Letters to my Dead Dad

National Service and Student Radio

The bumper final episode of Series One starts with a clip of Olly giving Eddy’s eulogy at St Denys’s Church, Sleaford. Olly’s talking about why Eddy became so obsessed with his memories of doing National Service. After a clip of Eddy talking about National Service, we move to the letter Olly wrote to Eddy on 17 February 1984. Olly bangs on about students bands, student radio, an upcoming performance project, an imaginary art movement and all sorts of whimsical nonsense. Reading back over all this, Olly is inspired to dig out some audio that he recorded for a student radio station a few years later. Then it’s time to pull out a ton of stuff from the Family History Box, including the hat and belt Eddy wore, and some photos of him performing comedy sketches in the barracks. The series ends in style, with more audio from Olly’s student radio show. It’s a sketch called “Celebrity Execution”, in which classic children’s television character Captain Pugwash chooses to meet his maker in a truly bloodthirsty style.   You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod [https://www.instagram.com/letterstomydeaddadpod/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Daily Mirror article and Rant cartoon

A letter Olly wrote to Eddy on 17 January 1984 leads him to ponder his long experience of seeing his own words in print, as the author of books and articles about stand-up comedy and similar subjects. This is sparked by having had a comic strip published in a student magazine called Rant. As luck would have it, Olly’s found the copy of Rant that he gave to Eddy in among the things he rescued from Eddy’s house after he’s died. So he’s able to record an audio adaptation of that cartoon, featuring dialogue between two pretentious students interrupted by a sweary punk. Something else he’s found in Eddy’s house is a Daily Mirror article from the 1950s, in which Eddy is quoted commenting on the propensity of the dogs of Rutland to damage school library books.   You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod [https://www.instagram.com/letterstomydeaddadpod/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Jesus College letter and Chaotic Cabaret

Writing to Eddy on 12 January 1984, Olly is excited about his new sandwich toaster and anticipating his debut performance at the upcoming Chaotic Cabaret. This leads him to dig out an old portfolio which contains the script he wrote for that, a piece of dubious comic quality called “Eric Tory, the Mad Monetarist” – and perform it for the microphone over forty years after writing it. Then it’s time for a root around in the Family History Box, where Olly finds a letter from Jesus College, Cambridge with the bill for Eddy’s interview there in April 1950. This leads to some old audio of Eddy telling a story about an ill-fated money making scheme by his Uncle Bob, which involved dying a greyhound’s fur.   You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod [https://www.instagram.com/letterstomydeaddadpod/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Jamaican penfriend and college band

Episode 5 begins with Olly reading a letter he wrote to his Dad on 30 November 1983. It’s a bulky missive, with updates about his ultra short lived college punk band Vile Style, seeing theatre from Spare Tyre and music from Killing Joke, learning African and Caribbean students from mature student Cyril, and researching Australian First Nation performance. This sets the pebbles of memory skimming across the surface of time, as Olly thinks about his lifelong love of music and obsession with comedy – and he comes across a firsthand account from the late pioneering alternative comedian Tony Allen supporting Killing Joke at the Lyceum in 1981. Olly records a new version of one of the songs he wrote for Vile Style, before dipping into the Family History Box. There he finds an adorable letter his Dad received from his Jamaican penfriend Lloyd back in August 1949. Not only that, but he also finds a photo of the teenage Eddy playing drums with an unnamed jazz band. The episode ends with a clip of Olly talking to his Dad about his love of jazz and his hatred of racism.   You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod [https://www.instagram.com/letterstomydeaddadpod/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

1936 family photo and 1983 synth soundtrack

Episode 4 begins with another look in the Family History Box, where Olly finds a family photo from 1938 showing his Dad as a little boy standing slightly awkwardly next to his parents, Gladys and Harold. There’s a clip of Eddy talking about his Mum and Dad, and we get a glimpse of his upbringing in a working-class district of Ipswich. It’s a world away from the drama degree Olly did in the 1980s, and the letter he wrote to Eddy on 10 November 1983 sees him using his Moog synthesizer to create a soundtrack for a happening. The episode ends with a clip of a wonky song that Olly recorded in his bedroom on that very synth shortly before heading off for university.    You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod [https://www.instagram.com/letterstomydeaddadpod/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.