Balham - Gateway To The South
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Balham - Gateway To The South
"Balham, Gateway to the South" is a comedy sketch that parodies cinema travelogues by presenting the South London suburb of Balham as an exotic locale. It was written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden for the short-lived BBC radio series ''Third Division'' and featured in the second edition broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 2 February 1949. The sketch's depication of Balham as a faraway, desirable location contrasted with the real area during postwar austerity. One memorable part of the sketch is the pronunciation of Balham as "Bal-Ham" in an American accent, instead of the British pronunciation "Bal-um". The original sketch was performed by Peter Sellers as narrator, with others such as Benny Hill and Michael Bentine contributing other voices. The script features the narration of exaggerated claims regarding the attractions of the area. The sketch was later performed solo by Peter Sellers, in a parody of the American newsreel-travelogue host James A. Fitzpatrick, on the 195 ...
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Comedy Sketch
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is used widely in variety shows, comedy talk shows, and some sitcoms and children's television series. The sketches may be improvised live by the performers, developed through improvisation before public performance, or scripted and rehearsed in advance like a play. Sketch comedians routinely differentiate their work from a "skit", maintaining that a skit is a (single) dramatized joke (or "bit") while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation.Sketch
definition 3b, Merriam-Webster online. Retrieved 5/4/2019


History

Sketch comedy has its origins in

Ron Goodwin
Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''Where Eagles Dare'', ''Battle of Britain'', ''633 Squadron'', Margaret Rutherford's Miss Marple films, and ''Frenzy''. Born in Plymouth, Devon, England, Goodwin learned to play the piano and trumpet from the age of five which allowed him to join the school band. When he was nine, the family moved to Harrow, London, where he attended Willesden County School and Pinner County Grammar School, in Middlesex. From there he went on to study the trumpet in London at the Guildhall School of Music. Whilst working as a copyist, he formed his own orchestra in his spare time and began arranging and conducting recordings for over fifty artists, which resulted in more than 100 chart successes. He wrote his first feature film score for ''Whirlpool'', with screenplay by Lawrence P. ...
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Sidgwick & Jackson
Sidgwick & Jackson is an imprint of book publishing company Pan Macmillan. Formerly it was an independent publisher; as such it was founded in Britain in 1908. Its notable early authors include poet Rupert Brooke and novelist E.M. Forster. In more recent times it helped launch the careers of Lynda La Plante, Shirley Conran and Judith Krantz. The Managing Director from 1968 to 1995 was William Armstrong; the company and Armstrong were said to have encouraged individuality and entrepreneurship among staff. Armstrong was also the father of the singer Dido. Subject interests *Commercial and popular non-fiction. *High-profile biography. *History of popular culture. *Sidgwick Military list: supported in association with the Imperial War Museum and National Army Museum The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the "Chelsea Pensioners". The museum is a ...
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Bantam Press
Bantam Press is an imprint of Transworld Publishers which is a British publishing division of Penguin Random House. It is based on Uxbridge Road in Ealing near Ealing Broadway station Ealing Broadway is a major single-level interchange station in Ealing in London, England. It is in the London Borough of Ealing, West London, and is served by the London Underground and also National Rail on the Great Western Main Line. On the ..., London, the same address as Transworld. Bantam Press also publishes Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic books. External linksTransworld website Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom {{UK-publish-company-stub ...
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Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after being purchased by Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev, the paper ended a 180-year history of paid circulation and became a free newspaper, doubling its circulation as part of a change in its business plan. Emily Sheffield became editor in July 2020 but resigned in October 2021. History From 1827 to 2009 The newspaper was founded by barrister Stanley Lees Giffard on 21 May 1827 as ''The Standard''. The early owner of the paper was Charles Baldwin. Under the ownership of James Johnstone, ''The Standard'' became a morning paper from 29 June 1857. ''The Evening Standard'' was published from 11 June 1859. ''The Standard'' gained eminence for its detailed foreign news, notably its reporting of events of the American Civil War (1861–1865 ...
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David De Keyser
David de Keyser (22 August 1927 – 20 February 2021) was an English actor and narrator. Life and career Born in London in August 1927, in the mid-sixties de Keyser worked twice with the writer, actor and director Jane Arden (director), Jane Arden. Their first collaboration, ''The Logic Game'' (January 1965), was directed by Philip Saville. They acted together again in another Jane Arden script in the film ''Separation (1967 film), Separation'' (Jack Bond (director), Jack Bond 1968) which was set in London and featured music by Procol Harum, Matthew Fisher (musician), Matthew Fisher and Stanley Myers. The themes of both pieces were marital strife and disintegrating relationships. De Keyser also worked on four occasions for the British director John Boorman, twice on screen in ''Catch Us If You Can (film), Catch Us If You Can'' (1965) and ''Leo the Last'' (1970), and on two further occasions Boorman has used de Keyser's rich voice, firstly as the Voice of the Tabernacle in ''Zar ...
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Robbie Coltrane
Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He was appointed an OBE in the 2006 New Year Honours by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama. In 1990, Coltrane received the Evening Standard British Film Award Peter Sellers Award for Comedy. In 2011, he was honoured for his " outstanding contribution" to film at the British Academy Scotland Awards. Coltrane started his career appearing alongside Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, and Emma Thompson in the sketch series ''Alfresco''. In 1987, he starred in the BBC miniseries ''Tutti Frutti'' with Thompson, for which he received his first British Academy Television Award for Best Actor nomination. Coltrane then gained national prominence starring as criminal psychologist Dr. Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald in the ITV television series '' Cracker'', a ...
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George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the pop-rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and multiple reunions through 2021), and a co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966–1968). Following the death of Michael Nesmith in 2021, Dolenz is the only surviving member of the band. Life and entertainment career Dolenz was born at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California,Ancestry.com. California Birth Index, 1905–1995 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: State of California. California Birth Index, 1905–1995. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics. the son of actors George Dolenz and Janelle Johnson. He has three sisters, Gemma Marie ("Coco"; born April 5, 1949), Deborah (born 1958), and Kathleen ("Gina"; born 1960). ...
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High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its most southerly terminus, London, to its most northerly point, Manchester, with branches to Birmingham and the East Midlands. HS2 will be Britain's second purpose-built High-speed rail in the United Kingdom, high-speed line, the first being High Speed 1, which connects London to the Channel Tunnel. At its southern end, the line will terminate at London's London Euston railway station, Euston station while other termini will be Birmingham Curzon Street railway station, Birmingham Curzon Street station and Manchester Piccadilly station. In addition to these stations, the dedicated track will serve Old Oak Common railway station, Old Oak Common in west London, Birmingham Interchange, East Midlands Parkway railway station, East Midlands Parkway ...
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Parliament Of The United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and the overseas territories. Parliament is bicameral but has three parts, consisting of the sovereign ( King-in-Parliament), the House of Lords, and the House of Commons (the primary chamber). In theory, power is officially vested in the King-in-Parliament. However, the Crown normally acts on the advice of the prime minister, and the powers of the House of Lords are limited to only delaying legislation; thus power is ''de facto'' vested in the House of Commons. The House of Commons is an elected chamber with elections to 650 single-member constituencies held at least every five years under the first-past-the-post system. By constitutional convention, all governme ...
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