Review – Flanders and Swann

“Mud Mud Glorious Mud” and “Gnu” were freakin’ top of the pops between sixty and seventy years ago but they hold up well over time as completely ridiculous songs. This is a stupendously old style presentation of coherently witty songs from deep within the last century. Can’t say I knew much about the original songwriters Flanders and Swann. I’ve never heard these comic songs before, but there were plenty of folk in the audience gadding about singing along with the material. It’s presented in the old ‘Night at the Prom’s’ style with lots of silly anecdotes, tut-tutting and stiff upper lips. Many of these puns influenced the Monty Python team long ago; Pythonites will find direct connections between these songs and the overall style and the content of the Flying Circus.

It’s the sort of easy going program that grandpa and grandma would love, so if you’ve been keeping them in the cellar take my tip and whip them out for this utterly flabbergastable concoction of sillydom by way of devilish sauceyness. Younger folk may not enjoy the jokes because, “They wouldn’t know what a ‘Gasman’ was; what?”