PERFORMING ARTS
0 Pages, 5.5 x 5.5
Formats: CD
CD, $50.95 (US $50.95) (CA $0.01)
Publication Date: June 2019
ISBN 9781787533899
Rights: US
BBC Books (Jun 2019)
BBC Physical Audio
A BBC radio recreation of the Marx Brothers’ lost shows, starring Michael Roberts and Frank Lazarus
‘A treasure horde of delightfully crazy humour’ Dirk Maggs
First broadcast on America’s NBC network between 1932-33, Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel charted the exploits of shady lawyer Waldorf T Flywheel (played by Groucho Marx) and his dopeyassistant, Emmanuel Ravelli (played by Chico Marx). The original recordings were lost, but the scripts were rediscovered in 1988, and adapted and re-recorded by BBC Radio 4 in 1990-92 in front of a live studio audience. Fast-paced and full of quickfire gags, the show proved a hit, winning a Gold Medal at the New York International Festival in 1992.
Included here are all three radio series, produced by the award-winning Dirk Maggs (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and published together for the very first time. In these eighteen episodes, the duo look after a Rembrandt, try to bamboozle a millionaire, stay in a haunted mansion and join the carnival – along with many other hilarious misadventures.
Michael Roberts takes on Groucho’s role as Flywheel, while Frank Lazarus deputises for Chico as Ravelli. Among the regular cast are Lorelei King, Graham Hoadly and Vincent Marzello, with guest stars including Spike Milligan and Dick Vosburgh.
Since the 1960s the very best of BBC radio’s spoken word output has been available to own, first on record and cassette and now on CD and digital download. In addition to its extensive backlist catalogue, BBC Audio continues to publish a wide range of entertainment drawn from recent radio programming and the BBC archive.
Comedy titles include Hancock’s Half Hour, The Goon Show, Round the Horne, Cabin Pressure, Ed Reardon’s Week, Just a Minute and I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. The realms of fantasy are depicted in Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. There’s radio drama based on the works of some of our most popular and significant writers including William Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, Anthony Trollope, Arthur Conan Doyle, Samuel Pepys and Alan Bennett. History, science and culture epics include A History of the World in 100 Objects, This Sceptred Isle, A History of Childhood and The Making of Music.