A wander down memory lane with the Goons...

I went to see “Ying Tong: a walk with the Goons” last night at the Opera House Drama Theatre. It was really fabulous. As a girl, I grew up with a Goon mad father who had all the recordings and all Spike’s books and it took me years to actually decipher what they were even saying. I realized last night though how much I actually took in during my long goon exposure all those years ago. The play is primarily about Spike Milligans’ nervous breakdowns, in particular the one that forced the end of the Goon Show in the early 1960s. It also deals with the relationships between the four men (Wallace Greenslade who was the BBC style announcer on the show is also a character in the play) and the power struggles between Sellers and Milligan that culminated in Milligan trying to kill Sellers with a potato peeler (funny but awful at the same time). A lot of the play is in the form of unashamed flashbacks and the crazy characters of the Goon Show interacting in Milligans’ mind and memory. I haven’t laughed so much in ages – even though at times the laughter is bittersweet. Spike Milligan’s battle with mental illness is central to the play and such a horrible yet wonderful story. I recommend anyone with a love of the Goons, Monty Python or British comedy in general to go and see this play, which is really a tribute to probably the greatest comic genius of the 20th Century. For a more sufficient review then what is essentially my gushing, go here or here ! I have to say, it was also a lovely walk down memory lane as it reminded me so poignantly of my wonderful Dad who loved to laugh.

That damn song is stuck in my head though...