Humph in Wonderland

Narrator .................. Tony Hawks
Queen of Hearts ....... Sandi Toksvig
Duchess ..................... Tim Brooke-Taylor
Cook .......................... Graeme Garden
Humpty Dumpty ....... Barry Cryer
Caterpillar ................. Andy Hamilton
Mad Hatter ............... Rob Brydon
March Hare .............. Jeremy Hardy
Cheshire Cat ............. Jack Dee
White Rabbit on the piano ...... Colin Sell

ISIHAC: Humph in Wonderland was recorded for Christmas 2007, and I must admit I missed it first time round despite the fact that it combines two of my favourite things (rather like the ISIHAC game featuring the kazoo and the Swanee whistle). I thought it would be too contrived and try-hardy, and when I finally bought the CD and started listening, I thought I was right- the jokes seemed rather too laboured and sign-posted, and it was all over-scripted. However, when I turned off my pompousness, and listened properly I was won over. Tony Hawks still isn't really my cup of tea, but there's plenty else going on here.

Jeremy Hardy (one of my secret crushes) does his usual surreal thing with Cheddar Gorge (I game I never found at all amusing until I heard him play- the letter from Davros to the Doctor is one of the funniest ISIHAC moments). The premise here is that TweedleDum (JH) and JackDee are explaining the rules of croquet one word at a time, and the result is that it seems to involve more violence and vicars than I expected.

Cheerful Jack Dee is inspired casting as the grinning Cheshire cat, and TBT does his usual Lady Bracknell thing as the Duchess.

Hamish and Dougal put in an appearance as the Walrus and the Carpenter, who have moved from their place as characters in a verse to full-blown participants, acting as jailers when Humph is incarcerated along with Griffon Rhys Jones and the Man in the Wrong Story.

As for music: Jabberwocky fits remarkably well to the tune of Jerusalem, whilst Father William has been Lloyd Webbered. Jeremy Hardy gives his usual standard of performance when paired with Rob Brydon to sing Please Release Me, but the best is saved 'til last when we get to hear Humph play us out into a Winter Wonderland....

Private Alice

Alice seems to be firmly embedded in people's minds: I've been noticing references to her all over the place in the last weeks- she even turns up in Private Eye. Other spots this week include a nod in The Magus, and the Cheshire Cat's place as a Jurisfiction member in Jasper Fforde's rather wonderful Thursday Next books.

I wonder how long it will be before someone writes Alice in Facebookland- every generation creates its own version of the story: from parodies of Beeching's rail reforms to feminist tracts.

Alice in the Real World

Sometimes you find Alice in the most extraordinary places. Above: the Hayward Gallery.

Below: Selfridges.

Svankmajer's Alice

I think it was watching Svankmajer's Alice (in my twenties) with my father that made me so fascinated by the stories: more so even than reading the books as a child. The film was made in 1988 by the Czech surrealist animator, and captures all the weird otherness of the books. It's certainly rather a spooky, dark Alice, but I think it's the strangeness at the heart of the books that has made them last so well: people become bored with bland, but Alice always has something lurkng just out of sight...




I'd love to say I have a DVD of the film, but so far it only seems to be available for region 1, so until I get a player that will, errr.. play it, I'll have to make do with youtube and Jabberwocky, which I do have.

If you're interested in the region 1 discs, check here: Region 1 Alice

Alitji in the Dreamtime

Alitji in the Dreamtime: a re-telling of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland story by Nancy Sheppard using Australian Aborigine language and imagery: the white rabbit has become a kangaroo and the dormouse is now a koala.

The story is told in the Pitjantjatjara language of Central Australia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitjantjatjara) and is back-translated into English alongside.

The illustrations by Byron Sewell are rather beautifully printed in brown ink: far more elegant than black, especially on the grey-brown of the paper.

Published in 1975 by the University of Adelaide, and available from various sellers on Amazon: Alitji on Amazon

More equivalences:

• the fan becomes a woomera
• the caterpillar becomes a witchety grub
• the Duchess becomes the Spirit of the North Wind
• the Mad Hatter and the March Hare become a Stockman and a Horse
• Croquet is played with storks and echindnas

I think this is one of my favourite alternative Alice stories: the tale is well told, the rhymes and verses stand up well and the illustrations are beautiful. It works well as a book on its own merits, and it adds dimensions to the original story. Recommended.