Third Age Press bookstore

Non-fiction

IF YOU WANT TO BUY DIRECTLY FROM THIRD AGE PRESS (the quickest & cheapest way to get our books) & PAY BY CREDIT CARD OR PAYPAL -

PLEASE IGNORE THE SHOPPING TROLLEYS & ‘CLICK TO ORDER’ BUTTONS

- CONTACT US by email giving detail of which book(s) you want - JUST CLICK ON  dnort@globalnet.co.uk or phone 020 8947 0401 - and we will email the invoice and payment instructions. Or we can arrange for you to pay by bank transfer or you can pay by cheque. OR our books are available through Amazon UK or by order through most bookshops.

HOW TO BE A MERRY WIDOW - as featured on Woman’s Hour (30.12.11) is selling like the proverbial hotcakes. Consequently it has been re-printed and is now readily available. Happy reading ;-)

♥♥♥♥

WHAT DO YOU THINK . . . ?

If you would like to make a comment about any of our books - and we are particularly interested in what readers think about our latest book  It’s Never Too Late to Fall in Love (or any of the stories in the collection) . . . just click on the green box labelled BLOG on the right side of the page and add your comments. All comments will be approved before publication on the site.

Special offers

. . . advertised in the U3A News or other publications may be purchased by post (with cheque) or you may email us via ‘Contact’ and we will post the book with invoice.

I Say, I Say, I Say: The Double Act Story

I Say, I Say, I Say: The Double Act Story

by Eric Midwinter
Original study of 20th C British comic double acts – their historic, social & cultural origins, heyday & decline – from Victorian seaside minstrels, through between the wars cross-talk duos on stage & wireless to the huge appeal of iconic TV pairings. Brief & telling glimpses of scores of acts, with in-depth scrutiny of the more famous ‘turns’.

In this compact and original study of British comic double acts, Eric Midwinter cheerfully attempts to answer three questions.

First, and while describing the birth of the modern double act among the minstrel shows at late Victorian seaside resorts, he wonders why there were so few double acts before the end of the First World War in 1918. He explains how cultural and even legal reasons curtailed the growth of the phenomenon. Second, he asks why, then, there was such a profusion of double acts between about 1920 and the mid-1950s. He shows how the dictates of fashion, coupled with the demands of variety and ‘wireless’, created a boom time for the crosstalk comics. Third, he inquires into the reasons why, since that point, and with the intriguing exception of Morecambe and Wise, there have been so few comic duos. He analyses the effects of television and other social dimensions on popular entertainment by way of explanation.

Throughout there are brief and telling glimpses of scores of double acts, including some American examples, together with in-depth scrutiny of the more famous ‘turns’, such as Laurel and Hardy, Flanagan and Allen, Murray and Mooney and Jewel and Warriss…and all related vividly to the social background of their audiences.

At once knowledgeable and readable, I Say, I Say, I Say is an attractively presented account of a measurable and significant element of popular entertainment over the last hundred or so years. Everyone has enjoyed a double act - the appeal of I Say, I Say, I Say is very general indeed.

Price: £11.00