Waltzing "Matilda"

As you can imagine, Uncle P was snarky even when he was a child. As with many people, snark was a form of defense when we were kids. And if you were funny, you didn't get picked on for being different... too much. I realize now why I loved Roald Dahl's books as a kid. Their heroes were always smart, good kids who always win the prize, expose and punish the bad adults and rise above adversity, ending up with a much better life.

And so it is with Matilda, a story about a very, very smart little girl who is being raised by rather dubious (and ignorant) parents who obviously don't care about her at all. Dumped in a private school run by an ogre of a headmistress (one Miss Trunchbull), thanks to a deal made by Matilda's crooked used-car dealer father, Matilda finds out some remarkable things about herself. Trunchbull is an evil tyrant, while Matilda's teacher Miss Honey, is kind and encouraging and (as it turns out), Trunchbull's niece, whom Trunchbull swindled out of her inheritance.

SPOLIER ALERTS: Matilda soon discovers she has telekinetic powers and uses them to right all the wrongs in her life, including finally allowing her to live happily ever after with kindly Miss Honey in the home that should have been hers, all along. End of spoilers.

Danny DeVito directed and appeared in a 1996 Americanized version, starring Mara Wilson (Mrs. Doubtfire); Rhea Perlman ("Cheers"); Embeth Davitz (Army of Darkness) Pam (Aunt Marge) Ferris and Paul  (Pee-Wee Herman) Reubens. It's a funny and delightful (if not always faithful) telling of the tale, transplanting it to America and softening some the Dahl's edges and brightening some of his darker corners. DeVito and Perlman are hilarious as Matilda's scumbag parents; Ferris is downright frightening as Trunchbull and Davitz is just sweet enough without ever once slipping in to saccharine. It's a sweet and fun family fantasy. I may just have to do a "Forgotten Gems" post on it, soon.

And now the book has been adapted into a stage musical by the RSC, which is taking the West End  by storm and looks to make the jump across the pond to Broadway next year. I had heard something about this a few months back, but either didn't know or had forgotten that my favorite satirical song-smith, Tim Minchin, had written the show's songs. I can't imagine anyone better for the job. I follow NPR on Facebook and and got directed  to this excited and exciting article about the show here. Personally, I don't remember being so excited for a musical adaptation since The Producers. Have a look for yourselves:

I have to admit to wearing a big, idiotic grin on my face as I write this post. Of course, this news came after my last gift-exchange gathering of the year, with the big three; Q, K and Dale. We all loved what we got and then sat down to the first pasta meal my very Italian Q has served me in almost 30 years of eating her food. We did do a group effort spaghetti and meatballs at K's tiny, 3rd floor apartment many years ago, but that hardly counts. It was delicious, as was dessert. As was the new Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey that K got from Q & Dale. I gotta get me a bottle of that! Yum! I also finally got to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes, thanks to Q & Dale's OnDemand - a terrific popcorn movie which I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend, if you haven't already seen it. The four of us will gather again on New Year's Eve (along with a few other folks), for our traditional 'quiet' NYE. 

Sadly, real-life rears its ugly head until then, demanding the doing of laundry; the dusting of furniture; the putting-away of gifts and the running of the dishwasher. Maybe I should have gone to my sister's...

More, anon.

Prospero

Tim Minchin vs. Harry Potter and the Blog of Destiny

Sorry about that silly title. Okay, no I'm not. You know I loves me some nonsense. As proof, below is an actual line of dialog I wrote for a custom murder mystery (something I did briefly in the 90's to try and make an extra buck and fund my regular theatre company). The character was a diabetic who had been poisoned with sugar and became incoherent just before her death.
Her final words -- I'm almost ashamed to admit (but not ashamed enough to not post them) -- were:

"There's a great mammal on the gramophone this dictatorship! Let's all go to Venezuela and smell it!"

Those of my friends who read this (and my sister)* who took part in those custom shows, are either the most wonderful and amazing and trusting and insane friends or members of a mind-control cult led by yours truly. In this same production, which was a Hollywood spoof called "Whatever Happened to Mr. Ed?" I had two sisters named Hedy Lamour and Dorothy Lamarr. Dorothy was a paraplegic and Hedy her sadistic care-giver. We actually convinced the kitchen staff to serve a rubber rat under a tray -- which they promptly and hilariously trumped by pouring gravy over it!). It was also the first of only two times I've done drag - my character died and then his "Identical Twin Sister" showed up. So scary... And so much for my early writing career...

*Who will laugh and not be offended by that link - she knows I don't actually think of her in that way (and she is still the only person who always gets me).

Anyway... I visit about a dozen or more websites and blogs daily, and maybe another 8 or 10 that I visit weekly. Most of the sites I visit offer links to all kinds of weird, wild, wacky and wonderful things (and who doesn't love a healthy dose of comedic alliteration? W's and K's are always funny) and I often get ideas for Caliban's Revenge from them. Anyway, when I'm really desperate, I visit YouTube, FunnyorDie and Hulu. Occasionally, they provide with little gems that can inspire some ramblings.

Tonight, because I had posted a few of clips previously, YouTube suggested that I view another one. So I did. And here it is (language NSFW):

I love the abso-friggin-lutely off his rocker mad look in Tim's eyes in that video. It sort of reminds me Terry Jones at the organ on Python.

Then, linked to that video was this clip which almost made me wet myself laughing:

Personally, I don't get the Harry Potter thing. I read the first book on a flight from Philadelphia** to Tampa and still had time to take a nap. I thought Rowling was an "Okay" writer who liked having fun with words, but I'd much rather read King, Straub, McCammon, Barker or Gaiman for my doses of Fantasy. Though more than one of my dear friends are avid Potter fans, my reaction is "meh." My interest was only piqued when Rowling made this shocking announcement:

While not enough to warrant it's own "The Gayest Thing" post (if only because it's old news), it's gay enough to be included on this blog.

So, what does any of that have to do with each other? No farging clue, my dears. Stream of Consciousness is often a very scary (or at least, moderately disturbing) thing. Damn you, James Joyce!

And my motto, of course: "A little nonsense now and then / Is cherished by the wisest men." I hope the rest of your holiday weekend is is silly, safe and satisfying (there goes that damned alliteration again!).

**That link is especially for D.

More nonsense, anon.

Prospero

Why Have I Not Seen Him Before?

Warning - this post would probably be rated "R" by MPAA for language.

This is British comic musician Tim Minchin. Raunchy, clever and downright hysterical, Tim writes and performs hilarious songs that many would consider risque. Obviously classically trained, he is a clever lyricist and brilliant pianist.

I just discovered him after Jonco over at Bits&Pieces posted a video clip from an appearance on the Graham Norton Show. Norton is an hilarious, openly gay and rather naughty Irishman with his own chat show on the BBC. He's not above placing speakers and cameras in public toilets as pranks and often manages to have major celebs like Dustin Hoffman and Cher take part in his impish shenanigans. If you've never seen it, I suggest you check his show out on BBC America.

The first clip below is the first one I saw of Minchin in performance, and it made me laugh so hard, I had to seek out others.

Not for the prudish or easily offended, Minchin's songs make fun of everything from weird sex to racism and movies. In fact, while searching for clips of his work, I realized that his excellent cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" was used in one of my favorite modern films, Donnie Darko, the film in which I first fell in love with Jake Gyllenhaal.

Enjoy these clips of Minchin in performance (some of which may be NSFW).

First, "Inflatable You," the clip that made me love Minchin:

And then "If You Really Loved Me," a song about... well... golden showers:

Next, a parody synopsis of Donnie Darko:

And the music video for Minchin's beautiful and haunting Donnie Darko cover of "Mad World:"

And finally, a favorite silly song, from which Minchin must have taken inspiration:

You can be assured that I will be on the lookout for more from this talented and hilarious performer.

More, anon.

Prospero