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'The Blagger's Guide' In The Press...Blaggers are people who pretend to be more important than they really are in order to get past the doormen at significant events. The first rule of blagging is to get away with it. But this series could only have been made by someone who not only is in love with jazz but has passed, legally and often, through its many portals. It is wildly funny. It is also very clever in that David Quantick, who co-writes and presents it, and his producer, Simon Poole, have created a style that not only absolutely fits the subject but mirrors it too. The funniest show on radio. Ronnie Scott and Benny Green would have loved it. It knows its subject intimately, makes fun of its more solemn advocates, yet celebrates true talent. It's fast, inventive (technically as well as verbally), mirroring its subject in its style, all the while hilariously and utterly accessibleto fans and non-jazzers alike. Co-written and presented by brilliant David Quantick (who has blagged other musical genres on this network in the past equally wittily), produced by Simon Poole for independents Unique. The funniest programme on radio is The Blagger's Guide to Jazz (Radio 2, Thursdays). Readers may recall I wrote a year ago about David Quantick, a comedy writer and presenter of great talent, originality and industry. If you've listened to his Radio 4 series One or heard previous Blagger's Guides you'll already be a fan. If you have lately observed a woman on the bus to Oxford wheezing, hooting, barking with laughter, tears running down ample cheeks, that was me, listening to last week's Blagger's. There are four more to go. Do not miss a moment. Why? See my first sentence. There's no segue between that and David Quantick's The Blagger's Guide to Jazz (R2). But then there's no segue between Quantick and anything else, really. This Blagger's Guide was as frenetic, hilarious and diligently produced as all previous Blagger's, a sonic whirlwind of jokes about Ann Widdecombe, Jools Holland, Quantick's dad and more sound samples than an old Coldcut record. Oh, and facts, too. "Louis Daniel Armstrong," pronounced Quantick, "is the godfather of the father of the motherlode of the nucleus of the catalyst of the embryo of the court of King Caractacus (sound of punch)... Thanks. Louis Armstrong was a genius." He's not wrong, you know. Radio Review: The Blagger's Guide to Jazz This musical primer refused to take its subject remotely seriously - and thank goodness for that. Written by Elisabeth Mahoney. The Guardian, 20th November 2009 David Quantick riffs gloriously through the first of a new series that, actually, tells you more than you think about jazz (and people who like it) as you variously wrinkle your brow at his presumption or fall into great gales of laughter at the speed of allusion, the acuity of vision. Wittily written, beautifully produced (by Simon Poole, for independents Unique) here are Duke Ellington, Stevie Wonder, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, snipped and pasted into a magical musical collage which also happens to be a pretty snazzy essay. It's all right, Bob, he's only joking It was Bob Dylan's turn for the David Quantick treatment: well-aimed, well-informed, gentle sending up. Written by Chris Campling. The Times, 28th April 2009 Hilariously sardonic host David Quantick introduces an irreverent romp through Bob Dylan's career, including faked archive recordings and made-up adverts. Gary Rose, The Radio Times, 24th April 2009 As his delectable series on how to get by in cultured company begins a new run we asked David Quantick what we could expect to hear this time: "The Blagger's returns like a prodigal pig, if there is such a thing," he said. And for those who've never encountered it before, this is the perfect introduction to the style of Mr Quantick's advice: what he says sounds believable, but there's always a gentle fib or even an outrageous lie to counteract any actual truths that he might offer up. This time he's teaching us everything we ever needed to know about country and western music. Jane Anderson, The Radio Times, 7th October 2008 The funniest show on radio for the last few weeks has been David Quantick's The Blagger's Guide, whose run is now sadly over. Nicholas Lezard, The Independent, 1st June 2008 Calling Beethoven 'the Sinatra of the sonata' is, without doubt, good. And David Quantick is the man to do so. His Blagger's Guide to the Classics on Radio 2 was a bonkers phonic fiesta in familiar Quantick style, meaning it was quick-fire, informative and very, very funny. Whether discussing Beethoven - 'the genius's genius', 'so important that even pop stars have heard of him', 'combed his hair with his feet' - or the woodwind section ('the part of the orchestra most likely to be bullied'), Quantick made you laugh while helping you understand. Though even a classical dummy like me already knew most of what was being imparted (a common problem with Radio 2 documentaries), Quantick's delivery and the programme's pace and wit left you feeling breathless rather than bored. And his cheekiness knew no bounds. Then, in the comedy buffer zone, came The Blagger's Guide, half an hour of comedian David Quantick, a sort of mock-lecture on various musical genres (last weekend: prog rock, from Pink Floyd to Kate Bush), with just too much solemn expertise showing through for the mockery quite to work. In other words, it was an anorak pretending to be a torn T-shirt. |
