Brilliant Bob Monkhouse: Just a Classic Minute, Volume 3
Think Just a Minute and, depending on your age, chances are you think of someone like Kenneth Williams and Clement Freud or Paul Merton and Gyles Brandreth.
However, one of the strengths of the show over the years has been the wide cast of occasional guests, including Bob Monkhouse.
Much more famous for his other works, this collection of Just a Minute shows includes one that shows him at his brilliant best. Given the topic of ‘one-liners’ he so nearly manages to go for a full uninterrupted minute throwing out one-liner after one-liner.
For me, the introductions from Nicholas Parsons to each show in the Classic collections are a little too serious and self-considered. Even so, they do give a good sense of just how much work and skill is required to make the show and humour seems so effortless. They also add little nuggets of background information, such as the way Nicholas Parsons often had to cheer up Kenneth Williams mid-show to keep him making jokes and not slipping into quiet sullenness.
You can buy Just a Classic Minute Volume 3 from Amazon here.
Clement Freud – Liberal MP, Derek Nimmo – Liberal supporter. Hm, I wonder why Simon Hughes never appeared on "Just a Minute".
Parsons too – or have imagined that. But didn't Nimmo (good wicky in his day) go to the dark side?
Peter Welch There was a Home Service comedy programme (before it was called Radio 4) called "Listen to this space" in which Parsons played an old Liberal called "Mr Permanently-Green". Wish we'd kept that colour.