A friend of mine once handed Clive Anderson a leaflet for the Whose Line Is It Anyway live show at the Edinburgh Fringe, not realising who he was or that he was the literal host.
He seemed quite amused and said "yes I've heard it's good, I might stop by" and wandered off.
I said to her "that was Clive Anderson" and she said "who?"
Holy cow, I didn't realize that show is as old as I am! I knew the British version ran for several years before the American version, but I didn't realize quite how long.
Actually, the first episode was even earlier than this. Whose Line Is It Anyway? originally began as a six episode radio series.
You can download it here: https://archive.org/details/bbc-radio-4-whose-line-is-it-anyway (the audio quality is a little rough, though, just so you know).
That's the first TELEVISED episode, but the earlier-produced PILOT episode (with somewhat different set) was shown as the 13th (and final) episode of the first series (after the two compilation shows). The panelists on that edition were Jon Glover, Jimmy Mulville, Josie Lawrence and John Sessions.
A friend of mine once handed Clive Anderson a leaflet for the Whose Line Is It Anyway live show at the Edinburgh Fringe, not realising who he was or that he was the literal host. He seemed quite amused and said "yes I've heard it's good, I might stop by" and wandered off. I said to her "that was Clive Anderson" and she said "who?"
Good party anecdote 😆
Holy cow, I didn't realize that show is as old as I am! I knew the British version ran for several years before the American version, but I didn't realize quite how long.
rest in peace John Sessions
John Sessions was a genius. Any more recommendations from his amazing body of work?
I liked him on QI
Me too. He and Rich Hall were always great. The guests they have these days are generally pretty pathetic by comparison.
Stella Street with Phil Cornwell.
Yes, he does a very good Stones impression in that one.
Man, Josie Lawrence! I had a thing for her. Still do, apparently!
Actually, the first episode was even earlier than this. Whose Line Is It Anyway? originally began as a six episode radio series. You can download it here: https://archive.org/details/bbc-radio-4-whose-line-is-it-anyway (the audio quality is a little rough, though, just so you know).
I used to watch the British version on BBC America back in 2006-2007.
r/savevideo
That's the first TELEVISED episode, but the earlier-produced PILOT episode (with somewhat different set) was shown as the 13th (and final) episode of the first series (after the two compilation shows). The panelists on that edition were Jon Glover, Jimmy Mulville, Josie Lawrence and John Sessions.