Not JAM but...
perhaps the best ever scene from my favourite sitcom Taxi, and featuring classic comic timing from Christopher Lloyd and Jeff Conaway who has sadly passed away... a happy way to remember him
posted by Dean | 8:23 am
1 Comments:
Hello Dean,
Thanks for your letter. One is on the way.Have been busy preparing for a recording of an episode of the comedy series I've been writing. I saw read about JAnet Brown dying. I had no idea she was so advanced in years.
I saw all of her Just A Minute's. She and Sheila Hancock are the only two women who spoke for two whole minutes in a single episode of the show - correct me if I'm wrong.
She got on well with Kenneth Williams because she and her husband Peter Butterworth the Carry On guy had often had Kenneth to dine at their home. I worked with their actor son Tyler on a play in the 90s and he told me that Kenneth was brilliant with children - a very funny man.
Her appearances on the show had none of the angst that would regularly occur when feisty women players were on the panel with Kenneth.But her debut shows with Magnus Pyke and Kenneth were great.
As soon as she got her own subjects usually the panel were so entertained they put down their buzzers - which is what normally happens when they saw that their guest was a good talker. I can recall her doing Maggie Thatcher.
It's sad that as usual with many of the guests who prove good at talking subsequent producers would not capitalise on guests success and would be forgotten.
Think of Victoria Wood, Sandi Toksvig, Jo Brand - brilliant in their unique ways.
I suggested to Sue Perkins what she thought of the occassional all women panel for Just A Minute and she thought it would be a brilliant idea.Sheila, Jenny, Sue and Liza would be my ideal 4.Then we've got Pam, Josie - whose winning ways on the show in such a short space of time have won my complete admiration. Aimi has also said that she would love a comeback on the show.That voice of hers always made me laugh - especially when the regulars had been waxing eloquent.
Talusha told me that she thought the idea of an all woman panel was too tokenistic - but she said she always tries to make sure that when she is producing that there are several two women shows as possible.
On the 9th of July my Oxfam book shop volunteers and me are holding a 5 team game of Just A Minute (each team with 3 people) to raise money for Oxfam Poverty UK.It's most likely to have the largest panel ever on Just A Minute - one for the record books !
Loved the account for the Radio 4 Extra Just A Minute. Glad they had our Sheila on it.It was all very sudden and Nicholas has been so busy travelling with his work that he had no way of telling me about it.There are two recordings for the new series on the 28th and either the 4th or the 5th of this month - both at Broadcasting House. Nicholas will tell me wsoon which of those days it is because it wasn't finalised.
Loved Graham and Julian's first JAM outing.Sheila and Sue's was good too.
I'm taking ten of the volunteers from my shop to see those recordings in preparation of our own JAM night.No news on whose on though.
Because of my near total lack of understanding with computors I was too late to join the Guardian blog on the 17th of MAy but it produced 129 replies.So many of them were crying out for a JAM website and many said that they had recorded old shows on cassettes.MAybe some of them have some of the shows you don't have.
I know you email Claire Jones regularly so maybe she can set up an afternoon of you and the listening booth at Broadcasting House when next you come to these shores. I have been told that the Beeb have all of the shows in their archives. I think if the Beeb owed anyone in this world a favour it is you. You have done more than anyone to protect the history of Just A Minute.
It's only a suggestion but the thought of you having all of the shows makes me feel that you should be rewarded for your hard work.
Hope you are happy and well
Don't work too hard
Lots of Love old chum
KEITH X
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