February 1: A friend texted this morning to say that we would have to change dinner plans because she was not feeling well, and my little demented mind went immediately to an episode of the Goon Show titled Lurgi Strikes Britain. The Goons were three guys: Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, and some guy named Peter Sellers. They were on BBC radio during the 50’s and early 60’s and laid the foundations for later comedians, notably Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
That connection was perhaps front-of-mind because I’m reading a great book by John Cleese wherein he says: “(The Goon Show) made the best use of radio that has ever been achieved in comedy, mixing a huge variety of wonderfully silly voices and astonishingly creative sound effects to tell ridiculous stories with humour that was witty, insane, insanely logical, breathtakingly stupid and thoroughly subversive…”
The Dreaded Lurgi which strikes Britain causes the afflicted to cry out “Eeee Yakka Booo” for no apparent reason. It turns out to have only one cure – the ability to play a musical instrument. In short order, with much anarchy and diversion, an air-drop of millions of brass musical instruments is organized and the country is saved.
The Lurgi has entered the lexicon in some quarters as a descriptor for an unspecified illness. I use it from time-to-time and I’m usually greeted by quizzical looks. In any event, I hope my friend overcomes her bout of Lurgi – without having to learn the Sousaphone…..
http://www.thegoonshow.net/index.asp