Recitations and monologues

It was an art form developed in the Victorian Music Halls where artists like Stanley Holloway made it into a working class culture. Young and old in pre-war days memorised their favourites like ‘The Lion And Albert,’ ‘Sam Small’ or ‘The Runcorn Ferry’ and they became a powerful morale booster on the home front during the war.

Despite ‘Albert’ being written by a Scotsman and performed by a Londoner, it was always performed in a Northern accent and fittingly, made its debut in front of a Tyneside audience. Gary's original Geordie texts are sometimes cleaned up so they can be understood by the rest of the world - and sometimes converted into Lancashire or Yorkshire dialects to suit various performers.

Whether it’s because the Northern dialect makes comedy sound funnier or Northern humour travels well is yet to be decided. In keeping with tradition, and drawing inspiration from the entertainment that packed the halls before television, ‘Fairly Truthful Tales’ recreates and refreshes the art of the comedy monologue. Encouraging older audiences and readers to value their own memories whilst enriching the cultural life of the young, ‘Fairly Truthful Tales’ ensures a vivid part of our comedy heritage is not lost. 

The Words
A few examples of Fairly Truthful Tales
taken from the two books and CDs
Click on the titles to read them

Edie's Last Ride

The Great Amblethwaite Cap Mystery

The Lion The Witch And The Warburtons

A Lesson For Mr Carson The Parson

Dave The Jackal

Jack And The Beansprouts

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Buy the books!


And the CDs

Fairly Truthful Tales Book
also available for download
at Amazon