NTB Iconic Icons - Bob Dylan

I've posted the new National Theatre of Brent's Iconic Icons episode in the NTOB section on the right hand side of the page.

It's the box at the bottom that looks like it's empty, it's not, just hit play or follow the divshare link. This weeks icon.... Bob Dylan.

The BBC website labels this as 1 of 3 episodes and also mentions that it's an occasional series. I'm guessing that means it's not on every week. I'll keep my eyes open for the next one.

The National Theatre of Brent's Iconic Icons!

Iconic Icons Wed 29 Jul 2009 18:30 BBC Radio 4!

I was in the audience! It was a boiling hot day and VERY uncomfortable in the venue. The show was fab though! Very interesting to see a radio comedy recorded, it all seemed very low rent. I guess you don't really need that much, just a room with good acoustics and a couple of microphones!

Saturday morning ritual....

The one thing I HAVE to do on Saturday mornings is have the radio tuned to BBC 6. Actually, the word radio is inaccurate as it's a digital channel that I get through my Sky box.

Saturday, BBC 6, 9:00am = Adam & Joe.

They've been sounding the horn for geeks like me for quite a while now and have had a small but loyal following since their TV show on C4 years ago.

Radio is a great fit for them. The music is usually great but you listen because you want to know what they thought of the new "Star Trek" movie and the like.

Nerd Nirvana.

Here's a video by one half of the team, Adam Buxton, that he made for the Spoon song "Don't make me a target." This wasn't the official video. But it should have been. Check out his YouTube channel here.

National Theatre Of Brent UPDATE!

As you may know from an earlier post I am a HUGE fan of "The National Theatre Of Brent". It's been through many different forms over the years, the most well known being the combinations of Patrick Barlow & either Jim Broadbent or John Ramm.

Rather annoyingly none of their shows (TV or Radio) have ever been commercially released, so I've spent a long time searching the net for any material.

While on the hunt today I realised that "All The Worlds A Globe" has been repeating on BBC7 along with "Desmond Olivier Dingle's Compleat Life and Works of William Shakespeare". BUM! Missed them both! Thankfully I found most of "Globe" and will replace 7 of the episodes I have posted here because the quality is better. Some nice chap also put up a torrent for "Shakespeare" so I have added that to the NTOB section. The quality isn't great but it's better than nothing.

Also added to the playlist that already has "Mona Lisa", "Messiah" and "Greatest Story" is a new one on me "Joan Of Arc: How She Became A Saint".
It was written by Patrick Barlow and has Jim Broadbent and John Ramm in the cast. Dawn French plays the lead role.

They can all be found on the right hand side of the page under "The National Theatre Of Brent".

My origional NTOB post is here.

As if that wasn't enough it turns out that the NTOB are set to return to the radio this year with a NEW series. It's titled "The National Theatre Of Brent's Iconic Icons".

I managed to get 2 tickets to a recording of an episode... WooHoo!
The episode I will attend is about the iconic icon Bob Dylan.

It never rains but it pours.

If you want to download the files click on the DivShare logo.

The National Theatre Of Brent

I am adding a new link (on the right)to some mp3's of The National Theatre Of Brent.
The NTOB are Patrick Barlow (Desmond Olivier Dingle) and Wallace (Jim Broadbent).
Most recently Wallace has been replaced by Raymond (John Ramm). Mr Broadbent, I assume, is busy being one of the countries finest actors.

The conceit is simple, two men perform massive moments from world history. The problem is they are both idiots. Wallace and Raymond know their limitations, but Desmond Olivier Dingle is under the false impression that he is a great historian, director, playwright and actor.

The NTOB have been around since the early 80's, making TV and radio appearances as well as performing on the stage. One of my personal favorites was "Revolution!" where they reenacted the French Revolution. It is impossible, it seems, to get hold of any of their material as nothing has been released on DVD or CD. The stuff I have posted has been collected from the radio over the years.

So far there is "The Messiah" & "The Greatest Story Ever Told". Later I will post the 6 part series "The Arts & How They Was Done".

I hope you enjoy them.

Le Show.

A heads up to all of those of you out there that like to listen to something that's satirical and topical.
Harry Shearer's "Le Show" has been broadcasting on public radio in America for years. Harry is probably best known to those of us in the UK for his voice work on "The Simpsons" and his semi-legendary status as member of the loudest rock group ever "Spinal Tap".

"Le Show" airs once a week (Sundays) from the studios of KCRW in Santa Monica. I've known about it for a while but only had access to it from last year when I FINALLY got broadband and could download the show every week.

It's a real treasure.

For those of you that worry that all of the U.S.A is like George Bush this is the show for you. It's a side of America that we don't hear from that often because our exposure is limited to CNN, Fox News and the like. The format is very straightforward. Harry goes through some of the major stories of the week, as well as the ones that occasionally get buried, and gives us his thoughts on them. Simple, honest, scary sometimes and very funny.

If you want to give it a try it's available on iTunes as a free podcast as well as kcrw.com and harryshearer.com.

Have a listen. Keep up the good work Harry!