--- In
just-a-minute@..., "lapsedcat" <lapsedcat@...> wrote:
>
> Having listened to most of the existing JAMs it occured to me that I
> could not recall a single instance in which the morose Mr Freud made
> explicit reference to his celebrated forebear (save for a round where
> he responded to a comment made by Derek Nimmo about Sigmund's beard,
> or lack of one).
>
> This surprises me as Clement has very definite form when it comes to
> discussing his children, wife, brother, etc on the show. Was he keen
> to play down his association with the great SF?
>
In the wider sense you raise a subject which fascinates me, the
creative process of the mind. It interests me hugely how say an author
comes up with ideas for a book, how a director comes up with ideas, or
(until I was doing it myself) how a journalist creates their ideas for
stories. It's possibly at it's most interesting if you're trying to
improvise in a humorous way, especially if you are also trying to
watch words as you would be in Just A Minute.
I think most of us if asked to play a game like Just A Minute would
fall back on what we know, our own history, our family, our lives and
so on, at least some of the time. In JAM Kenneth clearly uses a great
deal of his experiences on the show as he did when being interviewed.
Derek is similar - his travel experiences make up a biggish proportion
of what he talks about, and Peter and Clement too, especially about
their own family.
In comparison Paul Merton almost never talks about his family. He is
on to his third wife but I can only remember one brief reference to
his wives - he mentioned Sarah liked to buy furniture (apart from the
show when his wife was on with him). I don't remember him discussing
the Comedy Store Players or (apart from a reference to the scandal
around Angus Deayton) Have I Got News For You or his fellow players on
those shows. I find that interesting - most of us would be bringing up
work situations if asked to improvise. Until I heard he was writing a
book, I was unaware of Paul's particular interest in silent comedy films.
Of course Paul's been improvising for years brilliantly and I guess
his mind is trained to go down particular avenues, which I guess is
true of all of them. Maybe Clement years ago became bored with talking
about his famous grandfather and now doesn't really think about
talking about him. Maybe he doesn't have anything funny to say about
him - he wasn't at all close to him. It would be fascinating to get
inside his head and work out how he does decide what he wants to say.
In the show where Emma Freud appeared, she said Clement was once asked
by a journalist "can you tell me about your other grandfather?" And
Clement replied "he was the father of psychology". That's a pretty
good joke, and very Clementish.