RIP Dave Allen

[wayne]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/...435715,00.html

Especially saddened to hear this, as I not only grew up laughing with the man but had the pleasure of spending a morning with him doing an interview...

Why can't it be Jim Davidson, eh?

[Lord Thames]

One word - genius.

If you still have that interview, Wayne, I'd like to see it - he didn't do them very often, I understand. I think he once said he admired Alastair Sim because he never gave an interview in his life.

I wonder how many future Vultures were introduced to the world of Alan Hawkshaw by staying up too late to watch Dave Allen At Large?

[Matt Hero]

'Blarney Stoned'

[wooly]

Most of us were definitely partly introduced to Alan Hawkshaw through "Dave Allen At Large", surely? For some reason, I've got an image of playing with new xmas presents as a kid when his show was on... must have been an xmas special.

Bad loss indeed.

[Lord Thames]

Actually, his 70s shows used a fair bit of classic KPM - there's a great sketch about a ten pound note trapped under the wheel of a car that pretty much uses all of David Lindup's 'Calefaction' from 'Impact and Action'.

Try and get hold of the tape of his 1990 BBC series, though - his finest hour (and the one that caused uproar when he said the f-word! )

[Matt Hero]

Why can't it be Jim Davidson, eh?

Hang on Wayne, it will be soon enough. Just got a little bit of planning to finish......

[SARGE]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/...435715,00.html

Especially saddened to hear this, as I not only grew up laughing with the man but had the pleasure of spending a morning with him doing an interview...

Why can't it be Jim Davidson, eh?

I was named after him don't ya know.

[wayne]

If you still have that interview, Wayne, I'd like to see it - he didn't do them very often, I understand. I think he once said he admired Alastair Sim because he never gave an interview in his life.

I've got the article cutting on file (it was for a piece in the Big Issue to coincide with the release of his 'Dave Allen On Life' video back in 1998 or thereabouts) and a very rough unedited transcript on paper of the tape interview, though the 40minutes or so of taped interview was bookended by a good half hour of chatting while he finished his breakfast in the Langham Hilton opposite the BBC, and followed by another hour of natter after the machine was switched off. I'll have to dig them out and photocopy them for you at some point. Remind me.

And Matt, leave it, old son. He's not worth it...Some panto stage door on a dark night, it'll happen sooner or later.

[vibra]

"May your gods go with you.."

RIP

[Rich Hero]

And Matt, leave it, old son. He's not worth it...Some panto stage door on a dark night, it'll happen sooner or later.

Maybe he can be booked as Wee Jimmy Krankie's understudy next season... (Sarge, you were named after Jim Davidson??? Poor bloke, that explains so much... ).

RIP Dave.

[Lord Thames]

I've got the article cutting on file (it was for a piece in the Big Issue to coincide with the release of his 'Dave Allen On Life' video back in 1998 or thereabouts) and a very rough unedited transcript on paper of the tape interview, though the 40minutes or so of taped interview was bookended by a good half hour of chatting while he finished his breakfast in the Langham Hilton opposite the BBC, and followed by another hour of natter after the machine was switched off. I'll have to dig them out and photocopy them for you at some point. Remind me.

Ta, guv - the Dave Allen On Life video is fantastic, by the way; look out for it!

[wooly]

Actually, his 70s shows used a fair bit of classic KPM - there's a great sketch about a ten pound note trapped under the wheel of a car that pretty much uses all of David Lindup's 'Calefaction' from 'Impact and Action'.

My theory is spot-on I reckon - the reason I'm like this about all this music is because I soaked it all up as a kid without realising - it was everywhere. Even on Rog Whittaker's show by the looks of it...

[Matt Hero]

And Matt, leave it, old son. He's not worth it...Some panto stage door on a dark night, it'll happen sooner or later.

Yes, indeed..... but where does he always do Panto ? About 5 minutes away by car from where I'm sat

I can't avoid the f*cker.

[wayne]

Ah, I remember all these well...

"We spend our lives on the run: we get up by the clock, eat and sleep by the clock, get up again, go to work - and then we retire. And what do they give us? A fucking clock."

"I still think of myself as I was 25 years ago. Then I look in a mirror and see an old bastard - and I realise it's me."

"A good storyteller never lets the facts get in the way."

On the Irish Troubles: "Which is the fastest game in the world? Well, it's played in Belfast pubs, and it's called pass the parcel."

On having half a finger missing: "Am I the Irish comedian with half a finger? No, I'm the Irish comedian with nine and a half fingers."

On what he wanted inscribed on his gravestone: "Don't mourn for me now; don't mourn for me never - I'm going to do nothing, for ever and ever."

"I'm an atheist ... thank God."

"If it's sent by ship then it's a cargo, but if it's sent by road, then it's a shipment."

A man goes to heaven, and St Peter shows him around. They go past one room, and the man asks: "Who are all those people in there?" "They are the Methodists," says St Peter. They pass another room, and the man asks the same question. "They are the Anglicans," says St Peter. As they're approaching the next room, St Peter says: "Take your shoes off and tiptoe by as quietly as you can." "Why, who's in there?" asks the man. "The Catholics," says St Peter, "and they think that they're the only ones up here."

"Goodnight, thank you, and may your God go with you."

[Lord Thames]

And my favourite - 'In the name of the father, the son, and into the hole he goes.' If I were the person doing his funeral I'd have trouble resisting the temptation to say that!

"We spend our lives on the run: we get up by the clock, eat and sleep by the clock, get up again, go to work - and then we retire. And what do they give us? A fucking clock."

The very quote that caused such outrage fifteen years ago - hard to believe now, they say worse than that on Grange Hill these days.