Tragically I was an only twin: the complete Peter Cook / edited by William Cook

by Peter Cook

To his many friends as well as his legion of fans, Peter Cook was quite simply the funniest man ever. His unique gifts and the way he led the transformation of British comedy (from music hall to perverse absurdity) and his clear comic influence on Monty Python's Flying Circus and every show since, has been much written about. But never before has there been a collection of Cook's own writings.Tragically, I Was an Only Twin gathers the treasures of Cook's comic career, from school and university via Beyond the Fringe alongside Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, to his sureal, satirical journalism for Private Eye. It includes his monologues, the cream of his irreverent essays, and highlights from his much celebrated partnerships with Dudley Moore as Pete & Dud and Derek & Clive. Illustrated with his own drawings, this is the first, the only, and certainly the definitive collection of the transformative genius of comedy that was Peter Cook.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Biography, Comedy, Memoir, Autobiography, Anthologies

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Peter Edward Cook was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishment comedic movement that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s.
Born in Torquay, he was educated at the University of Cambridge. There he became involved with the Footlights Club, of which he later became president. After graduating, he created the comedy stage revue Beyond the Fringe, beginning a long-running partnership with Dudley Moore. In 1961, Cook opened the comedy club The Establishment in Soho. In 1965, Cook and Moore began a television career, beginning with Not Only... But Also. Cook's deadpan monologues contrasted with Moore's buffoonery. They received the 1966 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.
Following the success of the show, the duo appeared together in the films The Wrong Box (1966) and Bedazzled (1967). Cook and Moore returned to television projects continuing to the late 1970s, including co-presenting Saturday Night Live in the United States. From 1978 until his death in 1995, Cook no longer collaborated with Moore, apart from a few cameo appearances, but continued to be a regular performer in British television and film.
Referred to as "the father of modern satire" by The Guardian in 2005, Cook was ranked number one in the Comedians' Comedian, a poll of more than 300 comics, comedy writers, producers and directors in the English-speaking world.

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the forefront of British comedy for three decades, anticipating or creating entire styles and trends of humour, Peter Cook was rightly venerated as a master of comic performance. The scripts presented here, shorn of the accents, pauses, inflections, and Cook’s naturally hilarious presence, still succeed in raising more than a lungful of lols. The Pete & Dud sketches (most of which are lost) from the 1960s are among the strongest, with his second best creation Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling following behind with two late-career masterpieces. Most Peter Cook is available to view on Youtube now, including the chat show appearances where he provided hours of off-the-cuff mirth, making this collection redundant apart from those interested in how humour works on the page, or those who want to read a series of uninspired columns for The Daily Mail (!) (not Cook’s finest hour). ‘A Life in Pieces’ is unmissable, and ‘Why Bother?’ with Chris Morris must be entered into one’s ears without pause. This compendium is lovingly edited with informative and adoring notes from William Cook (no relation).

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

In his time, Peter Cook was one of the funniest men around, he was a little before my time, but I remember him with Dudley Moore. In his time, he was considered one of the great comedy writers, even though he had a reputation for idleness. He wrote countless skits and articles and was a leading figure in the boom in satire in the 1960’s. This collection draws from his very earliest works, including his best known sketches a selection of his columns that appeared in the Daily Mail, Private Eye and the Evening Standard and even includes some TV pieces that have never been seen in print before.

There are some very funny sketches in here, and I was chuckling as I was reading every now and again. The ones with Dud as Derek & Clive, two blokes putting the world to rights are hilarious and are my particular favourites. Some of the others he wrote are now very dated, mostly because the world has moved on and these were relevant then. I skim read it at times as it got a bit tedious; really one for the collector of his works.

[Stuart Estell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find it hard to believe Cook has been dead for 16 years. I remember the day he died - I was a student at the time and a massive fan of Pete and Dud in all their various incarnations, but particularly, of course, Derek and Clive. I still have the commemorative edition of Private Eye with him on the cover that was published that week.

The humour is priceless - like Milligan, Cook is an oft-unacknowledged source of much of the surreal style of comedy that was prevalent for a while. Father Dougal McGuire couldn't have existed without E. L. Wisty.

Rest in peace, Peter. If there's an afterlife, I hope you're filling it with cigarette smoke.

[Pete Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Cook is a talented and brilliant editor and author, and what he doesn't know about comedy is probably not worth knowing.

[Spiros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Cook has been widely hailed, and by people whose opinion should definitely count (such as John Cleese and Stephen Fry), as being the funniest man of his generation. Nothing in this book will disprove that assertion. The editor, William Cook (somewhat cryptically noted as "unrelated" in the bookjacket notes), perceives a kinship to Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll in Cook's humor, to which I would add W.S. Gilbert in his earlier works, Samuel Beckett in his "Pete and Dud" sketches (co-written with Dudley Moore), and Spike Milligan in his writings for "Private Eye". His Monday morning columns for the "Daily Mail" are as pithy and economical as any of Dorothy Parker's doo-dads. And his "Memoirs of Rhandi P'hurr" provoked an uncontrollable and embarrassing fit of the sniggers when I was reading it at Caffe Trieste (fortunately, no cappuccino passed through my nose).
All that being said, there is an inherent note of melancholy to this book, besides the bare fact of Peter Cook's untimely demise; much of his best material was destroyed, by eejit or eejits unnamed at the BBC, in the interests of recycling master tapes, or in the sacred cause of Tidiness.
And now we reach the subject of my sermon: the Baal of Tidyness. For too long now humanity has worshipped the False Idol of Neatness; this profanation manifested itself in my own life in those goofy science movies we were subjected to in junior high wherein Man, through the medium of Science, was in the Process of Conquering Nature (yes, I know I'm dating myself here, but it's the only action I'm likely to get these days. Ba-dum bum.), and in my own Grandmother, who would start clearing plates halfway through dinner and who caused several beautiful trees to be removed from her property because they were "messy". It is behind the Inquisition, Treblinka, and the idiotic foreign "policy" perpetrated by President Fuckwit (run that "Axis of Evil" thing by me one more time?). Face it, people: the world is not black and white, only wonderfully variegated shades of grey; outside of pederasts, Republicans, and Dodgers fans (except Melissa), there is no such thing as evil. To shamelessly appropriate a blog-heading from my good friend set.element (whose blog, moronathon.blogspot.com, I strongly urge you to visit; it will scare you and make you laugh, much like Hitchcock), "The World's a Mess (It's in my Kiss)"; deal with it, embrace it, adapt (and listen to X).

P.S.: Tony Wilson R.I.P.; I channelled your voice for this review. Except for the "Ba-dum bum".

[Claire]

Re-reading this breathtakingly hilarious collection for the third or fourth time. Includes everything from the legendary One Leg Too Few sketch from 'Beyond The Fringe' ("I've got nothing against your right leg. The trouble is - neither have you"), some of Cook's classic EL Wisty monologues, the best bits of Pete & Dud ("Bloody Greta Garbo...") and some of the hysterically rude Derek & Clive ramblings. A brilliant collection of the hugely inventive work of the man who invented alternative comedy as we know it.

[Codfather · Rating 2 out of 5]

As someone who loved Peter Cooks' TV and film work, I found this book a little turgid and not a little stilted. It was in large part just a regurgitated form of the TV shows and scripts and articles from private Eye.
I can't really say I overly enjoyed reading it , and with hand on heart can't really recommend it to anyone else. I would recommend you track down his work on TV and film and enjoy it that way.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fullest collection of Peter Cook's amazing wit. And who compares with it? Recommended.

[Andre BFG · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be skewered by Peter Cook was the dream of every lamb to the slaughter.

[Hana Tiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first it's a biography about the rise of a British comedian, who is also a writer and a performer. After that, you can read a number of his sketches. Amazing book, lovely read, honest and precise, leaves you baffled with the development of humour that Peter Cook showed as one of a kind from his early age, his college years.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from the library after "Judge" John Hodgman spoke highly of it in His Honor's podcast. The Introduction by William Cook (no relation) beautifully and compassionately summarized Peter Cook's life, triumphs and foibles. However, the substance of the book (transcripts of Cook's comedy) fell flat for me. I'm not of the generation who would have Peter Cook's voice in my mind -- I never saw nor heard his work. To me, timing and inflection are essential to comedy, and I couldn't re-create it I my head. There's very little surviving footage of Cook, because BBC erased much of his work in routine re-use of recording tapes (i.e., BBC taped over his work). In fact, that story of quotidian stupidity made borrowing this book quite worth it.

[Mark Iliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

If, as the editor William Cook¹ appears to, you believe Peter Cook was the funniest man of his generation, or maybe even of all time, you’ll want to read this book. It’s a selection of the man’s writings, including scripts, spanning his career, preceded in each chapter by a few pages of biography.

There are gems here, particularly in the first half, but quite a lot of dross too. Cook spent his later years pleasing himself, rarely moved to work, and more power to his elbow for a wise life choice. But it does leave the book feeling flabby overall, particularly the later work which doesn’t really glitter at all. I thought of myself as a Cook fan when I started; now, not so much.

A book for keeping in the loo and reading slowly over a year or so.

¹ not a relative AFAIK

[Clare Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am still reading this very funny collection of sketches, soliloquies and recorded improvs from the very funny Peter Cook. I have heard some of his sketches recorded with him and Dudley Moore as Pete & Dud, and imagining Peter Cook saying these words makes it so much funnier.

Peter Cook also played the priest in The Princess Bride (the famous 'mawwiage bwings us togever today') scene.

This is laugh out loud funny; Cook and his contemporaries in the 50s and 60s paved the way for the Monty Python crew, Jack Dee, Eddie Izzard, Steve Coogan and other contemporary British comedians.

The Clive&Dud banter is very profane though and I skipped this chapter.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are already a fan of Peter Cook, you will love this book. If you are new to Peter Cook and have a sense of humor, you will love this book. If you are neither of the above, skip it. This book is full of so many gems, so much comedy gold that it will make you sick. It is rare to laugh so heartily and genuinely at the written word, but you will. And then you will mourn the funniest man who has ever breathed.

P.S. To all of those who gave this book fewer than 5 stars because it is not a biography, read "Peter Cook: A Biography" by Harry Thompson. Honestly, a quick Amazon search for that book seems easier than writing a dumb review of this book.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ehjoyable overview of selected bits from Peter Cook's Career..from the early'beyond the fringe days' through the 'not only but also' sketches and beyond ending with the Sven prank calls and selected writings.
The scope of the writing takes on varied subjects and is never anything less than entertaining.
Something for everyone really from cerebal sketches to the sheer crude (step forth Derek and Clive!!)

[Hunted Snark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mad yet logical.
Insane yet satirical.
Lunatic yet witty.
Surreal yet internally consistent.

Cook, even on the page, or especially on the page, has the capacity to produce hysteria with just a few deft lines.

Or so it is for me.

If you have a taste for surreal, language-based, and deceptively thought-through humour, I strongly recommend it.

Just don't read it on the train.


PS: EL Wisty for supreme leader!

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of his writings and scripts with an introduction in each chapter so it also works as a sort of biography. Some of it has aged badly, and some of it obviously loses out from not been acted by the likes of Dudley Moore and Cook himself but some of it is comedy gold and his influence over the like of Monty Python, Brass Eye and The Mighty Boosh is there to see.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed when I realized it wasn't a biography. There was some biographical stuff it in, but it was mostly a collection of sketches he'd done throughtout his career, with and without Dudley Moore. I skipped over most of the sketches, because those really need to be seen to be appreciated. The non-sketch material was interesting, Peter Cook was truly a dememted comedian.

[Stewart Shandley]

One of so many hilarious excerpts from the book is from Snail Reform, Society for the Prohibition of Snail Racing...
Have a look at this. They're high speed action photographs which have been taken during actual races. Look at the expressions on those snails' faces and then try to tell me they're enjoying it.

[Simon C · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best of Cook's work is, of course, pure gold but there is a fair bit here that I didn't much care for. I think, as the editor himself admits, the words on the page without Cook (or Moore) to deliver them are only part of the story. I also think he imposes his personal tastes too much on this collection. Only the first Derek & Clive album is any good? Nonsense.

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dudley and Pete were the comedy team. British Swinging 60's via their comedy bits. Now they are both dead, and that's tragic. There is something very sad about Cook's surreal humour (I am spelling that 'British). But he was hysterical.

[Derek Bridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should say something funny about this book. I really should. Really.

A collection of Peter Cook pieces from his schooldays to his demise. Some, most, brilliantly funny. Some not so.

Can't think of anything funny to say.

[Suzanne Newnham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the book caused massive outbreak of hysteria and giggling. Other sections were not my sense of humour. If you are a Peter Cook fan this is excellent. Otherwise it is an easy book to pick and choose the stories and sketches and enjoy a good laugh.

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contrary to what it says here this book with this cover was NOT published in 2013 but actually 10 years earlier in 2003.
Enjoyed the book. It was good.
Adore Peter Cook. In a respectful manly heterosexual way of course.

[Patrick Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complete is a good word for this. There is some material in here that is, frankly, not very good. But the duller pieces serve only to make the rest of the work shine brighter. I knew nothing of Cook's material before reading this, but it was generally delightful.

[Nigel Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of scripts with some insights about the man. Useful historic references to development and influence. The sketches are not nearly as funny on the page so if you are not familiar with Cook's delivery you'll flounder...

[Clayton Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

No matter what your sense of humour is like, there is something for all tastes in here. Incredibly funny.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts with a really amazing skit, but there are parts,like his writing for Punch, that I have to admit I have skipped.

UPDATE: I finally gave up on this.

[Michelle S · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read of Peter Cooks sketches, a truly talented man. I even remember some of them, brought back some great memories.

[Jeanius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply hilarious and a must-have for fans of Peter Cook.