Whilst we were in Hull at the weekend we decided to buy a couple of spoken word tapes to amuse ourselves on the long drive back to Brighton (between 5 and 6 hours). We happened to be shopping in York and were in Waterstones, and so were limited to their selection. We chose a P G Wodehouse Jeeves and Wooster story (The Inimitable Jeeves read by Simon Callow) and a 4 episode collection (Volume 5) of Just a Minute.
These really helped pass the time on the journey, and I am still in awe of the participants of Just a Minute. We’ve listened to 2 of the 4 episodes so far, and there were a good selection of participants – Clement Freud, Graham Norton, Linda Smith, Tony Hawkes, Paul Merton and Stephen Fry. There really is such a lot of skill involved (for those that don’t know, Just a Minute is a radio show where the contestants are given a subject to speak about for a minute during which they mustn’t hesitate, repeat themselves or deviate from the subject. It really is very hard, and the participants are very good at it (I’d have just failed for repetition of the word very there). I have high hopes for the other 2 episodes.
Jeeves and Wooster was an entertaining story and I enjoyed listening to it. It was very light, and didn’t need much concentration. It was kind of strange listening to Simon Callow reading it, as I always picture the Jeeves character as being Stephen Fry, and Hugh Laurie being Wooster following the TV series in which they both appeared.
