PotsandPlots

Buoyed by my success of having listened to an audiobook this year, I decided to listen to another! I heard an interview with Ben Elton, I think on the News Agents, and I was reminded how much I enjoyed his comedy when I was young.

In the interview, he talked about his friendship with Rik Mayall and the travails of bringing The Young Ones to the screen. He also discussed how Blackadder and what an exacting co-creator Rowan Atkinson could be.

With promises that What Have I Done? would expand further on both sitcoms and a whole lot more, I felt it would be a good read. And indeed it is. Well, more accurately, it was a good listen. Elton reads his story with the breathtaking speed his stand-up is famous for.

Growing Information:

Plant With: Biography, Comedy, We Will Rock You

Grows Into: One of Britain’s most popular and prolific writers, setting out his story.

Rating: Vibrant Annual 🌻🌻 (Check here for rating information.)

Audiobook notes – Well read by the author!

Available Now In Hardback, Digital and Audiobook (Affiliate Link)

The Review:

Whether you like this book or not probably depends on whether you like Ben Elton. I generally do. Particularly from my younger years – The Young Ones, Blackadder and Saturday Live. “Double-seat,” “little bit of politics,” and “shove a bit of wire up your box” have lived with me for decades. (Trust me, in context, this last one is hilarious, not horrific.)

I’m not going to lie, as a massive Queen fan, and not a fan of musicals, I did turn against Elton for a number of years – Queen: We Will Rock You – SOLD OUT! read the banners. Sold out indeed.

What Have I Done? puts much of the We Will Rock You process into perspective, and I feel a little bad now that I didn’t go and see it. Especially, as the early cast apparently had a young Hannah Waddingham in it. It seems to have been an exhausting labour of love, not a cynical cash-grab, with Elton pulling out heroics to rescue a faltering production.

Obviously, an autobiography presents only one point of view, but in his book, Elton comes over as a self-effacing and extremely hard-working writer. Yes, writer.

While he might be considered by many as one of the early proponents of the “comedian to author” phenomenon, Elton set out to be a writer. We learn of his school and uni days, furiously writing and putting on productions. He wrote The Young Ones with (and for) Rik Mayall, and, while the BBC production process ground on, he needed money, so started gigging in London’s blossoming alternative comedy scene. He fell into comedy almost by accident.

There are interesting stories in the book about the great and the good of British comedy and television, in particular Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmonson and Rowan Atkinson, who all worked extensively with Elton over the years. He was close friends, in particular, with Rik and the story of their relationship was as interesting as it was heartbreaking.

You also learn who the utter wankers of the scene were. Again, we only have Elton’s side of the story, but it will surprise no one that Jonathan Ross was an arsehole repeatedly down the years.

Popular/Unpopular

Reading What Have I Done? one might be forgiven for thinking that Elton’s biggest talent was for pissing people off. He seemed to attract the ire and vitriol of the press, presumably because of his popularity. He wasn’t high-brow but was relentlessly popular. A terrible mistake for somebody who wanted to write books and put on plays.

On the politics side, the famous lefty is continually called out as a champagne socialist and traitor because he is friends with people across the divide. One can’t help but feel that if a few more people took the time to build bridges rather than silos, the world wouldn’t be in the shitty state we’re currently experiencing.

Despite being perennially unpopular in certain quarters, Elton has made an astonishing number of high-profile friends and has included many interesting stories about them. This suggests he’s a decent bloke. This decency shines through when he talks about his family and their lives in Australia and the UK.

After listening to Elton’s more recent exploits, it seems he’s in the process of being rehabilitated into something approaching a national treasure. Prolific, with a string of quality projects behind him, across a whole slew of disciplines; talent wins through in the end.

I was always predisposed to liking this book, but I very much enjoyed it. Whether I’d ever have read it I’m not sure, but it made for interesting listening while doing the chores. It reminded me how much great stuff Elton has produced over the years, how much of it I had missed or dismissed, or had no idea it was Elton at all.

I will not be seeking out the Rod Stewart musical, but we have started watching Upstart Crow and who knows, maybe I’ll add a couple of his novels to the TBR pile!