Lewis Carroll - the original Monty Python

Lewis Carroll is the original Monty Python. His ability to think logically enabled him to travel along a line of illogic with perfect logic.

There are innumerable instances in the Monty Python series that are reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's absurd humour. On the other hand, you could transpose some Carrollian scene or line into a Python sketch and find that it fits in very well. Take, for example, Alice's meeting with the White Knight in Through the Looking Glass.

Alice was walking beside the White Knight in Looking Glass Land.

"You are sad." the Knight said in an anxious tone: "let me sing you a song to comfort you."

"Is it very long?" Alice asked, for she had heard a good deal of poetry that day.

"It's long." said the Knight, "but it's very, very beautiful. Everybody that hears me sing it - either it brings tears to their eyes, or else -"

"Or else what?" said Alice, for the Knight had made a sudden pause.

"Or else it doesn't, you know. The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes.'"

"Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?" Alice said, trying to feel interested.

"No, you don't understand," the Knight said, looking a little vexed. "That's what the name is called. The name really is 'The Aged, Aged Man.'"

"Then I ought to have said 'That's what the song is called'?" Alice corrected herself.

"No you oughtn't: that's another thing. The song is called 'Ways and Means' but that's only what it's called, you know!"

"Well, what is the song then?" said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.

"I was coming to that," the Knight said. "The song really is 'A-sitting On a Gate': and the tune's my own invention."

The Mad Hatter's question Why is a raven like a writing desk? in Alice in Wonderland is another example of nonsense that one could imagine being uttered by John Cleese, a propos of nothing, with eyes popping in a manic stare.

Lewis Carroll was ahead of his time and that could be said to be one possible definition of genius. He is the source of some of the most original surreal concepts which have intrigued psychologists and philosophers and stimulated the imaginations of creative people in various artistic spheres.

Storypods' audiobook version of Alice in Wonderland succeeds in conveying Carroll's unique humour and wordplay. Produced as an audiobook, Alice and the extraordinary characters she meets are brought to life vividly by a cast of very talented actors. The unabridged book plus a selection of Nonsense Verse and Prose - total playing time 3 hours 30 minutes - are contained on a single CD in MP3 format. Alice in Wonderland & Nonsense Verse and Prose by Lewis Carroll is available on MP3 CD for £7.95 or as a download for £4.95 from www.storypods.co.uk where an audioclip can be heard.

The poems on this CD include Jabberwocky - recited with great aplomb by Bill Moulford. They provide further examples of Lewis Carroll's irrepressible gift for nonsensical and whacky wordplay.

Calling all Lewis Carroll fans: Storypods welcomes comments or brief articles about Lewis Carroll for posting on their Lewis Carroll webpage - at the discretion of their moderator.

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