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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
For his many friends and fans, Peter Cook was quite simply the funniest man they'd ever met. Cook's unique gift for laughter and the way he changed the British sense of humour forever has been celebrated in several posthumous biographies, but until now there's been no book by Cook himself. This is it.
Despite the image he liked to affect, Cook was a prolific writer who penned countless outrageous sketches, plus heaps of hilarious articles. Some of these pieces have never been published before and many have only ever been seen or heard, rather than read.
This collection gathers together the treasures of Cook's comic career, from school and university via Beyond the Fringe, alongside Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore, to his surreal, satirical journalism for Private Eye. Illustrated with his own drawings, Tragically I was an Only Twin is the definitive collection of the wit, humour and genius of Peter Cook.
Peter Cook was someone that anyone with any interest in comedy will have heard of. His partnership with Dudley Moore on Not Only But Also included the classic Pete and Dud sketches, which later evolved into the more foul mouthed Derek and Clive, and he was rightly celebrated for his work with Beyond the Fringe. As the Blurb on the Back says, this book is not a biography (although each chapter is prefaced by some information about Cook and his work at the time) but a collection of what William Cook considers to be the best of Peter's work. There are certainly some classic sketches in there (including 'The Worst Job in the World', which involves Jayne Mansfield and the removal of lobsters and a Pete and Dud sketch retelling their harassment by beautiful actresses), but William Cook also includes articles and transcripts of Peter's work from a variety of sources.
Personally, I didn't enjoy reading the sketches so much as I enjoyed the articles. This is mainly because I think Cook's humour works best in the delivery and Cook's was so unique that reading his work seems a very poor substitute. In addition though (and at the risk of being branded a heretic), I think that there's a certain 'sameyness' to Cook's sketches - albeit sameyness of a surreal nature. You know what you're going to get from a sketch, which kind of robs it of its magic. That aside, I did enjoy reading his articles, particularly his sports articles (and this comes from the fact that (a) I don't support his teams and (b) I have very little interest in sport). Cook was certainly more prolific than I had imagined, and I also hadn't realised that he'd worked with both the 'godfathers' of comedy (e.g. Miller and Bennett) and also some of the current comedy titans such as Chris Morris and Clive Andersen.
Although William Cook takes the approach that Peter Cook's work speaks for itself, I would nevertheless have enjoyed just a little more insight into what he was trying to do and why it had the effect that it did. Whilst he does acknowledge the furore of the foul language and brutal imagery within the Derek and Clive performances, there's very little of what Peter and Dudley themselves thought of them. I will say that William Cook does not approach his subject with rose-tinted glasses - he does acknowledge Peter's failures as a writer and he makes a point of saying that some sketches could not be included specifically because they either did not work or only worked in a aural medium. This is to be commended and I do think that he's picked out some of the best of Peter Cook's work.
I don't think that this is a book that can (or should) be read through in one sitting. It's more something to dip in and out of and whilst there is certainly nothing wrong with that, people hoping for some insight into what Peter Cook was all about, may find that his work does nothing to solve the mystery.
The Verdict:
Something for dedicated comedy fans more than it is for those interested in knowing precisely who Peter Cook was, there are some interesting nuggets in this book and I did learn more about what Cook's work was all about. This is most definitely not for everyone though, and be warned that the Derek and Clive transcripts have some very unpleasant moments. It is also, by William Cook's own admission, most definitely not the complete Peter Cook as some of his work has been omitted.
For his many friends and fans, Peter Cook was quite simply the funniest man they'd ever met. Cook's unique gift for laughter and the way he changed the British sense of humour forever has been celebrated in several posthumous biographies, but until now there's been no book by Cook himself. This is it.
Despite the image he liked to affect, Cook was a prolific writer who penned countless outrageous sketches, plus heaps of hilarious articles. Some of these pieces have never been published before and many have only ever been seen or heard, rather than read.
This collection gathers together the treasures of Cook's comic career, from school and university via Beyond the Fringe, alongside Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller and Dudley Moore, to his surreal, satirical journalism for Private Eye. Illustrated with his own drawings, Tragically I was an Only Twin is the definitive collection of the wit, humour and genius of Peter Cook.
Peter Cook was someone that anyone with any interest in comedy will have heard of. His partnership with Dudley Moore on Not Only But Also included the classic Pete and Dud sketches, which later evolved into the more foul mouthed Derek and Clive, and he was rightly celebrated for his work with Beyond the Fringe. As the Blurb on the Back says, this book is not a biography (although each chapter is prefaced by some information about Cook and his work at the time) but a collection of what William Cook considers to be the best of Peter's work. There are certainly some classic sketches in there (including 'The Worst Job in the World', which involves Jayne Mansfield and the removal of lobsters and a Pete and Dud sketch retelling their harassment by beautiful actresses), but William Cook also includes articles and transcripts of Peter's work from a variety of sources.
Personally, I didn't enjoy reading the sketches so much as I enjoyed the articles. This is mainly because I think Cook's humour works best in the delivery and Cook's was so unique that reading his work seems a very poor substitute. In addition though (and at the risk of being branded a heretic), I think that there's a certain 'sameyness' to Cook's sketches - albeit sameyness of a surreal nature. You know what you're going to get from a sketch, which kind of robs it of its magic. That aside, I did enjoy reading his articles, particularly his sports articles (and this comes from the fact that (a) I don't support his teams and (b) I have very little interest in sport). Cook was certainly more prolific than I had imagined, and I also hadn't realised that he'd worked with both the 'godfathers' of comedy (e.g. Miller and Bennett) and also some of the current comedy titans such as Chris Morris and Clive Andersen.
Although William Cook takes the approach that Peter Cook's work speaks for itself, I would nevertheless have enjoyed just a little more insight into what he was trying to do and why it had the effect that it did. Whilst he does acknowledge the furore of the foul language and brutal imagery within the Derek and Clive performances, there's very little of what Peter and Dudley themselves thought of them. I will say that William Cook does not approach his subject with rose-tinted glasses - he does acknowledge Peter's failures as a writer and he makes a point of saying that some sketches could not be included specifically because they either did not work or only worked in a aural medium. This is to be commended and I do think that he's picked out some of the best of Peter Cook's work.
I don't think that this is a book that can (or should) be read through in one sitting. It's more something to dip in and out of and whilst there is certainly nothing wrong with that, people hoping for some insight into what Peter Cook was all about, may find that his work does nothing to solve the mystery.
The Verdict:
Something for dedicated comedy fans more than it is for those interested in knowing precisely who Peter Cook was, there are some interesting nuggets in this book and I did learn more about what Cook's work was all about. This is most definitely not for everyone though, and be warned that the Derek and Clive transcripts have some very unpleasant moments. It is also, by William Cook's own admission, most definitely not the complete Peter Cook as some of his work has been omitted.
