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Comedy
Blair's Britain
By BrianRobertNeal
14 July 2007
A toe in the water to see if the sextet "work"

Following a meal out the three couples completed the evening by returning to Nigel and “Friggy’s” place. The ban on smoking had altered their life styles: so no pre-prandial drinks and no lingering over coffee afterwards.

It was George’s turn to drive and therefore not drink so he and his wife Susan had collected “Seamus O’Goldberg” and “Big Bess” and finally Nigel and “Friggy.” On return from the restaurant and now ensconced in the leather arm chairs and settees in N+F’s lounge the intercourse began. But before it starts let’s run round the six.

Nigel was a working class intellectual, the frightening outcome of grafting middle class stem onto barrow boy roots. His wife “Friggy” was a bright “Grammar School Girl” in her prime. They fought like cat and dog however their sex life shared elements with these mammals.

“Seamus O’Goldberg” had a fascination for Politics and History. “Big Bess” was a large shapeless lump whose only real contribution was to ensure that the group never turned to wife swapping.

George had gone to school with Nigel and should have outpaced him yet George went into Insurance and Nigel the LSE. George had met Susan at work. She had a sharp if prosaic mind and an impish sense of fun.

The table around which they sat was spread with nibbles, glasses and a range of drinks in bottles and boxes. There were four smokers, three heavy drinkers and two entwined lovers. Can you work out who these were? Seamus started this night’s discussion.

Seamus-
I wish that I didn’t have to breathe in your smoke.

Susan
-You could always go and sit in the garden.

Nigel-
And breathe in next door’s barbecue fumes.

Seamus
- Five hundred thousand deaths will be prevented by banning smoking in public places.

George-
Say’s who?

Seamus
-It’s a fact.

Nigel-
You mean like the Jews all eat Christian babies and the Irish are all psychopathic killers. Both views have been held as truth in the past.

Friggy-
I like the smell of Cigars. It’s the only thing I’ll let him smoke in the bedroom.

Susan-
I tried cigarillos they were all right but I still needed a fag afterwards.

Nigel-What really frightens me is that we are becoming a Totalitarian State
where the rulers shape us. They tell us what we can think, what we can do and what we should be. Today smoking tomorrow what?

Seamus
-I agree with you there. They should be our servants but they have become our masters. The Local Authority thinks that it is a Feudal Baron lording it over the churls.

Susan
-I think we should be twinned with Nazi Germany.

George-
That’s only because you love the feel of black leather.

Friggy-
I once bought some black leather undies. Nigel never noticed.

Nigel
-No, you look best in pink with the odd auburn fur edging.

Friggy –What if I shaved?

Susan
-Bucket of cold water for Nigel and Friggy.

Seamus-
I blame the Blairs. Eric dreamt up the nightmare and Tony brought it to life.

Nigel-
No I blame Oscar Wilde, he decided that nature imitated art and so 1984 has come albeit in 2007.

Bess
-Who’s this Eric?

Susan
-Who’s this Tony?

Bess
-Tony Blair of course. Our best Prime Minister ever.

George
-If only Tony had been twins we could have used him as bookends.

Nigel
-Yes but he'd have twice as many pockets to line.

Friggy
-Lift up your glasses and drink to the good health of Tony Blair.

All-Tony Blair
.

George-We’ve invented a new form of state, one that evaded Plato’s nimble mind. We are a “Mediocracy”, a state driven by the “Media” and officered by the mediocre.

Nigel-Spot on George, the Politicians are the puppets of the Press Barons. Serves us right we sent our criminals over to Australia
and centuries later they send us back Rupert Murdoch.

Friggy-
Yes but we also got “Neighbours”, Kylie and Rolf Harris.

George
-And the Stylophone.

Seamus-
My idea of hell would be to be strapped down in a darkened place and subjected to “Greensleeves” played on the stylophone. Intermittently a voice would say “I’m sorry but all our tormentors are busy at the moment, we are aware of you and you are being held in a queue.”

Susan
-I like the idea of being strapped down.

Friggy-
It’s alright, you should try it.

Nigel
-Anymore talk like that Friggy and you’ll not be spanked tonight.

Bess-
Why must you always get smutty.

George
-Smutty isn’t that Sooty’s Afro-Caribbean friend.

Nigel-
Not it’s his Cape Dutch South African friend.

Friggy
-I preferred Andy Pandy.

Susan-
Come on Nige gives us a song.

Nigel
-ok here’s one you know.

Nigel
-You’ve often see me wandering looking disconsolate and glum.

All-Aaah
.

Nigel
-Cos no-ones really loved me not since I lost me dear old mum.

All-How sad.


Nigel
-This world’s a slough of despond full of misery and strife.

All-How True.


Nigel-So if there’s no football on the telly well you might as well pleasure the wife.

All-Pleasure the wife

Nigel-Pleasure the wife. This world’s a slough of despond full of misery and strife.

All-Pleasure the wife


Nigel
- Pleasure the wife. If there’s no football on the telly well

All-You might as well pleasure the wife.


Friggy
-So come on husbands, how do you pleasure you wife? Wives, how does your husband pleasure you?

George-
I read erotic verse.

Nigel-
I give her a body massage.

Seamus
-I do the washing up.

Susan
-He tells me that he prefers me cuddly

Big Bess
-He comes home drunk and falls asleep.

Friggy
-Does everyone want coffee?



End of part one.

Reviews

Written by Phil (6681 comments posted) 14th July 2007
Very readable in terms of easy flow etc, but I can't work out what it's for yet. Perhaps unfair as there is more to come - I'll have to wait and see. 
 
It's entirely up to you how you present your work, but this did seem to have a bit of a split personality. Part narrative, part script. While a lot of what was going on was implicit in the dialogue, a few stage directions may have helped with visualisation. 
 
You've introduced your six characters with some clues about their their personality. I wonder if it would help the reader to distinguish between them more successfully (and remember them for the next episode) if you didn't introduce them all at once. Perhaps that says more about my intelligence than your writing. By introducing fewer characters in one go, you could possibly reduce the longish preamble. 
 
As you know, I know little about scripting, so view this as a reaction rather than a crit. 
 
I'll look out for the next bit. 
 
Phil.
Watto Phil
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 14th July 2007
One of my heroes, Thomas Love Peacock, Wrote novels where the plot andcharacters were PDs to allow a range of discussions to be held. He was lampooning Plato's "Symposium". 
 
So at times prose leads into "script" and out again as TLP saw fit. 
 
His characters would always have eaten and are drinking. At some time a toast will be raised and one of the characters will burst into song. The novels normally start by describing the arrival of the guests so the intro fullfills this . 
 
The only Peacockian motif not covered is the creation of sheer pandemonium as a device to finish a chapter. 
 
So this really is a platform for raising serious political points.They have been leavened by humour. 
 
Thanks for your time and comments, 
 
Brian 
 
 
 
 
 

Written by Bottleblondesurfer (3331 comments posted) 19th July 2007
I quite liked the narrative description. I thought it was funny and summed sthem up well. I'm not sure it was necessary to the following dialogue but as a humourous pre-amble it was certainly a good read.  
It set a tone for light hearted humour that wasn't really carried through in the dialogue which, though humourous at times, was more of a comment on some serious current issues, both political and sociological.  
Using the differing characters to argue the points worked well and each character had their own agenda which gave them a 3 dimensional quality 
 

Written by wltshr (300 comments posted) 19th July 2007
I quite enjoyed this and liked the way you gave depth to the characters; I think it's possibly easier if you have one intellectual, one dimwit, one comedian etc rather than Seamus and Nigel who wavered a bit. 
 
Perhaps it's me. 
 
There are some very funny lines. I particularly liked Seamus' idea of hell. 
 
This could work well once you've made it more clear exactly who everyone is and defined the individuals a little more.  
 
Regards 
 
Wltshr  
 
 
Hi Bubbles
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 20th July 2007
It was a sugared "bitter pill".  
So just see my answer to Phil. 
 
Couplets at this time o' morning? 
When most folks would be a yawning. 
 
Brian 
 
Watto Wilty
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 20th July 2007
Thanks for your comments. 
 
Bess is the dimwit. Susan is "streetwise". The other 4 are all "Grammar School"* products. Two went to University-N+F, one left at 18 and took a job-George and one left school at 16 and got a trade-SoG. 
 
See my answer to Phil. 
 
* Or whatever today's equivalent is. 
 
Brian

Written by wltshr (300 comments posted) 20th July 2007
That's why I got confused. 
 
I would have expected this gem to have come from Nigel, or possibly George, but not Seamus. But only because of the witty and clever language used. 
 
"We’ve invented a new form of state, one that evaded Plato’s nimble mind. We are a “Mediocracy”, a state driven by the “Media” and officered by the mediocre. " 
 
Still enjoyable, nonetheless. 
 
Wltshr 
Watto Wilty
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 20th July 2007
That's a really good point. 
 
Think I'll give it to George whose mind is as sharp as Nigel's 
 
Thanks a bundle, 
 
Brian

Written by sasquatch (125 comments posted) 9th August 2007
as usual i wasnt sure wether to laugh or cry. so i did both.

Written by jimbo (83 comments posted) 19th August 2007
Being unaware of the work of TLP I did wonder at the introductory narrative. Now that I am aware I can't really comment as you seem to be paying tribute to the man - and his style of writing. 
However ... to contradict myself, I'll pretend I'm unaware of TLP's influence: the only thing I wasn't really taken with was the amount of narrative used to describe the characters. I prefer to have characters, and their personalities, described/revealed by what they say and by their actions. 
But that's just me. 
On the whole, your work made some very serious points in a light-hearted way. I agree with Wltshr regarding Seamus' idea of Hell. Wonderfully terrifying! (Shudders) 
Good work, though. Looking forward to part two. 
Cheers! 
Watto Sq
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 13th October 2007
I tend to bang my head against the wall. 
 
Brian
Watto J
Written by BrianRobertNeal (1195 comments posted) 13th October 2007
Thanks for your time and comments. 
 
Brian

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