Worcestershire | Archive | 2005 | July | 8
From the archive, first published Friday 8th Jul 2005.
Comedian Ian McMillan's confidence was a joy to behold as he performed with Tony Husband, the Cartoonist of the Year.
It was almost alarming how he greeted the audience at the door and mingled with them, both before and after the show. Clearly, here was an affable man with nerves of steel.
He had plenty of words and jokes too, often sending himself up in a deadpan, northern way.
But what about the "Cartoon History" itself? There was much audience participation and McMillan joked that poetry history was being made. "It's like Woodstock," he said, "Thousands of people will claim they were here this night."
The focus was on John Masefield and the epic began: "Rain, sheep and tally-ho! Who's that coming on the hobby `os? It's the Poet Lorry Hat...". At which point, Husband drew a quick picture of Masefield with a lorry on his head.
We heard that Masefield was born in 1878 and his mother "couldn't wait".
At this stage, to a predictable cartoon by Husband, the audience was encouraged to shout "whoosh!"
A small boy with a painted-on beard and moustache was picked to play the "Spectre of the Lorry Hat" and he often did this with more gusto than McMillan bargained for.
Though it was a long evening, McMillan and Husband made people laugh throughout. But was it poetry?
Gary Bills-Geddes
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