Humour Books > Spike Milligan Humour Books

Advantages: Funny and real.
Disadvantages: Ends before the shooting starts.

...have been four sequels to Adolf Hitler - My Part In His Downfall:- Rommel: Gunner Who? Monty: His Part In My Victory Mussolini: His Part In My Downfall Where Have All The Bullets Gone? After the war, Spike teamed up with Harry Secombe*, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine to create that ground-breaking BBC radio comedy The Goon Show (1951-60). A manic depressive, the pressure of writing the weekly show led to a nervous breakdown. Later, his 1960's ... Read review

Advantages: Great jokes by one of the greatest comedians of his time
Disadvantages: Can be heavy going and confusing if you don't know the Bible

...refused to swear allegiance to the queen. This upset a number of people but it just made my respect for the man greater. It was good to see him stand up for his beliefs rather than crawl and brown-nose just to get an OBE. The book is, to use its full title, The Bible: The Old Testament According to Spike Milligan. I am not going to go for an outright spoiler on this, as how do you spoil a book without copying it word for word? I have decided to ...
...haven’t got a clue what the real Bible’s version of things is. I read this book purely for the comedy aspect and if you know something of the bible, you may find a lot more jokes than I did as later, when it starts getting heavy, the jokes go straight over my head. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Chapter One: The Creation According to the Trade Unions. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX This first Chapter is only a page ... Read review

Advantages: A bonus for Milligan fans
Disadvantages: There won't be any more

...18', one of Milligan's meticulously-arranged box files in which he kept every scrap of paperwork, both personal and professional. Included in this posthumously-released anthology are various pages from Spike's appointment diaries, several unfinished (as far as Milligan was concerned) scripts, poems and stories, together with a selection of his drawings, photographs, and letters to friends and figures of authority, among them Princes Charles and ...
...Milligan didn't consider any of Box 18's contents to be ready for public airing, how much of it is up to his usual standard and actually worth publishing. It's a valid question to ask, and indeed, it isn't difficult to see why some of the sketches, for example, never made it beyond his filing system; for the most part, though, the book is vintage Milligan, and on balance, I believe Farnes was right to let his fans have one last laugh. There are some ... Read review

Advantages: Written by a comedic genius with some very funny lines
Disadvantages: Some not so funny lines

...to the original story of Robin and his Merry Men there are some vital differences. Maid Marion turns out to be a pole vaulter, Little John is now known as Big Dick, and somehow Groucho Marx ends up in Sherwood Forest as well. There are some extremely funny lines demonstrating that surreal humour that Spike developed in the Goons back in the fifties. For instance there is an emphasis on jam sandwiches and porridge as well as bows and arrows. However, ... Read review

Advantages: Funny in places
Disadvantages: Lacks consistency

...aware of Jeremy Clarkson through the excellent TV programme Top Gear, a show that is not just for petrol heads as it is also one of the funniest programmes on TV as well given some of the stunts and challenges they do. In the show he is the arrogant, opinionated alpha male with a hearty dislike of Europe, foxes, anything environmentally friendly and French cars. Oh and political correctness. In addition to his TV work he also writes a newspaper column ...
...Apart from the toilet reading on offer at my sister house this was the first Clarkson book that I have read and I was interested to see if the humour generated on Top Gear could be translated into the written word. The book itself is made up of a series of short, two or three page, rants or observations on a myriad of topics that stretch from the opening page discussion of an additional public holiday to such varied topics as the joys of the circus, ... Read review