While I am posting about obscure websites, I am pleased to see that one has just been launched to document the work of Gerard Hoffnung, whose work, I realise, was very much a feature of my childhood, along with Flanders and Swann:-
While I am posting about obscure websites, I am pleased to see that one has just been launched to document the work of Gerard Hoffnung, whose work, I realise, was very much a feature of my childhood, along with Flanders and Swann:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
How marvelous! In the late 1970s, there was a program on NPR in the States called ‘Weekend Radio from Cleveland.” The host, Robert Conrad filled the hour with all sorts of recording, including a fine selection of British humour, rare in America. Gerard Hoffning was aired often, especially the immortal “Bricklayer’s Sketch,” perhaps the single finest example of the use of formal phrasing and the pregnant pause all to an hysterically funny end. It is also where one could hear excerpts from the Goons, Monty Python, and many others that turned out to be useful introductions to my future home. (It is also amusing that my recent photo of you appears above as I type.)
Dear Richard, Thank you – and yes, your excellent photo is now properly up. Charles
Thanks. Good to know. His cartoons are magnificent. There are quite a few Hoffnung recordings and films on YouTube, including a (rather poor) recording of the Bricklayer’s Tale delivered at the Oxford Union in 1958.
Dear David, Thank you. Yes, I started watching it yesterday. Charles
I loved this post. It allowed me to revisit all those classic Hoffnung performances, and also to find out more about him
Part of my youth. So original and joyful
Am so glad. That’s what I felt. Charles