Sheckley and Vine

When I was at school I read a lot. Then when I went to college for my HND I read a lot and watched The West Wing. Then at university for my undergraduate degree I studied a lot, and read less and watched a few more DVDs, and finally during my doctorate I read almost nothing and studied to the point of madness. During all that time I read very few short stories, for the simple reason I that really don't like short stories. We had short story evenings in my house where we would read to each other though, and I had a stock of not terrible examples that served that purpose.

Short stories are difficult, because you are currently stopping and starting and switching narratives to the point of madness. To date there have been exactly two sets of short stories I can read painlessly over and over: 'Sherlock Holmes' by Doyle and the 'Star Trek' episode adaptations by James Blish. There might be a third though, someone unexpected and someone just as unknown as Blish. That author is Robert Sheckley, lord of the funny/satirical tale and a forerunner to the far less prolific Douglas Adams. Sheckley is the storyteller's storyteller, much as Stanley Ellin is in crime fiction.

Now, Sheckley is a fascinating figure and as I work through 'The Store Of The Worlds' the Quirky Muffin will surely get back to him. For now, here you will find a tenuous link to someone far more current and hopefully well known; The unifying aspect of practically everything I find interesting is humour, and there is exactly one standup comedian clean enough and silly enough to appeal to this mad old mind. Who? Tim Vine, of course, the creative mastermind behind 'Pen Behind The Ear', 'Flag Hippo' and a thousand thousand one-liners and puns.

Tim Vine is a fascinating performer, clearly motivated to avoid innuendo and smut and thus almost unique amongst the comedians of today, but also still driven by whatever primal forces puts those people on a stage. Those forces are almost diametrically opposed in this cynical age, and one day you wonder if he'll just expire holding a brain on the end of a fishing line while telling you to cast your mind back. Tim Vine is just funny, silly as he may be, and in ways his silliness is a very telling subtlety. You can overlay a level of imagined satire of the world as it is, in the furious attempts to be different by simply being innocent. In a grand world of cynicism he is naive, although that naivete does come with a sense of pathos at times, especially in the bonus features on his DVDs. Oh, cat fishing is so lovely.

Tim Vine is a reaction to the world of comedy, much as Sheckley was a reaction to the world of science fiction and sometimes literature in general. They're both worthy of study, if you have the time.

O.