Soupy Twists! (Jem Roberts)

--The blurb--

"Comedy history shows that it is our funniest double acts who receive the most love from the public, from Eric & Ernie and Pete & Dud to The Two Ronnies and Vic & Bob. But while all of these partnerships have been celebrated in print, one of the most beloved duos of all time – Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie – have not.

Jem Roberts, acclaimed chronicler of Blackadder and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, seeks to rectify this with an all-new official biography, timed to mark the thirtieth anniversary of A Bit of Fry & Laurie. Featuring interviews with the likes of Emma Thompson and Richard Curtis, he takes a fresh look at the duo’s journey from insecure Footlighters to international comedy heroes. Beyond this, the trials and tribulations of their remarkable subsequent career paths, from QI to House, will be entertainingly explored for the very first time.

Thanks to the generosity of both colleagues, the A Bit of Fry & Laurie archive has been opened up, revealing a host of tantalising titbits for fans – including what happened next for Tony and Control, which other shops Mr Dalliard’s friend ran, and the lost Laurie number The Ballad of Neddy Muldoon…"

--The review--

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are without doubt a central part of the British televisual canon. Whether your first discovery of Stephen Fry was via quiz show QI, your first sight of Hugh Laurie was in the film Maybe Baby, or indeed you encountered the two together in iconic series Blackadder, Jem Roberts deftly shows in the crowdfunded publication of Soupy Twists! how the duo rose to the top of their game - and how they've done probably an awful lot more than you realised in order to get there.

Fry's sheer talent is rightly prized over the darker elements of his past, but Roberts gives both a realistic and honest treatment. Roberts also does well to demonstrate the hard work that went into the pair's meteoric ascendancy to fame, as well as acknowledging the opportunities that were available to them at various points - alongside humbler beginnings.

Roberts' meticulousness as a researcher is seen front row and centre in this joint biography. His attention to detail and emphasis on first-hand accounts (from such luminaries as Emma Thompson) is what brings the recount to life, alongside a beautifully varied selection of photographs, and never-before-seen access to scripts. It is a balanced retelling that showcases Fry and Laurie's strengths and weaknesses and sensitively analyses what makes them the performers that they are today.

The scripts from A Bit of Fry & Laurie will perhaps be the highlight for die-hard fans; however, for those who have seen less of the show, it may be harder to visualise the tone, gestures and overall performative style inherent therein, even if readers are familiar with the twosome's other work (both together and separately). For this reason, the book would arguably be an even greater standout hit as an audiobook, enabling the scripts to spring into full life. An ebook format would also enable links to clips at relevant moments. Fry and Laurie are themselves such animated forces on the screen (big or small) that any textual rendering is bound to feel a little flatter by comparison.

Nevertheless, Roberts' exclusive insider access and expertly incisive commentary makes this book an excellent gift for any Fry and Laurie fan, especially in anticipation of the upcoming festive season (is it even legal to mention the C-word before Bonfire Night?). Soupy Twists! is entertaining, engaging, thorough and humane - and readers will surely not be disappointed.

other works by Jem Roberts

The Fully Authorised History of 'I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue' (2010)

The True History of the Black Adder (2012)

The Frood: The Authorised and Very Official History of Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2015) 

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 31: endless

We try counting stars, and fail,
falling back instead on souls.

Stretching boundlessly into
our skies' sparkling seas, we see
our souls' infinite spaces,
spiralling unfadingly.



----

Today's prompt suggested inventing our own poetic form. I didn't set out to, but may have inadvertently done so.
I've ironically written quite a short poem today, figuring that less is more. I was inspired by yesterday's form - the Pleiade - with its seven lines, and Hortensia Anderson's additional restriction of 6 syllables per line. It occurred to me yesterday that 7x6=42, and that as all Douglas Adams fans know, 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything. So in reversing the form (today creating a sestet of 7-syllable lines, which I can't describe any more technically than this as the metre is so irregular), I created a short form that is actually the gateway to everything we need thanks to its 42 total syllables. You can call it the Deep Thought form if you like (as in Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy it takes the computer named Deep Thought 7.5 million years to calculate that 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything). Or one could even call it the Molybdenum form, since "The atomic number of Molybdenum is 42, as mentioned by Elliot Cooper. Coincidence? I think not, because molybdenum is a very important element for humans and plants in minute quantities for proper growth."

https://www.quora.com/Why-and-how-is-42-the-answer-to-life-the-universe-and-everything

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 30: dancing on the moon

Moondance

Moonshine through the window

makes our first night come back.

Mirroring in water,

moving with us, it soon

mimes our luminescence.

Mute, we tread our secret

measure, dancing again.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 29: by the numbers

We
add up
to all that
is right, meaning
the sum is complete.

In encircling me, you
are my diameter; like
pi, we continue forever.

Our sequence links irrationally.

Totalling infinity, we spiral
Fibonacci-style. Suddenly it all seems
so rational after all; we are symmetry.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 28: split in two

Form: the Anglo-Saxon riddle

The most famous Anglo-Saxon riddles are located in the Exeter Book. Unsurprisingly located in Exeter, UK, specifically in Exeter Cathedral. And who spent three years studying ENGLISH LITERATURE, OF ALL THINGS, in Exeter and never ONCE went to see it? *points at self* (...yep. Kick me now.)

I've been informed by someone with a master's in literature from Cambridge, and former education professor, that the gaps in the riddles occur at each line's halfway point - and each half-line is alliterative. So the split is not just visual - which for our purposes is very convenient.

But I understand if you don't feel up to writing a riddle. After all, the ones in the Exeter Book are so complex that many scholars have spent years unravelling them. If nothing else, Megan Cavell's British Library article on the subject makes an entertaining read that it would be a shame for you to miss out on.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It may seem hard to believe - but Christmas is indeed just around the corner, at barely 8 weeks away. Shops may be cluttered now with Halloween paraphernalia, fireworks for Bonfire Night, and Thanksgiving delicacies, but several shop windows already have Christmas trees and home decorations front row and centre. It's common within the beauty industry, too, to have 'Christmas in July' showcases so that journalists can already have Christmas issues ready to go even before October. And as someone whose first baby is due today (!) I have already been making Christmas cards and buying presents, anticipating that in the blur of life with a newborn it will soon be the last thing on my mind.

Luckily, Literary Book Gifts has got you covered for all the bibliophiles in your life (including that awkward uncle who can sometimes be hard to buy for). Looking through the website, I found all kinds of goodies that you could either pair with a book or would make excellent standalone gifts.

Say your awkward uncle is on the especially erudite side. You could team a T-shirt themed around the work of Descartes or Machiavelli with a copy of one of the works of the great man - giving you options even if your intended receiver does not enjoy fiction. Scientist? Try Darwin's Tree of Life or Gray's Anatomy. Artist? Michelangelo's got you covered. Hipster? It's #typewriter time! Or just a grumpy old git? I especially liked the slightly sinister The End T-shirt, which reminded me of the time when my sister and I were watching the Disney movie of Peter Pan and, come the closing credits, my grandad walked past and said "This is my favourite part!" 

You don't even have to start with Christmas if you don't want to. If you have any male friends with Halloween birthdays, look no further than the range of creepy T-shirts, featuring illustrations alluding to Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Heart of Darkness, or the works of Edgar Allan Poe, to name just a few. 

If you're after a more discreet design, there are always T-shirts like this (available for both women and men) which combine the quirky, fun and literary, without naming the book outright:

Virtually all of the designs, in fact, seem to be available for both men and women, so you're sorted regardless of what type of book your recipient enjoys. Literary Book Gifts' range is extensive both in the titles the products reference and in the design styles - and there are a variety of colours available too. T-shirt wise my personal favourites, if I were buying for me, included one alluding to Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn, and the T-shirt transcribing Emily Dickinson's Hope Is The Thing With Feathers (what with these and the Whitman design, there's plenty for poetry-lovers!), as well as the wonderfully subtle Beethoven design (perfect for any musicians amongst your friends and family). All designs are created in-house and printed professionally, meaning you are getting a high-quality gift that won't disappoint, whether for Christmas, birthdays, or "just because".

Sizing and fit wise, you don't have to worry. The guide shows that women's designs are available for a 34-inch chest and up, with men's shirts going all the way up to a 50-inch diameter. (Measurements for tank tops and hoodies are also listed, although sadly none seem to be available at the moment.) Once I've made a purchase myself, I'll report back in terms of comfort as well.

But what if you have enough T-shirts? If you are buying a book for your loved one, what better wrapping than a tote bag? These come in small, medium and large sizes for added flexibility, with the price scaled accordingly - meaning you can watch your seasonal spending budget easily. My favourite designs here include the Jane Austen (which features the great lady's desk), the fabulously elegant Marcel Proust (whose swan design perhaps alludes to Book 1, entitled Swann's Way?), and the bold Don Quixote (especially meaningful to me as I've recently purchased a Quentin Blake print that also comes from this novel).

All of these products ship worldwide from the US at very reasonable rates - I'm located in Europe, so would have to pay the $10 flat rate (excluding any taxes/customs duties your country charges), but I have had to pay much more than this for postage of products even within Europe in the past, so consider this to be good value. And best of all? With 20% off your order thanks to an exclusive Bianca's Book Blog discount code (BiancasBookBlog20) that has no minimum purchase required, you can get your shopping sorted as of right now. You can thank me later. And Merry Christmas!








(This post was requested by the owner of Literary Book Gifts, but was not paid for in products or money, or sponsored in any other way.)

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 27: what colour is it?

I asked you what your favourite colour was
and you said it was me;
that I could be your rainbow
whenever I so pleased.

I photographed myself in emerald
and also in deep blue.

You said to come as I was,
in whatever colour I choose.

In the end, we were Impressionists.

We made a palette true.

You held me in your arms that day
to make a newer hue.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 26: inside out

The pale words of love were fledgling first:
they practised flying with their nascent wings.

They fluttered inside, struggling quite for birth
into a world unkind to weaker things.

I nurtured them, not ready to release
them into their first independent flight,
perhaps from fear of what they might unleash.

In opalescing, they grew strong and bright.

The words flew out from right inside my mouth
to form a hummingbird of pure desire
that colours now our every waking hour.

We do not cage its brightened, yearning fire;
our utterances now are ever freed,
and their true flight we never will impede.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 25: the door goes both ways

We longed for

that day when your office

door would lock from the inside. This is

what I wrote to you, or words to that effect. I

held my breath; pressed send. To which you said:

hope your heart opens from

the outside.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 24: opening

The door would open
and I'd flourish there, growing
from your glow with every breath.

When the door closed we'd
open up our souls; harness
light for later growth.

Opening our eyes
that morning we let love's light
stream in forever.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 23: see me

In my blue eyes, your brown ones, my blonde hair, and again your brown, we create a visual yin and yang. We make striking soulmates: like photographic negatives, we could say we are two bodies for one person, except that arguably you are the better person. Nevertheless, the paradox is that each of us makes the other feel like the very best version of themselves. Because of being the better person, we make the other into a better person; we make them see that they are better. Indeed, the best, as far as we're concerned. Perhaps perceptions are unreliable. But when your eyes meet mine, your perception is the only one of value, that I can rely on, which makes the world around me disappear, save you.

My blue pools meet your
dark midnight brown; in them, I
see my best version.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 22: betrayed

By creeping up with him to the garret room I borrowed from you,
each year of friendship creaked with every stair.

The neighbour complained about the creaking of the bed, and other noise.

Right away you phoned to
ask me for the truth, and
yes, I lied to you. Did my voice creak with the weight of the lie?

Each year of friendship creaked with every stair. For all my life, I'll wonder how I
dared.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 21: how will I know

Our tender time transcends what we can tell,
but we still will know
what we think to be true,
as we try to sight eternity
through narrow slivers of rain.

We absorb
as we awake above,
then dive for jewels.

We now discover
truly where we dwell
as we plunge into our place,
mesmerised by mirrory mists.

Now open, we brightly fly.

Soaring within a shimmering sky,
we shine divinely,
knowing the joy
of being beloved.

Azurely, surely,
we reflect on stagnant hazes
in our distant past
as we wallow, surge, then flow.

Now we sail in the sea of what we need,
no longer whispering why
thanks to clear, crystal bliss.

Ask.

The answers flood, radiate.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 20: time stands still

You bring me to a standstill
with your wit
that leaves me wondering why
you give me the time of day.

That same time
stands still when you whisper
words of wonder
that wander
within our shared space.

I stand still in front of your shared office,
making a memory of my
hand on yours,
in a moment
that will become love.

In love unending
we stand, still.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 19: what do you want

In wanting me
you wanted anew,
desire requickening
all that you thought to be dead.

In wanting you
I wanted to be.

Love was flickering
but steadied when we met.

In wanting us, we knew;
wanted the world to set
around us, glittering
with the shine of infinite possibility.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 18: Once upon a time

Once upon a time
I didn't dream of you.
You were solid background only.

Once upon your time,
you say,
you dreamed of me:
I flickered,
floating,
in fairytale fashion,
finding fantasy
the only foothold
in our day-to-day.

Once upon my time
I found myself flirting.
Not just with the fricative fuck
but fluttering from
friendship
to finding myself fixated
and fumbling
through depths of thought
with you;
seeking solace in secret smiles
with you
and knowing that we knew:
that I could be your princess,
and you my handsome prince.

Once upon our time
we did become enchanted
by our fine sublime whispers
as bells rang out.
We follow our future at last,
flying ever afterly,
foreverly.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 17: madness reigns/rains/reins

Madness rains
down around us
and fades into blue.

Our own insanity
reigns, yet makes perfect
sense.

We take life's
reins, heliacally
mastering mania.

We barely
notice chaos;
I fade into you.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 16: catch me when I fall

Neither of us knew we were falling,
so it was a good job that the other was paying
attention.

Falling
turned to floating
with the spreading
of wings

as we caught each other spiralling
like sycamore seeds
singing
and gently landing.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 15: If _______ were an umbrella

You rise above me,
shielding clouds
while letting through sunshine.

Together we shake off raindrops
with laughter that echoes
off gleaming pavements.

Your robust silvery skeleton
sees me through showers.

Faithfully folded beside me always,
you flourish magnificently
when needed
(which is to say,
in the Netherlands,
often).

You come in a variety of colours
to suit my every mood:
fierce leopard-print,
iconic bright violet,
Monarch butterfly on blue.

In short, you are my rainbow
for after storms have passed.

You don't even need to be
my umbrella for that.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 14: if I were me

The unfurling

took time.

There was a fear

of the sunlight

juxtaposed

with the knowledge

that you had to go there

if you wanted to live.

If I were to be me

I had to go there,

tendrils tentatively

touching the tops

of the houses and trees,

even if I were

to go there alone.

My leaves stretched into sun

at a moment

not even I can pin down;

perhaps it was your watering

that charged my sap

with the energy needed for life.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 13: if I were you

Letter from 2018 to 1998

If I were you I'd keep at it 
because a lot changes in 20 years
and though you'll never believe it, 
it'll all be fine in the end. 

If I were you I'd remember
that all of this will pass like a breeze that
somehow will sometimes still chill you
in between the glints of the sun.

If I were you I'd take a scarf,
or perhaps a towel, to discreetly wipe
away the odd tear, or just to 
wrap your soul in, when you are out.

If I were you, I would do that.
Not just for the breeze that strikes you alone,
but also to wrap others in, 
to bring them closer to your heart.

If I were you, I would share more.
Let your feelings flutter from the scarf to
meet others, who will love you. Then
you can wrap you both, in cashmere.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 12: tortured

Calystegia sepium

Tortured by myself
for years,
I tried to wring
inadequacy
out.

Hard to remove.

Torments had twisted
around me like vines,
or bindweed
without the flowers.

I barely felt you snip away
at the tightness of the
light green twine.

The warmth of sunlit relief
came in floods,
basking me in love.

Now we flower together,
uniting our heart-shaped leaves
as we spiral up 
into the newest of shoots,
our joint rhizomes rooting us
to our new-found freedom,
viable for many years.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 11: falling through the cracks

We fell through life's cracks for so long,
you and I,
wandering darkly
through Platonic caves
and thinking,
believing ourselves to be
alone.

Suddenly a shaft of light showed us
the exit
up above us
and we then could germinate,
flowering
in each other's answered bliss.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 10: dancing on air

Already neither of us natural dancers,
we much less expected to dance together,
to a tune we would create.

In dancing together we
became balletic,
fluidly mirroring;
the practice half the fun.

On finding it was now
as natural as breathing
we could hold each other's breath
while releasing our own.

You are now my air,
and I yours.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 9: love

leaning into love, each
one of us
venerates the other with
every single breath;

in layering love, we
susurrate our promise of always.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 8: moments of madness

Our moments of madness keep me sane.

Frenzied four a.m.s

create microwave-cake feasts

and our wide eyes wondering

at river reflections on walls.

We call,

at nearly any cost.

Holding hands,

we're unaware of

and uncaring of

whoever might see.

Liberated at last

by the maddest of truths

we feel saner than ever

as leaves fall from trees

to whisper the passing

of another year of moments.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 7: Unsent letters

Our unsent letters showed up once in dreams:
the perfume box was pinkly layered
and exuded clouds of love
when opened.

But soon the words just evanesced like sunrise;
did you write in wax?

They faded,
lost to me forever,
both in sleep
and on waking -

not just unsent
but unreceived.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 6: Conquered

We conquered the world overnight
through shimmering words and frissons of light
that shot through like stars to make a new space.

For the very first time, at your place
we flew with the freedom of kites
and thought for once that we just might
have found all life. With what we did ignite
we made new shapes;
we conquered the world.

With all the speed of meteorites,
yet all the slowness of twilight,
we meet at last in much-needed embrace.

We interlace, fall into place,
for a galaxy is made. In starlight
we conquered the world.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 5: denied

Dark dry days are at last

deposed foreverly, with our

decision to

defer to

destiny.

Decoding each other makes all the

difference.

Dull places shine brightly;

despondency shatters more than slightly.

Dramatic skies

dome us as we emerge away from everything we've ever

done.

Do we sleep?

Did we dream?

Deep down the ground rattles beneath our feet as we

discover that we are no longer 

denied each other.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 4: ________________ and other strange animals

Metamorphosis

In those days I would
curl like a woodlouse when touched,
fear launching my striated armour
into action
as they peered at me,
the suspiciously strange creature
sullying their midst.

Other strange animals scuttled by;
I was not one of them.

Like melanocetidae
I learned to leave my light on,
but not to capture;
just to shine brightly.

Eventually another saw me,
not as prey but as a mate.

We shine strangely together.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 3: Insecurity

My insecurity did flee

When your bright face I came to see

In morning's concourse blazing bright

With immemorial delight that you found me.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 2: Poems and notes to you

My poems and notes
to you take many
forms, from scribbles mailed
in secret to your desk
to purply ink your workday,

to poems crafted 
bluely on a blog, where their
practice runs o'erwrite
themselves, perpetually
palimpsestic, love o'erlain.

OctPoWriMo 2018! Day 1: Surrender

There never was a question of surrender
for we never had to fight.

Our white flags were forever raised,
waiting for each other's sight.

Emerging from the same white night,
we fight together for all our days;
and reaching undiscovered heights,
we unite in answered splendour.