#john finnemores souvenir programme

[thekenobee]

#JOHHfINNEMORESOUVENIRPROGRAMME

[restlesshush]

My friend made me this 🥰

[waytooinvested]

Kara: Oh I've been meaning to say, not a big deal or anything, but Lena and I are dating. Okay, see you- Alex: Kara, wait, wait, get back here! Kara: No it's okay, it's not a big deal. Alex: It IS a big deal! Kara: It doesn't have to be. Alex: No, but it's wonderful. I'm really, really happy for you. Kara: Great, see you- Alex: I'm just so surprised, though. Kara: Yeah? Alex: SO surprised. I had no idea. But I'm delighted! You know, supportive delighted. But just, so, so surprised! Goodness me! Kara: ... Are you being sarcastic? Alex: No, Of course not! Kara: You are! You're fanning yourself, when have you ever fanned yourself? Alex: It's the surprise. Kara: You've been on the web, is that it? Or you've been talking to Kelly. Someone's said whatever you do, don't say you already knew. Alex: No. What?! I had no idea. Kara: That's funny, because you're usually so good with this stuff. I mean that's your thing isn't it? Reading people. Alex: Well- Kara: But this, this properly blindsided you did it? No idea at all. A bolt from the blue. Imagine that. Alex: Mmm. Kara: Your own sister who you've known nearly all her life, and your mutual friend who you see almost every day, and still you had NO idea. Alex: YES I KNEW! Of course I knew, I knew before you knew! Kara: There we go! Alex: Ugh I'm sorry, I promised Kelly. Kara: It's okay. I already knew you already knew. Alex: Oh you did NOT!

[o-uncle-newt]

I MET JOHN FINNEMORE

It is a thing that happened and I still kind of can't believe it

I went to Tall Tales and it was so lovely and there were such talented people (including Susanna Pearce of the JFSP musical element who sang two songs from a musical she's working on) and JF did a 35 minute staged reading with three other people of something he's working on that's essentially fanfiction of one of my favorite book series and it was so much fun

AND THEN I STOPPED HIM IN THE AISLE AFTER AND TOLD HIM HOW MUCH I LOVE HIS WORK AND HOW MUCH IT'S MEANT TO BE ABLE TO, IN MY WORST MOMENTS, JUST SWITCH ON HIS SHOWS AND CARRY ON AND FEEL BETTER

AND HE WAS SO NICE! I HAD ALWAYS HEARD HE WAS NICE AND HE REALLY WAS, I'M SURE HE HEARS THIS KIND OF THING ALL THE TIME BUT HE WAS SO SWEET IN HOW HE RESPONDED, I'M KIND OF FREAKING OUT, IT JUST FELT SURREAL BECAUSE I WAS TALKING TO HIM AND EVERY SO OFTEN A SYNAPSE WOULD ACTIVATE AND I'D BE LIKE "I'M TALKING TO JOHN FINNEMORE RIGHT NOW"

Anyway, sorry for yelling, I'm just very not over it. Didn't get a photo because I was too chicken to ask in the moment and then too chicken afterward to go up to him later at the bar and then our cab came

Red letter day, is all I can say

[eclecticishstuff]

I have 2 spare tickets to the John Finnemore gig on 17th January in Oxford if anyone wants them... dm me...

[timespanner]

(x)

[hasturswig]

If anyone trying to work out the numerous mysteries in Good Omens Season 2 is interested in the kind of puzzles John Finnemore puts in his writing, they should listen to series 9 of his radio programme ‘Souvenir Programme’. This is a drama told non sequentially about what is essentially a family mystery. It doesn’t seem like that to start with, and it’s a little confusing initially, but stick with it and you will be rewarded. It is a beautiful story, with lots of wonderful representation of queer and neurodiverse people. The characters are so lovely and lovable. And you will see how things that you notice early on become more emotionally charged once you have more information to go on as the story progresses.

It’s available on Sounds, which is free to access for everyone.

[pea-green]

not to harp on about John Finnemore's writing but I want some appreciation for him writing gay people as completely ordinary, where the sketch wouldn't change if they were heterosexual (the train manager/driver, the bassoonist who hides his job from his husband), while others speak deeply about homophobia and acceptance (Gally and Susannah, the entirety of the double act Rebel Alliance) and others, most importantly, are funny (Patsy Straightwoman having a wife, who is also called Patsy Straightwoman).

[movietonight]

John Finnemore is so good at writing autistic characters. He deserves some kind of honorary membership.

[sassy1121]

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme series 9 transcripts are up!!

https://jfsp9.neocities.org/ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Wilkos!

[doodlerach]

Found in the wild, slightly off Disney characters with that black paint that fades slightly faster than the others...

[friend-through-teenage-nights]

Transcript under cut:

Newt: Well, since you have summoned me to celebrate Jeremy Wilkinson's life, with a paeon of praise.

Jeremy Wilkinson, boy for all seasons

From conkers in autumn to swimming in spring

Hobbies, achievements, so many and various

O muse of poetry, now let us sing

Jeremy Wilkinson, friend of humanity

Put up the blackouts for old Mrs Moor

Tireless cadger of Saucepans for Spitfires

Can't be long now til he wins us the war

Jeremy Wilkinson, promising pianist

Firm with the left hand, loud with the right

Just let him loose on the William Tell Overture

That's when you'll know that you've been in a fight!

Jeremy Wilkinson's shrapnel collection

Viewed by his rivals with envious eyes

How very cunning to pick a collection

Where daily new specimens fall from the skies

Jeremy Wilkinson, grizzled old veteran

Eighth of October, an auspicious date

This is the day that, at least unofficially

He stops being seven, and starts being eight

Jeremy Wilkinson, famously courteous

To please his old uncle, will now close his eyes

Sadly, his mother is stuck on a narrowboat

Somewhere near Stratford

Or is she?

(door opens)

Vanessa: Surprise!

Jerry: Mummy!

[End credits]

John: (voiceover) 1943, Spetwith.

Newt: And so, Jack returned in triumph to the village, and his mother wept tears of joy, and the villagers sang paeons of praise. The end.

(Jerry clapping)

Jerry: What's paeons.

Newt: Paeon is a long poem about how wonderful you are.

Jerry: Oh! Can I have one?

Newt: Not now. Maybe for your birthday.

Jerry: Ohh, alright. Goodnight.

Newt: Goodnight. Sleep tight!

Jerry: (chanting) Don't let the bedbugs bite.

[restlesshush]

I do have to say the autism portrayal in the souvenir programme special was soooo glorious. Alex’s “playlist” echolalia and Sonny Jim’s wonderfully beautifully wildly thorough busy book are – I think it’s pretty safe to say – things a decent proportion of the general radio 4 audience would be clocking as Something, and they’re both treated 1) as something clearly joyful and 2) as just the same flavour of charming whimsical thing as all the rest of the eccentricities we’re being shown, inviting you not to really draw a distinction between things more or less likely to be pathologised, but just to revel in all of it.

Also, the busy book fully had me paralysed with almost teary delight at the enchanting meticulousness, so

[anditendshowyoudexpect]

We don't have anything as… you know, the Wilkinsons are, in particular that middle family, the Wilkinsons and associated tribes are particularly fond of that sort of thing, the hat ripping and so on. So, we don't necessarily have things quite that marked, but we all have little, you know… Certainly my family, we all have odd little jokes and things we don't even know are jokes, things we just take for granted. Which is how i think of things like "half a glass" that Russ doesn't really know that's a family tradition, he certainly doesn't know where it comes from. But Walter said it to Jerry and Jerry said it to his kids and they also, it just became a thing that the family say when they are feeling tearful, and so that's instinctive in Russ when the bully approaches, you know, when he's feeling scared, just to blurt out "half glass", he's no idea why, so i'm sure there's things like that in my life, little catchphrases we all… yeah. In my family, if anyone describes something with lukewarm praise, especially with the phrase "quite nice" then whoever they're talking to will immediately go, "clean anyway", because of the famous occasion when apparently my auntie… my great auntie Phyllis went to visit my great auntie Brenda's new front room, which had just been done in new wallpaper and went, "Quite nice… clean anyway."

from John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme Season 9 Zoom discussion with Q&A with John Finnemore (bless you lovely people for recording this and @musicalheart168 for telling me three years later because apparently i'm bad at youtubing. even if you still haven't seen it yourself. just this tiny one, come on)

btw i have totally appropriated quite nice... clean anyway

[alisonscotlock]

jfsp s9 might be about intergenerational relationships and family traditions and many other excellent things and, most importantly, about LOVE 💛 but we cannot ignore the fact that it is also about seven generations of autistic people

[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.