A few days ago it was Kenny Everett's birthday. Who? Surely you know Cuddly Ken, he of the Kenny Everett Video Show? I grew up watching his subverted comedy in the 70s and 80s. He was the perfect transition, filling the gap between Monty Python and the Goon Show I consumed in the 70s, and the anarchic Comic Strip and The Young Ones I was influenced by in the 80s.
He started out his career in Radio, pioneering Pirate Radio, an independent radio movement that escaped the censorship rules of the BBC. He became friends with the Beatles right in the midst of their peak, and their surreal period influenced his move into TV.
Wacky use of rapid fire sound effects recording, Quantel video tricks, silly sketches like Captain Kremmen, and his amazing audio trickery singing in fantastic bouncy harmonies with himself.
TV characters like biker Sid Snot, punk Gizzard Puke, complaining hypocrite Angry of Mayfair, preacher Brother Lee Love, soft porn star Cupid Stunt, and French pervert Marcel Wave are embedded in my memory, and every so often I'll launch into their catch phrases. He is a part of pop culture, almost like no other.
Here are two of his most famous sketches. The Instant Bee Gees Kit, and the Barbra Streisand sketch.
He was gay, though he didn't publicly disclose this until late in his life. Sadly, he contracted HIV, and died in 1989 of an AIDS-related illness.
It seems to me that he is a perfect choice for a bio pic to be made of his life. He was part of so many important pop cultural touchstones, from Pirate Radio, to Beatles, to TV technology, to coming out as gay and contracting AIDS. There's a hell of a story in there.
And who should play him? There is only one possible choice. David Tennant.
I mean look at this. They're practically twins. Stick a beard on him and you're sweet. Even Tennant's english accent is a close match, he'd just have to twang it into Kenny's subtle Liverpudlian, which shouldn't be hard.
Do it, David! You know you want to!
2 Reasoned Responses:
Ya can't go past a good Kenny Everitt show that's for sure 'cause like you I grew up watching his programme too, furthermore, I also remember listening to Captain Kremmen on the radio and geez it was a crack up.
and yet... :)
Yeah; I Grew Up Watching His Shows; And He Was Fucking Awsome; And You Wont See His Like Again.