Comedian Spike Milligan was a prolific letter writer and a new book includes his witty correspondence with royalty, pop stars and the man in charge of round tea bags
4 
The Telegraph - 18 Oct 2013
Spike Milligan's eccentric and imaginative humour influenced a generation of comedians – Eddie Izzard called him "the Godfather of alternative comedy" – and his zaniness shines through in Spike Milligan: Man of Letters, a new collection of correspondence published 11 years after he died at the age of 83.
Along with letters to famous politicians and best-selling musicians, there are missives to ordinary folk on surprising subjects. He loved to take up cudgels, whether against people who allowed their dogs to defecate in the street (one urging the police to prosecute a specific dog owner was headed "Milligan versus Dog Shit, Case Number 2") or just in fun at the introduction of round tea bags. In 1990, Milligan wrote to the Marketing Director of Tetley Tea:
Dear Ken,
Can you tell me when you changed from square to round tea bags, what did you do with corners?
Sincerely,
Spike Milligan
Can you tell me when you changed from square to round tea bags, what did you do with corners?
Sincerely,
Spike Milligan
Next to a rather stiff reply ("any excess material is carefully disposed of"), Milligan scrawled: "No bloody sense of humour".
Comedian Spike Milligan wrote more than 80 books, of fiction, memoir, poetry, plays and children's stories
Milligan complained to the Imperial War Museum about their Muzak for telephone callers put on hold ("three bars of Brahms, chopped up like sausage") and he wrote a letter to jazz club boss Ronnie Scott moaning about the terrible seat he had been allocated to watch Buddy Rich ("whoever invented that table invented a guide dog for the deaf"). Music was always important to Milligan and he seems genuinely touched by a letter from an Australia orchestra asking if they could perform one of his musical scores. He sent back his thanks "from an old time jazz trumpet player" (Milligan was quite a good trumpeter and once appeared in a televised concert with George Melly). He loved musicians and among the best correspondence in the book are his bantering letters to and from Elton John.
He wasn't always a sunny man, of course, and occasionally went over the top. He refers to poor old TV scriptwriter Ray Cooney as a c--t four times within a very brief letter to Eric Sykes. The BBC are also a target ("creeps" with an "idiot hierarchy") and he was frequently angry. Among the people who received long letters of complaint are his Barnet representative Margaret Thatcher, including about the Mulards in London parks. He wrote to newspapers all the time, including The Telegraph, especially about population control.
Milligan often found time to reply to letters from strangers and there is a touching reply to a woman who has mental health problems in which he says:
"I wish I could help you more. Next Step God".
Above all, though, it is the letters showing his silly side that are the most enjoyable. After a dispute over a parking fine, he wrote to Manchester's Deputy Chief Constable saying:
"I am now in the process of inventing an edible car"
and had no qualms about being daft with royalty, writing to his friend HRH Prince of Wales
"As to a wedding present, would you like India back?"
More
Comedian Spike Milligan wrote more than 80 books, of fiction, memoir, poetry, plays and children's stories Milligan complained to the Imperial War Museum about their Muzak for telephone callers put on hold ("three bars of Brahms, chopped up like sausage") and he wrote a letter to jazz club boss Ronnie Scott moaning about the terrible seat he had been allocated to watch Buddy Rich ("whoever invented that table invented a guide dog for the deaf"). Music was always important to Milligan and he seems genuinely touched by a letter from an Australia orchestra asking if they could perform one of his musical scores. He sent back his thanks "from an old time jazz trumpet player" (Milligan was quite a good trumpeter and once appeared in a televised concert with George Melly). He loved musicians and among the best correspondence in the book are his bantering letters to and from Elton John.
He wasn't always a sunny man, of course, and occasionally went over the top. He refers to poor old TV scriptwriter Ray Cooney as a c--t four times within a very brief letter to Eric Sykes. The BBC are also a target ("creeps" with an "idiot hierarchy") and he was frequently angry. Among the people who received long letters of complaint are his Barnet representative Margaret Thatcher, including about the Mulards in London parks. He wrote to newspapers all the time, including The Telegraph, especially about population control.
Milligan often found time to reply to letters from strangers and there is a touching reply to a woman who has mental health problems in which he says:
"I wish I could help you more. Next Step God".
Above all, though, it is the letters showing his silly side that are the most enjoyable. After a dispute over a parking fine, he wrote to Manchester's Deputy Chief Constable saying:
"I am now in the process of inventing an edible car"
and had no qualms about being daft with royalty, writing to his friend HRH Prince of Wales
"As to a wedding present, would you like India back?"
More
No comments:
Post a Comment