heading for London

very excited to say I’m off to London in the first week of September for the launch of the Just A Minute book. Any London based fans wanting to get together let me know, and hopefully I’ll be able to post lots of pics and reports from the launch!

RIP Elaine Stritch

The brilliant American actor, comedian and singer, and JAM guest, Elaine Stritch has died at the age of 89.

 

Her one JAM appearance in 1982 is widely regarded as one of the best JAM shows ever done – Nicholas once declared it his favourite single show. We are spoilt for choice on that accolade, but Elaine’s brassy approach, humour and disregard for the rules certainly made this one of the most memorable shows ever. It also brought out the best in both Kenneth Williams and Sir Clement Freud.

 

Some of the obituaries which look back over her long and memorable career...

 

from Vanity Fair

 

From Theatermania

 

From The Washington Post

 

From the New York Times

 

From the Huffington Post

 

And if you haven’t yet heard Elaine’s JAM sit back for half an hour for a listen. You won’t regret it. In fact, do that even if you have heard it and have a thought for her many friends who will miss this unique character.

JAM 900th

Another two JAMs were recorded on Monday night. The audience were told it was the 900th and 901st shows, which - by some counts - it could well be.

I haven't as yet found out who was on the panel, but will update when I do. The only other recordings for the next season will be at the Edinburgh Festival in August.

Nicholas is interviewed briefly about this on the Jeremy Vine show - that's here and it's about 18 minutes in.

Updating -

The panel was Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock, Russell Kane and Holly Walsh.

I guess Sue Perkins must be booked for Edinburgh, otherwise she won’t appear this year at all!

new panel

two more shows recorded last week, with the panel including Tony Hawks, Gyles Brandreth, Stephen Mangan and newcomer Kerry Godliman.

videos

I thought people might be interested in this recent video of Nicholas Parsons.

http://youtu.be/eNsBboUPmyY

also this video of the great Kenneth Williams on an Australian chat show is new to Youtube and features him telling many of his best stories....

http://youtu.be/yKIF7D7YNhE

Just A Minute - the book

The book on Just A Minute by Nicholas Parsons is in the final stages of editing and is due for launch in September.

Amazon has a page up on it, with endorsements from Paul Merton and Sue Perkins. You can also see the cover design, though if you look closely you'll see it's not quite finished!

I can also say that there is a small statistical section at the back, compiled by me.

I am hoping to get to London for the launch.

Anyway, interesting to see that this book is going ahead.

And look at the title – Welcome to Just A Minute – reminds me of a website...

Coincidentally Paul Merton also has his autobiography coming out in September so looks like that will be a busy month for JAM fans for reading new books!

testing JAM app

Malcolm Messiter, the son of JAM creator Ian Messiter, has written to me...

Hello Dean,

You may be pleased to hear we are creating an app for iPhones and iPads which will allow Just a Minute to be played at home!

This will be followed almost immediately by a exactly similar app running on Android devices. Players will be able to use a mix of device types.

In about four or five weeks from now, this app will be ready for beta test.

I wonder if you possess any iPads or iPhones?

Might you perhaps be interested in being one of the beta test people?

We are allowed by Apple to distribute =< 100 copies for beta test.

I see you have a Yahoo group. I wonder if several of those people might be interested in testing the app?

Those who might wish to test the app need to know that it uses Bluetooth 4.0 for communication between iPhones (which act as buzzers) and an iPad (which runs the Chairman app).

Bluetooth 4.0 is supported on the iPhone 4s and later, but not earlier. It's supported on the iPad 3, but not earlier

If anyone is interested in taking up the offer to test this app, please write to me at dean@just-a-minute.info and I will pass on your email to Mr Messiter.