The six young apprentice comics who attend the evening classes organised by one-time master comedian, Eddie Waters [in Comedians], are under no illusions about the state of their chosen profession…. [They are training for] TV-satiated audiences who have come to accept a whole new repertoire of outspoken radicalist and ugly, sexual jokes. 'It's not the jokes. It's what lies behind them,' insists their teacher who is trying to maintain his humane standards against the increasing amorality of the business. At the end of the first act we meet the London agent, Challenor, who has come to judge the comics with the offer of contracts for the most successful. He tells the student comedians to forget the wisdom of their teacher. 'I'm not looking for philosophers. I'm looking for comics…. Any good comic can lead an audience by the nose. But only in the direction they're going. And that direction is quite simply … escape.'
The second act is taken up with the acts, observed by Challenor and the stoical Waters. It is an enthralling demonstration of how we can choose either to sell or to save ourselves on a stage. (p. 22)
This is a free excerpt of 191 words. There are 356 words (approx.
1 page at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Griffiths, Trevor 1935–: Critical Essay by Peter Ansorge Access Pass.
