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Post by dem bones on Feb 13, 2014 18:08:37 GMT
Michael Green - The Art of Coarse Acting (Arrow, 1975) List of Illustrations
Foreword
Author's Introduction to the new edition Prologue
An Introduction to Coarse Acting
A Coarse Actor's Approach to his Part
A Coarse Actor Prepares
A Coarse Actor Performs
Be Prepared
The Director
The Open-Air
The Stage Manager and Back-stage Staff
Front of House and Organization
10 Festivals and Tours
11 'Tis Pity She's the Merry Wife of Henry VI (Part One) An All-Purpose Coarse Play
EpilogueBlurb (from Samuel French edition, 1992) Second revised edition
For thirty years The Art of Coarse Acting has been a standard work in the theatre, both professional and amateur. An outrageous spoof which ridicules pretentiousness, pokes fun at incompetence and disaster, and generally lays bare life backstage.
Now, after eleven printings, it has been revised and updated by the author. Much new material has been added in line with the enormous changes in the theatre since the book was first published in the days when the Lord Chamberlain was censoring scripts.
But the core of this book remains the same, for, as Michael Green writes, however much the theatre may change, Coarse Actors and Actresses don't. No single definition fits all of them but nobody has come up with one to better the original: "One who can remember the lines but not the order in which they come".The Arrow edition boasts possibly the most brill misleading cover photo of all time, but what The Art Of Coarse Acting lacks in smut, it more than makes up for in helpful advice for those deluded enough to believe they can lift the crown from vault's resident Thespians, Lord & Lady Probert. Even for the year it was first published (1964), The Art Of Coarse Acting is gentle stuff, but if you want to know how best to play Bulldog Drummond in a coma, or which Shakespearian roles to avoid, Mr. Green and his perennially pissed friend Askew are your men.
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Post by ripper on Feb 14, 2014 11:00:55 GMT
Michael Green's "Art of Coarse..." books were staples of my local library back in the 70s and early 80s. As Dem said, the paperback covers are a mite misleading; they are not the Confessions-style romps that you might imagine from the covers, but I find them very funny. It is the kind of humour that used to be found in the late, lamented Punch--a magazine that I used to read regularly back in the day. Perhaps modern readers might find the humour a little twee; it is certainly not "edgy" but I have literally been crying with laughter when reading Green's books, my favourite of the ones I have read being "The Art of Coarse Sailing." The only problem that I have when reading these books is that I am usually enjoying them so much that I don't want them to end.
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Post by ripper on Feb 15, 2014 10:42:22 GMT
Decided to re-read this one last night and it is still as funny as ever. I don't know how much, if any, of the series is based on actual events, however exagerated, but Green makes it all very believeable, which makes it all the more amusing.
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Post by dem bones on Feb 15, 2014 11:43:32 GMT
Michael Green - The Art of Coarse Acting: 2nd Revised Edition (Samuel French , 1992) Most of the 'Coarse' books went through several editions, making them relatively easy to hunt down, but, of couse, the discerning reader - we who only buy books for their covers - is only interested in those graced with a sub Carry On ... photo on the front, which, from personal experience, turn up but seldom. Several are illustrated by John Jenson; I think Acting is the only one with a photo inset, but would be delighted to learn otherwise. ... Rugby (1960) was Green's first contribution to the series, and between them, he and Spike Hughes churned out nineteen titles, ending on Green's The Art Of Coarse Office Life (1985). If you want to find out more, here's a dedicated site, Art Of Coarse Writing. Michael Green - The Art Of Coarse Drinking (Arrow, 1977; originally Hutchinson, 1973) Blurb: The Coarse Drinker:
A man who blames his hangover on the tonic and not the gin.
A man who looks at the wine list first, chooses the booze, and then picks the food to go with it.
A man who needs no coy excuse-he needs a drink because he needs a drink.
Do you know the difference in licensing hours between Gloucester and Sherringham during the summer?
After a party have you ever sneaked round all the half-empty glasses and finished them off?
Is Capital Punishment justified in the case of a person who fails to buy his round.?
If the answer is yes to these questions you are almost certainly a Coarse Drinker.
Not Mr. Green's fault, but read today, The Art Of Coarse Drinking is a sobering, often melancholy experience, as it cannot but remind of happier times when you could (a) smoke in pubs, (b) still afford to drink in them, and - most crushing of all - (c) find one that has yet to make way for a betting shop or pizza parlour. Even Askew in his element and a vault pin-up barmaid on the cover can't lift the gloom. Michael Green - The Art Of Coarse Rugby (Arrow, 1969; originally Stanley Paul, 1960) I've a battered copy of .... Golf somewhere, plus A Roof over My Head: aka The Art Of Coarse Moving but have yet to track down those i'm most interested in, ...Sport (1965), ... Even Coarser Sport (1978) and the disaster waiting to happen, .... Sex (1981).
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Post by ripper on Feb 16, 2014 10:12:23 GMT
I have Acting, Sailing, Moving and Coarse Sport, but read more when the series was easily available at libraries. I was interested in your comments on Drinking, Dem, as I have a copy awaiting delivery. I feel sure I have read it previously but cannot remember much at all about it. Just as an aside, has anyone read the Doncella Book of Pubmanship by Ronnie Corbett, published in the early 70s. I got my copy from a supermarket, a most unusual place from which to buy a book 40+ years ago. I was reminded of it when Dem was commenting on Green's Coarse Drinking.
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Post by mcannon on Feb 16, 2014 19:27:45 GMT
I have Acting, Sailing, Moving and Coarse Sport, but read more when the series was easily available at libraries. I was interested in your comments on Drinking, Dem, as I have a copy awaiting delivery. I feel sure I have read it previously but cannot remember much at all about it. Just as an aside, has anyone read the Doncella Book of Pubmanship by Ronnie Corbett, published in the early 70s. I got my copy from a supermarket, a most unusual place from which to buy a book 40+ years ago. I was reminded of it when Dem was commenting on Green's Coarse Drinking. "Drinking" is the only book in the series that I've read; I think I still have my copy buried somewhere in the stacks. I picked it up second-hand about 35 years ago, which at least reminds me that I wasn't _just_ buying every old horror anthology I could find in those days. Without any other volumes to compare it to, I remember it as a very funny, entertaining book - I should dig it out and revisit it. While I endorse most of Dem's comments, I don't miss smoking in pubs - it was phased out in most parts of Australia some years ago. I wish the same could be said for those bloody gaming machines...... MarkC |
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Post by dem bones on Feb 17, 2014 16:05:51 GMT
"Drinking" is the only book in the series that I've read; I think I still have my copy buried somewhere in the stacks. I picked it up second-hand about 35 years ago, which at least reminds me that I wasn't _just_ buying every old horror anthology I could find in those days. Without any other volumes to compare it to, I remember it as a very funny, entertaining book - I should dig it out and revisit it. While I endorse most of Dem's comments, I don't miss smoking in pubs - it was phased out in most parts of Australia some years ago. I wish the same could be said for those bloody gaming machines...... MarkC There seem to have been twenty in all - or at least, in 1975 Leslie Frewin published something called The Art Of Coarse Teaching by Bill Flynn, though this was likely a case of bandwagon jumping. Spike Hughes - who seems to have began it all with the Art Of Coarse Cricket - wrote six in all, but don't think i've seen a one of them, whereas the Michael Green's were once everywhere.  John Ryder (image found on am*z*n) Yeah, the gaming machines have to go! My opposition to the smoking ban isn't entirely self-interested - provided i can take my glass with me, i've no problem whatsoever with nipping outside for a drag. It's more that every landlord i've spoken to has said it impacted badly on business, with the older regulars in particular so set in their ways, they just stay at home to drink now. |
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Post by pulphack on Feb 17, 2014 17:42:14 GMT
Like Rip, I read loads of the Michael Green books because they were a library staple when I was a kid (I read most of the humour section and blame that entirely for my love of Paul Jennings - not the Aussie kids author, good though he is - Patrick Campbell and the like), though the only one I have is '...Rugby' - they're plentiful on-line, but not in shops. At least, not the ones I frequent.
However, I can reveal that I have read a Spike Hughes ...Coarse tome! I found The Coarse Art Of Bridge in a charity shop in Barkingside last year. As I suspected, the fact that I know bugger all about Bridge did make bits of it hard going, but it is more about gamesmanship than any of the Green books, and has a great line in dry wit and anecdotes - especially on his cunning and sporting wife - that more than makes up for the baffling bits. Hughes is more inclined to make his books manuals with anecdotes, whereas Green is mostly anecdote into farce, broadly speaking. They complement each other.
Digging deeper about Spike Hughes, he was quite some geezer - he made a load of jazz recordings with his group in New York in the late thirties and is - if what I read is correct - the only British jazzer to go over to that side of the pond and record and be respected for his playing and his arrangements pre-war. Respect, as the kids say - well, it impressed me!
Re. pubs - I've never smoked in my life, but they were much better places when people could. One thing I hate is being left sitting there nursing a drink while whoever I'm talking do buggers off for a drag. Or are they just escaping me?
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 17, 2014 18:09:28 GMT
"Drinking" is the only book in the series that I've read; I think I still have my copy buried somewhere in the stacks. I picked it up second-hand about 35 years ago, which at least reminds me that I wasn't _just_ buying every old horror anthology I could find in those days. Without any other volumes to compare it to, I remember it as a very funny, entertaining book - I should dig it out and revisit it. While I endorse most of Dem's comments, I don't miss smoking in pubs - it was phased out in most parts of Australia some years ago. I wish the same could be said for those bloody gaming machines...... MarkC There seem to have been twenty in all - or at least, in 1975 Leslie Frewin published something called The Art Of Coarse Teaching by Bill Flynn, though this was likely a case of bandwagon jumping. Spike Hughes - who seems to have began it all with the Art Of Coarse Cricket - wrote six in all, but don't think i've seen a one of them, whereas the Michael Green's were once everywhere. Yeah, the gaming machines have to go! My opposition to the smoking ban isn't entirely self-interested - provided i can take my glass with me, i've no problem whatsoever with nipping outside for a drag. It's more that every landlord i've spoken to has said it impacted badly on business, with the older regulars in particular so set in their ways, they just stay at home to drink now. I've always wondered why you couldn't just have a smoking and a non smoking room like, in some ways, the lounge bar (for the ladies and gentleman) and the smoking bar - purely for the gentlemen. That was more or less the old system. You'd have to wear a tie in the lounge. Everyone knows smoking is bad for you but then again so is reading horror and driving automobiles and looking too much at computers. It smacks of sixteenth century witch hunts only we've replaced witchcraft with health. I used to be able to sing whole rugby songs even though I only ever played it once (preferred the game with the proper ball)That was all down to the coarse books and those wonderful LP's. I think a large part of the attraction to an adolescent mind was the smutty language and the risque covers. |
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Post by dem bones on Feb 17, 2014 20:35:32 GMT
Re. pubs - I've never smoked in my life, but they were much better places when people could. One thing I hate is being left sitting there nursing a drink while whoever I'm talking do buggers off for a drag. Or are they just escaping me? Ah, i'm very guilty of that Mr. Hack, but rest assured, it is no reflection on yours or anybody elses company. I Jsst can't enjoy a drink without a lungful of lovely smoke is all. The ban has one advantage - nip out for a crafty drag and you never know who you'll meet on the pavement. This is particularly true of Fantasy Events where it can be a great ice-breaker, especially if its pissing down with rain. I first met the very lovely Michael Marshall Smith under those circumstances, and it's also how we came to recruit Simon Clark for an afternoon at The Old Cock Tavern. Even bigger bonus, it gets you away from the networkers (trans. chuggers) demanding you vote for them in this or that award. Every cloud, etc. However, I can reveal that I have read a Spike Hughes ...Coarse tome! I found The Coarse Art Of Bridge in a charity shop in Barkingside last year. As I suspected, the fact that I know bugger all about Bridge did make bits of it hard going, but it is more about gamesmanship than any of the Green books, and has a great line in dry wit and anecdotes - especially on his cunning and sporting wife - that more than makes up for the baffling bits. Hughes is more inclined to make his books manuals with anecdotes, whereas Green is mostly anecdote into farce, broadly speaking. They complement each other. Digging deeper about Spike Hughes, he was quite some geezer - he made a load of jazz recordings with his group in New York in the late thirties and is - if what I read is correct - the only British jazzer to go over to that side of the pond and record and be respected for his playing and his arrangements pre-war. Respect, as the kids say - well, it impressed me! Thank you for that. You only need compare a few of Michael Green's books to realise he worked to a very successful formula, and I wondered if Spike Hughes' Coarse entries (!!!?) were more of same. The subject matter - Gardening, Bridge, Cookery, etc. - possibly lacks the mass audience appeal of Sex and Drinking, so perhaps that explains why the series has become synonymous with Mr. Green. I used to be able to sing whole rugby songs even though I only ever played it once (preferred the game with the proper ball)That was all down to the coarse books and those wonderful LP's. I think a large part of the attraction to an adolescent mind was the smutty language and the risque covers. In which case, feast your eyes! I ♥ Wicked & Sinful Rugby! |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 18, 2014 5:10:19 GMT
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Post by ripper on Feb 18, 2014 10:44:37 GMT
I am not sure if I read any of the Spike Hughes books, though Coarse Cricket might be a candidate if I ever did many years ago. Last night I re-read Book of Coarse Sports, a collection of anecdotes on various sports: rugby, cricket, hockey, sailing etc. It's a short book and I enjoyed the rugby sections the most, so I will have to get a copy of Coarse Rugby.
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Post by dem bones on Feb 18, 2014 11:34:05 GMT
Trust me on this, Craig, 'The Showbiz XI Showbiz Soccer Song album is the one you want!' If you've ten minutes to spare, nip over to WFMU's Beware of the Blog and sample the delights of Jess Conrad's steamy Black Stockings (the bride hit me for playing it!), or his celebrated duet with Tanya Tanola, Soccer Superstar. And if you've not added a cover of Denis Gilmore & Lee MacDonald's Why Did They Take Heaven to your set-list within the hour ..... Beware Of The Blog: Showbiz Soccer Song LP |
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 18, 2014 13:50:12 GMT
Dem, please never do that again. I have led a sheltered life and music helps me through the hard times. I actually had to look up wikipedia to see if this was done by a real person.
But it was like a traffic accident - once I'd gone through 'Black Stockings', my professional ear detecting various excrutiating nuances, I simply had to look at the next musical victim. After the experience I needed some quiet time. Having taken stock I've now come to the conclusion that someone did really sit down and write the lyrics to 'Soccer Superstar' but I'm still wrestling with the question - why?
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Post by Craig Herbertson on Feb 18, 2014 13:52:00 GMT
My mind had blotted out 'Why Did They Take Heaven'. I think I'd had some kind of seizure at that point. I may not recover
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