#JFSP special

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[o-uncle-newt]

So the JFSP 2024 special was... different, wasn't it? I'm trying to suss out what I feel about it.

I think I probably need a second listen to the full thing. (I did listen to the first third of it while busy with something else, didn't get into it particularly, and then relistened to the whole thing in order while walking in the park and liked that first third much better. So I think that relistening to the whole thing all together will be helpful.)

As anyone who has listened to JFSP S9 and has seen my username here can tell, I LOVED JFSP S9, in fact loved it more than I loved the regular sketch show, and the first thing that came to me after listening was "so this is clearly meant to be more like S9." But it didn't feel like that to me, and I'm not sure why- I think maybe because S9 had lower-octane jokes and no audience laughter, meaning that scenes felt like they were servicing the characters and arc rather than only the jokes. So there, the punchline didn't need to go at the end for the audience to know where to applaud, whereas here we had that more low-key, fittingly bucolic gently-told-story feel that didn't always have a punchline, but the audience still felt like they were trying to FIND the punchline and the ends of sketches in how they were laughing. (Or maybe it was part of the editing...?)

I usually LOVE audience laughter, so it feels weird for me to say that I wish I could find a version of this without it to see if it feels more S9-like, but I do kind of want that.

It felt like it was not one thing or another- not like the rest of JFSP, but not like S9 or JF's other narrative work either. And it's not meant to be like any of those, I'm sure... I just need time and a relisten or two to suss out what I think it is, or rather how it makes sense to me.

I loved the standup concept, and there were some very fun slice of life stories told through it. (Also, obviously, the cast was, as always, phenomenal.) As storytelling, I thought it was great, even if the ending felt a bit sudden. But I do need to listen again to figure out what I think it is, and I wish I could do that without audience laughter, and without the feeling like this was meant to be a sketch show.

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(by the by)

[viola-halogen]

Proving the point of the sketch by having Melody Can’t Park In The Dark stuck in my head right now

[anditendshowyoudexpect]

cries in BBC Radio 4

[mycological-mariner]

Happy (late) Christmas, I found the Trafalgar sketch

[thisisaheist]

Well,

since you asked me what's been stuck in my head for three straight days:

🎶🎵🎶Woof woof woof, goes the Wolfhound...🎶🎵🎶

[edmorrish]

You can register for the ballot for free tickets to the next recording of JFSP here, for the next three hours.

[templeofshame]

I very much enjoyed the JFSP special, but I do miss the old JFSP that didn't worry about cohesion and was more absurd (and ended in a Since You Asked). I miss the perspectives of animals and objects and concepts. Glad it sounds like we can expect a special next year though!

[o-uncle-newt]

(Well I mean I hope he's busy with Cain's Jawbone, I put in an advance order and I'm excited to get it! LOL)

It's obviously possible that he knows that the fandom is nuts (I'm not even saying MORE THAN any other fandom, just that it reached the critical mass in population at which all fandoms are nuts) and doesn't want to deal with it, but let's be real, he had the Sherlock fandom eating out of the palm of his hand. (In one case literally.) He could have managed this, which doesn't mean that he had to want to. Using Gaiman as a meat shield is smart.

THAT SAID...

and I am aware that this may be an unpopular view, is a huge assumption to make that is probably unfair to him if it is false, and represents my own biases and beliefs regarding the season...

I'm really starting to wonder if he just wants to distance himself.

The fact that unlike, say, Rhianna Pratchett (or Rob Wilkins who is als a fellow co-producer), JF didn't even retweet anything about GO2 coming out. The only acknowledgement of the show he's made since June (possibly July) 2021 on the only social media site he uses that he actually updates (I love his blog but he hasn't posted since February) is the "yellow car" tweet, which is as non-promotional as you can get, being only for a very specific audience and not including the name of the show AT ALL.

According to an ask that Gaiman answered for me, JF hasn't been involved since the writing which I assume ended close to two years ago, not even in BTS stuff from filming. Considering that he apparently was working on Cabin Fever, JFSP S9, GO2, and solving Cain's Jawbone at the same time in 2020, I find it hard to believe that in the last two years he's been so busy with the new Cain's Jawbone and the 45 minute Souvenir Programme special, which are the only things I've seen from him recently besides for some radio recordings, that he couldn't have been involved in S2 promotion at all. (Avenue 5 was in there somewhere too, but that would have been 2020-2021 as well. And as I mentioned he did promote that on Twitter.) I could have missed some stuff he's involved in, and I'm sure he's done work he hasn't announced, but it seems implausible that he's had time to post jokes about, Idunno, oat milk on Twitter but not to post about GO2.

Now here's where I admit that I kind of hope this is the case. I by and large did not enjoy S2, found the writing to be weak (with the exception of JF's minisode which I really liked), and just generally thought the whole thing was below par for what I expect from a JF show, radio or TV, and honestly, with the exception of a lot of the dialogue (which was great), just didn't have the feel of his work at all. It would make me feel better to think that JF also thinks that this is not quite up to his standard and is trying to distance himself from it.

Of course, just because I want something to be true doesn't mean it is! And it's possible that this is massively insulting to JF about a project he's proud of, in which case I can only apologize (in the unlikely instance that he reads this). But... I can't escape the suspicion.

*He did reply in the negative to my tweet asking him if he was going to NYCC, and it's possible he discussed it in other replies

Can we get a John Finnemore appreciation train going because he's an incredible writer who co-wrote S2 and has had so little attention in the build up to its release

[lothiriel84]

And I think of you now (As a dream that I had long ago)

Oh who would walk the stoney roads Of Merlin's time And keep the watch along the borderline

- Al Stewart, Merlin’s Time

Where John Finnemore and the gang went all the way to Edinburgh, and all they got us was a fantastic show. (Again.)

As I believe I’ve mentioned on multiple occasions, the only reason why a few years ago I unexpectedly overcame my fears and general uselessness, and started travelling on my own at the ripe old age of thirty - well, almost thirty-one, actually - was the overwhelming desire to meet John Finnemore, and all the wonderful people from the Fandot. This is something I will forever be grateful for, not only because it allowed me to meet so many brilliant people - including the man himself, and the incredibly lovely cast from Souvenir Programme - but also because it gave me the chance to see so many beautiful places I would never have bothered to go through the effort of visiting otherwise. It’s no secret that I immediately fell in love with the UK - not least because, to my non-British eye, it is basically the land of Finnereferences - and while London will always hold a special place in my heart, I have a feeling that Edinburgh might have somewhat taken its place as my favourite city to be in. 

One of the reasons why I picked Edinburgh as my second date to see the show was that I had never been to Scotland before, even though I had been wanting to for some time. And let me just say that getting off the bus at Princes Street and looking up to see Edinburgh Castle felt pretty much like suddenly being transported into the landscape of legends and fairytales. As luck would have it, @iwanttotieyourshoe, @sircarolyn, and @my-sun-my-baelish had all planned to travel to Edinburgh on the same day to see the show, and we arranged to meet and wait around in a café until closer to the time the theatre doors would open. (What we definitely hadn’t planned was bumping into Margaret and Carrie as they walked down the street, but I’m fairly confident we managed to keep a somewhat dignified façade as we pretended not to notice them - though I fear I might have started giggling like a schoolgirl as soon as we passed them by, because I’m a very cool and proper grown-up, thank you very much.)

Anyway, the show. If you happen to be interested in a slightly more detailed account of the featured sketches and utter brilliance, you can find my old post about the Brighton show here. They had cut a few of the filler sketches, and of course adapted those parts that specifically referred to the location - ‘the Glasgow of the East’ was definitely a brilliant line from the Edinburgh Is The Worst song, and the stand up bit that John did at the beginning was pretty hilarious, with his account of how he failed to dress appropriately for the lovely Edinburgh weather, and as a result ended up buying a non-matching tartan shirt and pair of trousers. I’m particularly glad I got to see the show again, and not only because it was as brilliant as you might expect, but also because I had completely failed to understand all the references to Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah in the Since You Ask Me - I actually had to google the line ‘the secret chord that pleases the Lord’ to find out about the song, because I’m a clot - and the fact that I finally got them this time around made it so much better. And as I believe I mentioned after seeing the show in Brighton, seeing the cast on stage is a joy in and of itself, and while I’m glad that Souvenir Programme is a radio show and therefore available in my country - not to mention the perfect thing to listen to whilst driving, or doing other chores - I still wish we got the chance to see their acting and wonderfully silly faces more often, along with their brilliant voice acting.

As I had already seen the show in Brighton, I had been planning to give each member of the cast specially made thank you cards after the show. Which was a nice idea in theory, only there are two things I most definitely would not recommend about the whole thing: putting off writing the actual messages inside the cards until about ten minutes prior to the start of the show, and hovering for an indefinite amount of time in the vicinity of the cast having after-show drinks before eventually making up my mind and handing them said cards. (Nor would I recommend not having the faintest idea what to say once I was actually standing in front of them, but I guess life is too short to spend it regretting each and every time I invariably manage to make a fool of myself in front of my favourite people.)

I still can’t decide whether I should add ‘giving David Tyler a thank you card addressed to the Flying Visit crew’ to my ever-growing list of poorly thought-out decisions, but at least the members of the cast seemed to like theirs; Carrie even suggested that I should sell them, and while I know she was probably just being nice, it was still absolutely lovely of her, especially if you consider that I basically can’t draw to save my own life. (I know this might sound a little weird - and if it does, I’m really sorry - but the cast are such adorable people, all of them, and I feel so lucky that I got to know about them, and even to meet them in person.)

That’s all about the show, I think. I spent the next day with @iwanttotieyourshoe and @sircarolyn, mostly sitting in a café because it was pouring outside and none of us was very keen on walking around in the rain; but it was still brilliant, as we threw Cabin Pressure and Souvenir Programme references at one another - and that’s something I can only do when I’m around Fandot people, which is such a pity, really.

On Sunday I finally went sightseeing around the city; you can find some of the pictures I took in my Edinburgh tag, and while the weather was a bit changeable, it still allowed me to wander around for the better part of the day. One of my favourite moments was walking down the Royal Mile whilst listening to the Edinburgh special Since You Ask Me, twice, and then the entire episode, because that’s how I roll. After that, I went to Holyrood Park and walked up the path leading to the top of Arthur’s Seat, which is an ancient volcano and a thoroughly beautiful place, with an amazing view on the city and its surroundings, including the Firth of Forth. Calton Hill also has a fantastic view on the city, as well as on Holyrood Park and Arthur’s Seat. 

By the evening I was quite tired, but I still had to pop by Greyfriars Kirkyard, because I just couldn’t miss the chance for such an obvious JFSP reference. (On a side note, I think I understand the ‘Edinburgh’s sinister past’ SYAM far better now, or at least miles better than I did before actually visiting the city.) I also stumbled upon some breathtaking views of Edinburgh Castle at dusk, which I would have otherwise missed, and while neither my phone nor my camera managed to do it any justice, I’m still glad I got to see it with my own eyes. 

And well, I guess that’s it for me this week - or month, or whatever. I have no idea when I’ll be able to travel again, but I’m still looking forward to going back to Edinburgh at some point, and hopefully see more of Scotland too. 

For Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Edinburgh is the best.

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[o-uncle-newt]

I listened to JFSP S9 again, partly to prep to write a possibly ill-conceived crossover fic but mostly because I just wanted to, and I'm still not over it

There's always something different that gets me, and I think this time it might have been Walter and Vanessa on the train to Lyon and the way that it presages/reflects how they'll (each, and together) deal with Walter's blindness later on

[yourstormthlaylirahh]

Yes to all of the above, and also: the game show announcer being a misogynystic, condescending jerk to Vanessa about Jules Verne and her absolutely eviscerating him. How even though Gallie and Susannah never became famous, their music lived on, passed in bits and pieces through family members down to being played in Pier Pressure. Mr James subtly advocating for Newt and Gallie against their father. When one of the people who used Newt and Gerry's poems seeks out Newt decades later. Gerry's poem for Newt. Gerry's little cry of 'mommy!' at the end of episode 3. How immediately and completely supportive and loving everyone was during the lilo scene.

Again thinking about JFSP series 9. About a sex repulsed ace and a lesbian sacrificing their dignity, both to help the shared most important person in their lives. The heartbreak of the lilo scene, and how a little thing can mean so much to someone grieving. The tenderness of Vanessa helping Walter with his blindness. The tenderness of the family helping with Gerry’s abaplaida. Of Gerry’s childhood poems about animals and kings taking down the Nazi’s. Of Newt being so sweet while keeping Russ entertained while having, unknown to anyone there, having just watched his daughter be buried. Of the ace character destroying stereotypes by being the outgoing, loving and full of a love for life. Of Deborah’s heeled fencing. Of two queer love stories separated by 100 years, and the fact that Russ and Alex have the freedom to live that Gallie and Susannah would have dreamed off. The beauty of family love in the little moments, in the little traditions, in the banal.

[wellamarke]

“Plainly, Pratt and Rabbit were nothing more than grave robbers! But could I truly pretend to be surprised? My employer's hints, the graveyard rendezvous and also I had eventually worked out the pun on their names.”

This is from the Edinburgh Special of JFSP and in the years that have elapsed since I heard it for the first time I have still never been able to “work out the pun in their names”. Is there one? Is it just an infuriating little comment to slide in in the absence of a pun to leave people wondering? At this point I almost hope it’s that 😂

[SOLVED IN THE NOTES]

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