Cambridge Footlights Revue

The ''Cambridge Footlights Revue'' is an annual revue by the Footlights Club - a group of comedy writer-performers at the University of Cambridge. Three of the more notable revues are detailed below.

1963 revue

"A Clump of Plinths" — "Cambridge Circus"

The 1963 revue, entitled "A Clump of Plinths" (later retitled ''Cambridge Circus''), played at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1963 before opening at West End in London on 10 July 1963. Unfortunately, the revised title sometimes confused audiences, as it was not actually playing at Cambridge Circus itself. "Cambridge Circus" then toured New Zealand in July and August 1964, where they recorded a television special and four radio shows. which were eventually broadcast in November and December 1964. The radio shows were rediscovered in the New Zealand national sound and film archives in 2015 and broadcast again in January 2016 under the title "Goodie, Goodie! Python, Python! The Cambridge Circus Tapes" The New Zealand tour was also notable for the one-hour Cambridge Circus special made for New Zealand television, screened in November and December 1964. It was the first on-screen performance by most of the cast.

Following their successful New Zealand tour, "Cambridge Circus" transferred to Broadway in September 1964 and finally Off-Broadway."Cambridge Circus — Internet Broadway Database
/ref> The revue was broadcast on television in the United States when the cast made an appearance on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' during October 1964, featuring some of the sketches.

The show was written by, and starred, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, David Hatch, Bill Oddie, Chris Stuart-Clark and Jo Kendall. Also in the original cast was Tony Buffery, who later became an experimental psychologist. As well as writing and acting in the revue, Bill Oddie also wrote the music for the revue, and an album of sketches and songs, produced by George Martin, was released by Parlophone in 1963. Graham Chapman took over from Tony Buffery when he left the revue to pursue an academic career. Likewise, Jonathan Lynn took over from Chris Stuart-Clark when Stuart-Clark left to become a schoolteacher.''From Fringe to Flying Circus'' — 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960-1980' — Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980.''Footlights!'' — 'A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy' — Robert Hewison, Methuen London Ltd, 1983.

This revue is a notable part of British television history because it includes early appearances by John Cleese and Graham Chapman (later members of Monty Python), as well as Tim Brooke-Taylor and Bill Oddie (later members of The Goodies), and Jonathan Lynn (later one of the co-writers of ''Yes Minister'', and ''Yes, Prime Minister)''. One of the comedians became the head of ITV Comedy and another became the head of BBC Radio. Jo Kendall spoke the very first line in ''Emmerdale''. A decade or so later, Cambridge Circus's piano player joined the band Jethro Tull.

Sketches

Sketches in the revue included;

* ''Swap a Jest'' (written by Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie, and Chris Stuart-Clark) – with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Chris Stuart-Clark (later with Jonathan Lynn in place of Stuart-Clark) as Elizabethan entertainers.
* ''Cloak and Dagger'' sketch – with John Cleese.
* ''Custard Pie'' sketch – with Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jonathan Lynn demonstrating the throwing of custard pies. David Hatch narrated the sketch.
* ''Judge Not'' (written by John Cleese) – with John Cleese (as the prosecuting counsel), David Hatch (as the judge), Tim Brooke-Taylor (as Percy Molar company director of no fixed abode and music-hall comedian), Tony Buffery (as Arnold Fitch the defendant), and Bill Oddie (as Sidney Bottle – the plaintiff). (Tim Brooke-Tayor and Bill Oddie also appeared in the sketch as ushers).

A radio version of the revue was broadcast by the BBC
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