a Spell on You"), when the singer appeared in the studios in Culver City dressed in black cape, distributing explosives flash paper to great effect, and when Mel Brooks came in for an interview and was presented with an absolutely HUGE cheese cake from Canter's Deli on Fairfax Avenue.

Dr. Demento was parodied in an episode of Mr. Show with Bob and David as "Dr Retarded: Novelty Record Collector and Chief Head of Surgery, Mass General" and is featured as an expert in songs about "paranormal monster parties".

Discography[link]

A number of compilations have been released by Dr. Demento, including:^[11]

• Dr. Demento's Delights (1975)
• Dr. Demento's Dementia Royale (1980)
• Dr. Demento's Mementos (1982)
• Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time Volume I: The 1940s (and Before) (1985)
• Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume II: The 1950s (1985)
• Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume III: The 1960s (1985)
• Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume IV: The 1970s (1985)
• Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume V: The 1980s (1985)
• Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty Records of All Time, Volume VI: Christmas (1985)
• Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty CD of All Time (1988)
• Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time (1989)
• Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection (1991)
• Dr. Demento: Holidays In Dementia (1995)
• Dr. Demento's Country Corn (1995)
• Dr. Demento 25th Anniversary Collection (1996)
• Dr. Demento 2000! 30th Anniversary Collection (2001)

The Demento Society has released members-only demo compilations titled Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes yearly since 1991.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Demented Music Database - official playlist archive and more
• Dr. Demento Discography
• Dr. Demento at the Internet Movie Database
• The Mad Music Archive - a fan-run, user-supported site with song and artist information
• TOP 100 (or so) DEMENTED HITS (from Funny 25’s) - updated annually

Kenneth Horne is not to be confused with the playwright Kenneth Horne (1900–1975)

Kenneth Horne (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969) was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series, Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh, written with his co-star Richard Murdoch, arose out of his wartime service as an officer in the Royal Air Force. Ill health forced him to choose between commerce and show business after 1958, and, choosing the latter, he made two further popular radio series, Beyond Our Ken (1958–1964) and Round the Horne (1965–1968)

Early life[link]

Charles Kenneth Horne^[3] was the seventh and youngest child of Charles Silvester Horne and his wife, the Hon. Katherine neé Cozens-Hardy.^[4] Silvester Horne was a Congregationalist minister, Liberal MP for Ipswich, and powerful orator. His maternal grandfather was Herbert Cozens-Hardy, the Liberal MP for North Norfolk who became both the Master of the Rolls and Baron Cozens-Hardy on 1 July 1914.

Horne was educated at a preparatory school in Shrewsbury, followed by St George's School, Harpenden and the London School of Economics. His tutors at the LSE included Hugh Dalton and Stephen Leacock. Horne was dissatisfied there, and through the generosity of an uncle, Austin Pilkington of the Pilkington glassmaking family of St Helens, he was enabled to go instead to Magdalene College, Cambridge. He represented the university at tennis, partnering Bunny Austin, but was academically undistinguished and so neglectful of his studies that he was sent down in 1927.^[5]

Austin Pilkington was aggrieved at Horne's failure to make the most of the opportunity he had provided, and he decided against offering him a post in the family firm. However, through his contacts within the industry, he secured for the young Horne an interview with the Triplex Safety Glass Company at King's Norton, a district of Birmingham.^[6] Horne's sporting record commended him to the manager of the Triplex factory, and he was taken on as a management trainee on a very modest salary.^[7] In 1930, despite his unimpressive finances, he married Lady Mary Pelham-Clinton-Hope, daughter of the 8th Duke of Newcastle. The marriage was happy at first, but they were sexually incompatible. His wife left him and returned to her family home. The marriage was annulled in 1933 on the grounds of non-consummation, although the two remained on friendly terms thereafter.^[8]

When Horne's first marriage was dissolved, he was sought out by a former girlfriend, Joan Burgess, daughter of a neighbour at King's Norton. Unlike his first wife, she had much in common with him, including a liking for squash, tennis and golf and for dancing. A month before her 21st birthday they were married, in September 1936.

Royal Air Force[link]

Shortly before the Second World War, Horne enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on a part-time training scheme. He was commissioned as an acting Pilot Officer, and on the outbreak of war he served in the RAF full time.^[9] In between carrying out his RAF duties, Horne formed a concert party from his friends and colleagues.^[10] On the strength of this he was invited by the BBC to take part in a programme for the armed forces, Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer (the title taken from the then-current phonetic alphabet), which he compered. It eventually ran to 324 episodes.^[3] Within a year, Horne was promoted to Squadron Leader, and in 1943 he was posted to the Air Ministry in London with the rank of Wing Commander. In his spare time he made more BBC broadcasts, during the course of which he met Flight Lieutenant Richard Murdoch. They quickly formed a friendship, and Horne arranged for Murdoch to be promoted and posted to his department at the Ministry.^[11] Murdoch, a professional actor and entertainer for 12 years before the war, recognised Horne's talent as a performer, and used his contacts to secure him more broadcasting work. The principal result of this was their joint invention of Much-Binding-In-The-Marsh, a fictitious Royal Air Force station.

The BBC producer Leslie Bridgemont was responsible for a show called Merry-go-Round, which featured, in weekly rotation, shows based on the Army, Navy and RAF. In 1944 he gave Horne and Murdoch a trial, and Much-Binding, with Horne as "an officer so dim that even the other officers noticed" and Murdoch as his harassed second-in-command, became a popular hit.^[12] In 1944, Horne met and fell in love with Marjorie Thomas, a war widow with a young daughter. Joan agreed to his request for a divorce; she soon remarried very happily.^[13] Horne and Marjorie were married in November 1945.

Postwar[link]

In 1945 Much Binding was well enough established to be given its own weekly slot for a 39-week run. With the coming of peace, the supposed RAF station became a civil airport, and the show continued much as before, written by and starring Horne and Murdoch, with Sam Costa and Maurice Denham.^[12] By now, Horne had been demobilised from the RAF and returned to civilian life as Sales Director of Triplex. His business career was demanding, and his radio commitments had to be fitted in around it.^[14] After nine years in his senior position at Triplex, he moved in 1954 to be Managing Director of the British Industries Fair, a government-backed organisation promoting British goods worldwide. In the same year, Much Binding came to the end of its run.^[15] In 1956, the government withdrew its funding and the BIF closed. Horne received several attractive invitations, and chose the post of Chairman and Managing Director of Chad Valley toy manufacturers. He was a success in the post, but in 1958 he suffered a debilitating stroke. His doctors warned him that when he had recovered he would never be fit enough to combine a full-time business post with his broadcasting work. He decided to give up the former in favour of the latter.^[16]

After easing himself back into broadcasting as chairman of the radio panel game Twenty Questions, he began the second of his three major BBC radio series, Beyond Our Ken. This show was written by Eric Merriman and, for the first two series, Barry Took; Horne's supporting players were Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Ron Moody (soon succeeded by Bill Pertwee).^[17] Around the imperturbable establishment figure of Horne the other performers played a gallery of grotesque characters, including the exaggeratedly upper class Rodney and Charles, the genteel pensioners Ambrose and Felicity, the cook Fanny Haddock, and the gardener Arthur Fallowfield.^[18]

When Beyond Our Ken came to an end in 1964, the BBC commissioned a replacement series, Round the Horne, on similar lines, from Barry Took and Marty Feldman. Horne remained the genial and unflappable focal figure, and the writers invented a new lot of eccentric characters to revolve round him. They included J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, the walking slum; the Noël Coward parodies Charles and Fiona; the incompetent villain Dr Chu En Ginsberg; the dreadful folk singer Rambling Syd Rumpo and the outrageously camp Julian and Sandy.^[19]

Towards the end of his life, Horne starred in the ABC television series Horne A'Plenty. With Barry Took as script editor (and later producer), this was an attempt to translate the spirit of Round the Horne to TV, though with different actors supporting Horne: Graham Stark, for example, substituted for Kenneth Williams and Sheila Steafel for Betty Marsden. The first six-part series ran from 22 June to 27 July 1968, the second (by which time ABC had become Thames Television) from 27 November to 1 January 1969. No recordings survive of either series other than a videotape of the Christmas edition in rehearsal.

His other TV appearances included Down You Go, What's My Line?, Camera One, Ken's Column, Trader Horne (a weekly advertising magazine for the Tyne Tees region), Let's Imagine, Call My Bluff (as team captain), and various specials with Richard Murdoch such as Free and Easy (1953) and Show for the Telly (1956).^[20] In addition, he hosted a 1965 game show called Treasure Hunt for Westward Television.^[21] He was the subject of This is Your Life on 19 February 1962.

His radio appearances were legion, including hosting Housewives' Choice and acting as chairman of Twenty Questions and Top of the Form.^[20] He was twice a castaway on Desert Island Discs – first in April 1954 in tandem with Richard Murdoch and then on his own in January 1961. He was also popular on Woman's Hour and wrote a monthly article for She magazine for over a decade, starting in January 1957.

Because of his heart condition, Horne had been prescribed blood-thinning pills, but had stopped taking the anti-coagulants on the misguided advice of a faith healer. He died of a heart attack on Friday 14 February 1969, while hosting the annual Guild of Television Producers' and Directors' Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in London.^[20] Presenting the awards was Earl Mountbatten of Burma; an award had just gone to Barry Took and Marty Feldman (writers of Round the Horne) for their TV series Marty, and Horne had just urged viewers to tune into the fifth series of Round the Horne (due to start on 16 March) when he fell from the podium. The televised version of the event omitted the incident, bridging the gap with announcer Michael Aspel saying, "Mr Horne was taken ill at this point and has since died."

He was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium.

Tributes[link]

After his death, Horne was eulogised in The Times as "a master of the scandalous double-meaning delivered with shining innocence," while The Sunday Mirror called him "one of the few personalities who bridged the generation gap" and "perhaps the last of the truly great radio comics."

In The Sunday Times for 16 February 1969, Paul Jennings wrote of him: "If I ever knew a gentleman, it was Kenneth Horne. He moved, after all, in a world with a plentiful supply of synthetic personalities, but you never saw that glazed showbiz look in his eye. He gave you his whole attention, his whole courtesy. And what a courtesy it was! He would go literally miles out of his way to do anyone a kindness. I knew him in the context of panel games, to which his marvellous unforced humour, spontaneous but beautifully timed, always added sparkle."

In the December 1970 issue of The Listener, Barry Took recalled Round the Horne and said of its star: "He was an unselfish performer, but it was still always his show. You just knew it. A Martian would have known it. His warmth tempered the sharpness of the writing ... To say that everyone loved him sounds like every obituary ever written – nonetheless it's true ... Horne was one of the few great men I have met, and his generosity of spirit and gesture have, in my experience, never been surpassed. I mourn him still."

Legacy[link]

By 24 February 1969 it had been decided that Round the Horne could not continue without its star. As a result, the scripts for Series Five (which Horne had jokingly suggested should be subtitled 'The First All-Nude Radio Show') were hastily adapted into a new series for Kenneth Williams called Stop Messing About, which was widely judged a failure and discontinued in 1970.

Horne has since been made the subject of two biographies, Norman Hackforth's Solo for Horne in 1976 and, 30 years later, Barry Johnston's more detailed Round Mr Horne.

Editions of Beyond Our Ken and Round the Horne are regularly broadcast on the digital radio service BBC 4 Extra.

In October 2003 a successful stage show called Round the Horne ... Revisited opened in London, compiled by Series Four co-writer Brian Cooke from original scripts, and ran until April 2005 – also siring three nationwide tours and a BBC television film.

Horne was played in the West End and in the film by Jonathan Rigby, who in 2008-9 reprised the role in a new show, devised this time by Barry Took's ex-wife Lyn, called Round the Horne – Unseen and Uncut. In the touring version of Round the Horne ... Revisited (2004-5), Horne was played by Stephen Critchlow, who also played him in the BBC television drama Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!

On 27 February 2007 (Horne's centenary), BBC Radio 4 broadcast a half-hour documentary tribute entitled Sound the Horne. The following year, on 18 September, another Radio 4 documentary was broadcast; called Thoroughly Modest Mollie, this one focused on Horne's frequent ghost-writer, Mollie Millest, and featured Jonathan Rigby as Horne.

Then, in 2009, an unproduced pilot script written by Horne and Millest in 1966 was revived by the same Radio 4 team. Called Twice Ken is Plenty and intended as a two-man showcase for Horne and Kenneth Williams, the 21st century version was performed by Jonathan Rigby and Robin Sebastian. The show was recorded at the Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House on 10 June 2009 and first broadcast on 1 September.

(There was also a playwright named Kenneth Horne, 1900–1975, author of such comedies as Love in a Mist, And This Was Odd, Wolf's Clothing and A Public Mischief.)

Radio[link]

• Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer (1939–44)
• Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh (1944–53)
• Twenty Questions (as panellist, 1956, 1958; as chairman, 1949–51, 1961–68)
• Beyond Our Ken (1958–64)
• Top of the Form (1965–66)
• Round The Horne (1965–68)

Television[link]

• Free and Easy (with Richard Murdoch) (BBC, 1953)
• Down You Go (BBC, 1953–54)
• Find the Link (BBC, 1954–56)
• What's My Line (BBC, 1955)
• Camera One (BBC, 1956)
• Show for the Telly (with Richard Murdoch) (BBC, 1956)
• Trader Horne (Tyne Tees, 1959–60)
• Top Town (BBC, 1960)
• Let's Imagine (BBC, 1961–63)
• Ken's Column (Anglia, 1963)
• First Impressions (BBC, 1965)
• Home and Around (Tyne Tees, 1965–66)
• Treasure Hunt (Westward, 1965–66)
• Top Firm (BBC, 1965–67)
• Happy Families (Southern, 1966)
• Celebrity Challenge (Southern, 1966)
• Strictly for Laughs (ABC, 1967)
• Horne A'Plenty (Thames, 1968–69)

References[link]

Notes

Bibliography

• Hackforth, Norman: Solo for Horne: A Biography of Kenneth Horne (Angus & Robertson 1976; hardback, ISBN 0-207-95650-2; Coronet Books paperback, ISBN 0-340-24274-4)
• Johnston, Barry: Round Mr Horne: The Life of Kenneth Horne (Aurum Press 2006; hardback, ISBN 1-84513-123-1)
• Took, Barry: Laughter in the Air: An Informal History of British Radio Comedy (Robson Books 1976; hardback, ISBN 00903895781)

External links[link]

• Kenneth Horne at the Internet Movie Database