Excellent Fayre - ISIHAC at its Investigative Best! - Rated 
Done in the style of a BBC radio 2 or 4 documentary, this is a very humerous 45 min look at the "history" of the game of Mornington Crescent. Will you understand what is is about and how to play it at the end? Of course not!! But that's half the fun...... the other disc has some excellent "monologues", for want of a better expression, from the ISIHAC regulars.
I was genuinely upset when I heard the Humph had passed away - the great jazz and comic legacy he has left behind, of which this is part, will serve to remind us of what a great bloke he was.
I highly recommend this CD set as part of the ISIHAC portfolio.
Dry surreal wit - Rated 
I am a great fan of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue (ISMIAC) (as well as Just a Minute, The News Quiz and the Now Show). I've got all of ISMIAC's CDs (I think), so naturally I got this one. Well, if you think IMSIAC is funny, this is something else.
The first CD contains a pseudo documentary which wants to get to the rules of Mornington Crescent, but is sidetracked into its History. We've already had at one history in ISMIAC 3 (the fourth programme on those CDs), and I seem to recall another history elsewhere. But apparently we need another history.
The second CD contains four monologues, each loosely (very loosely at times) on a game of Mornington Crescent, each told by one of the four regulars.
So what is different between these CDs and the regular programme? Everything. Firstly, there is no audience and precious little interaction between speakers, so no laughing - and I didn't laugh much. It is akin to the humour on You'll Have Had Your Tea (which I can recommend), except there it was funny.
I am trying to define what makes humour work - and I can't. No-one can (I think). These CDs are humorous - but not funny. It's very dry, and fairly surreal. I laughed out loud about three times in the entire 2 CDs (2 of those in Garden's monologue).
I would give this 1 star, as I'm not going to listen to it again, but I'll give it two stars, because at least at the end of the first CD you actually see the four cardinal rules of Mornington Crescent. I actually knew the first two, half-knew one of them (the 4th rule), and didn't really know the 3rd rule. So should you get it? It completely depends if you find dry wit funny as opposed to humorous. I don't.
Samantha sends you her compact discs - Rated 
I was initially dismayed listening to this 2-CD set. What is a serious and extremely complex game appears to have been turned into an excuse for jokes and general silliness instead of a, hopefully, straightforward explanation of the Game itself.
But gradually, the light dawned. In effect, this is a good-natured comedy, very much along the lines of 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue' (where most of us first experienced MC), but....with significant clues laid out along the way. I don't want to give too much away, but listen carefully and you will hear, early on Disc 1, a 'member of the public' say, when asked what he knew of Mornington Cresent-The Game, -'Oh, I think it's something to do with the Tube Map'. Ha! The first clue indeed. To confuse things, there's a lot of nonsense about the ancient history of MC, whereas of course the game, as we know it now, dates from the late nineteenth century. N.F.Stovold's name appears (sigh)...how many times have we heard this? It really will be very confusing for newcomers to Mornington Crescent. This despite, or maybe because of, the best efforts of Andrew Marr, Adam Hart-Davis, Dame Judi Dench and, .. Barry Cryer. Amongst others.
But stay with it, for on disc 2, under the guise of four short tales all involving MC, yet more clues emerge. I will say no more than this; in the first story, our Humph tangentially alludes to Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Caroll)- a mathematical genius naturally drawn to the Game's complexities, and a man with Tractarian sympathies.
And so it goes on.
I would like to do my own bit to help newcomers play in the common Regional variations of Mornington Crescent. This is an example taken from a recent competition of the West/South Yorks Border Mornington Crescent Society; make sure you have Ordnance Survey Landranger map 110 to your left, and a good fold-out map of the London Underground (preferably pre-Jubilee Line extension) to your right. Note that diagonal movements are allowed, and instead of being in Nip (South-East England), we are most of the time in Dearne:
Wakefield Road
Denby Dale
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Barnsley Road
Church Lane (that throws it wide open!)
Bretton Roundabout
Emley Moor
and MORNINGTON CRESCENT!!
(Note the line of longitude of the Emley Moor Transmitter)
Well, I hope I've helped clear things up, without giving too much away. Get this pair of CDs, get out the maps, and away you go!
The best radio comedy in the world - EVER! - Rated
I've done a few reviews. I've liked some stuff, hated others. Someone might read them and take heed of what I say. Most of you won't. BUT IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE GET EVERY SINGLE "I'M SORRY I HAVENT A CLUE" PRODUCT and prepare to laugh your naughty bits off. Listen to it on BBC Radio Player. Buys the books. Listen to it again and again. IT NEVER LET'S YOU DOWN.
HUMPH FOR PM!
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