| Description | Laughing Matters' with Josie Lawrence (edited programme as broadcast on British Airways Radio).
[00:03] Josie Lawrence [J.L.]’s Dad was the first person to make her laugh. [00:50] Morecambe and Wise [01:47] Clip of Morecambe and Wise is played. [02:42] Clip ends, J.L. compares good double acts with good marriages, Ernie was as important as Eric.
[03:32] Round the Horne, The Goons, Julian & Sandy. [04:07] J.L. talks about alternative comedy and how anything can be talked about now, but she is a fan of innocent humour, funny for funny’s sake, not trying to shock. [04:54] The Navy Lark. [05:06] Clip of Julian & Sandy plays.
[09:54] clip ends, Laughing Matters jingle plays. [10:00] J.L. talks about being funny at school. [10:42] J.L. and her friend Bev dressed as Rod Stewart and Britt Ekland. [11:13] J.L. wanted to be an actress, improvisation and The Comedy Store was a side-line and she fell into comedy by accident.
[11:46] she did Brunch, Friday Night Live, and Who’s Line Is It Anyway [WLIIA]. [11:57] someone at the Comedy Store asked them if they wanted to audition for WLIIA at the Donmar Warehouse. [12:10] she was doing one of Paul Merton’s radio shows at the time.
[13:04] Clip of Ken Dodd plays. [19:37] Clip ends, J.L. discusses Ken Dodd and how she liked the Diddymen and the visual Ken Dodd as a child and what he was saying later, he was the last from the music hall tradition. [20:20] An Audience with Ken Dodd, three hours of material.
[22:39] Laughing Matters jingle plays [22:43] Clip of Steven Wright plays [27:39] Clip of Steven Wright ends, JL discusses. [28:16] she met him at his house in LA. [28:59] Songs with stories, lyrics, Noel Coward [30:21] Clip of Noel Coward plays.
[35:09] Clip of Noel Coward ends, Laughing Matters jingle plays. [35:14] [Dawn] French & [Jennifer] Saunders, double acts, she asks if Eric [Morecambe] and Ernie [Wise] would have been as good in their own right, she says French and Saunders are also good in their own right. [36:41] Clip of French & Saunders plays. [40:19] Clip of French & Saunders ends. [40:31] JL talks about being on Absolutely Fabulous. [41:15] JL jokes that she wish they were married to her instead of Ade Edmondson and Lenny Henry.
[41:21] JL discusses being a female comedian and why women don’t tend to go into comedy. [41:55] JL cites Hattie Hayridge, Jo Brand, Mandy Knight, French & Saunders, Morwenna Banks, Tracey Ullman as examples of women in comedy, and it’s about the confidence of going on stage. [42:19] JL talks about William Cook, who dismisses impro as being for “luvvies”. She goes on to say she doesn’t like analysing comedy.
[43:48] Laughing Matters jingle and JL sting. [44:10] Clip of Lord Buckley plays. [51:20] Clip of Lord Buckley ends, JL discusses, Lord Buckley as an influence on Lenny Bruce. [52:30] C.P. Lee, Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias, did show about Lord Buckley [53:13] Laughing Matters sting.
[53:17] The Comedy Store players, Neil Mullarkey, Lee Simpson, Jim Sweeney, Richard Vranch, Paul Merton, guests like Greg Proops, Tony Slattery, Tony Hawks. [54:07] The Masterson Inheritance improvisational radio show JL does with Caroline Quentin. [54:22] JL wants to get Siobhan Finneran, Sandi Toksvig, Caroline Quentin and herself on WLIIA. [54:56] Caroline Quentin is married to Paul Merton. [55:57] Clip of JL and Paul Merton on The Masterson Inheritance plays. [58:24] Clip ends, JL discusses not being nervous. [59:50] British Airways Radio jingle plays.
[01:00:33] JL talks about impro at school. [01:01:03] Dartington College of Arts, theatre degree, did serious impro. [01:01:29] she read Impro by Keith Johnstone. [01:01:34] Donmar Warehouse, she performed Songs for Stray Cats and Other Living Creatures. [01:01:45] cabaret nights, Jim Sweeney and Steve Steen, the Rupert Pumpkin Collective. [01:02:32] an American woman introduces JL to Nichols and May. [01:03:14] Clip of Nichols and May plays.
[01:11:15] Clip of Nichols and May ends, JL discusses. [01:11:35] JL talks about singing with Mike McShane. [01:12:08] JL talks about people asking her if WLIIA is rehearsed or scripted. [01:13:01] JL goes on Terry Wogan to make up a song, they asked her if she wanted a plant in the audience. [01:14:17] Laughing Matters jingle.
[01:14:21] Joyce Grenfell, St. Trinian’s films, [01:14:35] character actresses. [01:14:41] Beryl Reid, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Killing of Sister George [01:15:07] Sian Phillips worked with Beryl Reid on Gigi, and JL went to meet her. [01:15:34] Beryl Reid telling stories about the Liverpool Empire. [01:16:18] Joyce Grenfell. [01:16:37] Margaret Rutherford. [01:18:06] Stately as a Galleon [01:18:10] Clip of Joyce Grenfell plays. [01:21:01] Clip of Joyce Grenfell ends, JL discusses. [01:21:18] Laughing Matters jingle.
[01:21:23] JL talks about auditioning for a sitcom with Mike Grady, Stephen Rea, and Ronald Pickup, called Not With a Bang. [01:22:03] Another sitcom called Downwardly Mobile with Frances De La Tour, Stephen Tompkinson. [01:22:41] Outside Edge, prefers comedy drama like Alan Bennett. [01:22:59] She likes sitcoms, likes Roseanne more than Cheers, Absolutely Fabulous, [01:23:20] Garry Shandling and The Larry Sanders Show. [01:24:43] Clip of Garry Shandling plays.
[01:29:36] Clip of Garry Shandling ends, Laughing Matters jingle. [01:29:40] Peter Sellers, JL fancied him as Inspector Clouseau, Hard Day’s Night. [01:30:29] Clip of Peter Sellers plays. [01:32:16] Clip of Peter Sellers ends, JL discusses. [01:32:28] Peter Sellers was a Goon, at the time Spike Milligan was JL’s favourite. [01:34:14] JL talks about Tony Hancock. [01:34:26] Clip of Tony Hancock plays.
[01:44:12] Clip of Tony Hancock ends, JL discusses. [01:45:30] Laughing Matters sting. [01:45:45] Clip of Eddie Izzard plays. [01:49:42] JL talks about seeing Eddie Izzard street performing in Covent Garden with her Mum. [01:50:28] Gig with Ben Elton, Hugh Laurie, French & Saunders, and Eddie Izzard. [01:51:04] Izzard asked JL if he could guest at the Comedy Store.
[01:52:00] Laughing Matters jingle. [01:52:04] Bob Newhart, Alistair Cooke Letter to America. [01:53:27] Clip of Bob Newhart plays. [01:59:24] Clip of Bob Newhart ends, JL discusses how she hates being analytical about what she likes. [02:00:00] Quotes Philip Larkin. [02:00:23] British Airways Radio jingle plays. [02:00:30] Recording ends. |