Search - Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller :: Beyond the Fringe [Original London and Broadway Cast]

STILL FUNNY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS . . .

Alan W. Petrucelli | THE ENTERTAINMENT REPORT (ALAN W. PETRUCELLI) | 08/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What has eight legs, is 47-years-old and will make you laugh until you wet your pants? Hint: It has something to do with fringe . . . DRG has reissued the Broadway recording of the 1962 comic revue Beyond the Fringe,starring four fab British lads who weren't the Beatles . . . yet who won almost as much international fame.

Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore, as they were billed back then, all went on to great success is other show business endeavors. Bennett is currently represented on Broadway with The History Boys and Miller become one of the great directors of opera in the last century. Dudley Moore and Peter Cook both died tragically young, but both with a number of noteworthy movies, recordings and television credits.

But it is in these 10 brief sketches nearly a half-century old that their genius in writing and performing is evident. From "Bollard." in which four less than masculine commercial actors butch it up for the microphone to "So That's the Way You Like It," which savagely parodies bad British acting, neither the material nor the performances have dated badly. The satire, parody, wit and humor of these four young men at the start of their careers and the peak of their creative power is astounding all these many years later. Kudos to DRG for having the brains to reissue a very funny revue that continues to influence British and American comics--and continues to make people howl."

Praise for "Beyond the Fringe"

Daniel A. koger | 07/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is British humor at its wryest best. These are comedy geniuses whose work, while somewhat dated, is still as fresh as today's edition of The Daily Show."

Utterly hilarious!

A. Woodley | New Zealand | 01/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Despite being more than 40 years old now - this CD of Beyond the Fringe is wonderful. In its time it was a theatrical hit in London, a satical review of four - Dudley Moore, Peter cook, Jonathon Miller and Alanb Bennet. Blandly humourous - their takes on Shakespeare (So that's the way you like it) - the use of language and dramatic style underlying the absurdity of the script. But the most especial item on this is Dudley Moore's rendering of Colonel Bogey in several different styles - only someone with deep knowledge of music and how it works could inject it into an enormous number of recognisable tunes from the likes of Mozart and Beethoven so effortlessly and hilariously. The long drawn out ending is a tour de force





There is a wonderful spoof called the 'aftermyth of war" which takes off the documentaries of World War Two Heroism with the outrageous suggestion "unavoidably came peace"



Very enjoyable, you will have to listen closely to pick up some of what is said, but it is worth the effort."