Letters to my Dead Dad

The bumper final episode of Series One starts with a clip of Olly giving Eddy’s eulogy at St Denys’s Church, Sleaford. Olly’s talking about why Eddy became so obsessed with his memories of doing National Service. After a clip of Eddy talking about National Service, we move to the letter Olly wrote to Eddy on 17 February 1984. Olly bangs on about students bands, student radio, an upcoming performance project, an imaginary art movement and all sorts of whimsical nonsense. Reading back over all this, Olly is inspired to dig out some audio that he recorded for a student radio station a few years later. Then it’s time to pull out a ton of stuff from the Family History Box, including the hat and belt Eddy wore, and some photos of him performing comedy sketches in the barracks. The series ends in style, with more audio from Olly’s student radio show. It’s a sketch called “Celebrity Execution”, in which classic children’s television character Captain Pugwash chooses to meet his maker in a truly bloodthirsty style.  You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A letter Olly wrote to Eddy on 17 January 1984 leads him to ponder his long experience of seeing his own words in print, as the author of books and articles about stand-up comedy and similar subjects. This is sparked by having had a comic strip published in a student magazine called Rant. As luck would have it, Olly’s found the copy of Rant that he gave to Eddy in among the things he rescued from Eddy’s house after he’s died. So he’s able to record an audio adaptation of that cartoon, featuring dialogue between two pretentious students interrupted by a sweary punk. Something else he’s found in Eddy’s house is a Daily Mirror article from the 1950s, in which Eddy is quoted commenting on the propensity of the dogs of Rutland to damage school library books. You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Writing to Eddy on 12 January 1984, Olly is excited about his new sandwich toaster and anticipating his debut performance at the upcoming Chaotic Cabaret. This leads him to dig out an old portfolio which contains the script he wrote for that, a piece of dubious comic quality called “Eric Tory, the Mad Monetarist” – and perform it for the microphone over forty years after writing it. Then it’s time for a root around in the Family History Box, where Olly finds a letter from Jesus College, Cambridge with the bill for Eddy’s interview there in April 1950. This leads to some old audio of Eddy telling a story about an ill-fated money making scheme by his Uncle Bob, which involved dying a greyhound’s fur. You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 5 begins with Olly reading a letter he wrote to his Dad on 30 November 1983. It’s a bulky missive, with updates about his ultra short lived college punk band Vile Style, seeing theatre from Spare Tyre and music from Killing Joke, learning African and Caribbean students from mature student Cyril, and researching Australian First Nation performance. This sets the pebbles of memory skimming across the surface of time, as Olly thinks about his lifelong love of music and obsession with comedy – and he comes across a firsthand account from the late pioneering alternative comedian Tony Allen supporting Killing Joke at the Lyceum in 1981. Olly records a new version of one of the songs he wrote for Vile Style, before dipping into the Family History Box. There he finds an adorable letter his Dad received from his Jamaican penfriend Lloyd back in August 1949. Not only that, but he also finds a photo of the teenage Eddy playing drums with an unnamed jazz band. The episode ends with a clip of Olly talking to his Dad about his love of jazz and his hatred of racism. You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 4 begins with another look in the Family History Box, where Olly finds a family photo from 1938 showing his Dad as a little boy standing slightly awkwardly next to his parents, Gladys and Harold. There’s a clip of Eddy talking about his Mum and Dad, and we get a glimpse of his upbringing in a working-class district of Ipswich. It’s a world away from the drama degree Olly did in the 1980s, and the letter he wrote to Eddy on 10 November 1983 sees him using his Moog synthesizer to create a soundtrack for a happening. The episode ends with a clip of a wonky song that Olly recorded in his bedroom on that very synth shortly before heading off for university.  You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 3, Olly contemplates a recent big birthday as he looks in the Family History Box and finds a cartoon birthday card he painted for his Dad back in 1983. He can’t help feeling guilty at how savagely he’d mocked his poor old Dad’s ageing face on that card. But undeterred, he reads the letter he sent to Eddy on 29 October 1983 – in which he’s impressed by a comedy sketch in the first student performance he saw after becoming a drama student. This leads him to muse on the weirdly massive role comedy has played in his life, up to and including his current gig compering Funny Rabbit Comedy Club at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre. The episode ends with a clip of Olly ringing Eddy from the stage of Funny Rabbit on his 90th birthday, and the entire audience singing ‘Happy Birthday to You’ – to Eddy’s obvious confusion!  You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode of a brand new podcast, you’ll meet its creator and presenter Oliver Double – but you can call him Olly – and his late father Eddy. You’ll hear five facts about Olly, accompanied by Eddy on the washboard. You’ll also hear Olly read the letter her wrote to his Dad on 4 October 1983. It’s the first letter since leaving home to go to university, and already he’s asking for money! In the first dip into the Family History Box, Olly will pull out a photo of Jesus College freshmen from 1952, and find that the one with the biggest smile is Eddy. Finally, there’s a clip of Eddy back in 2013 talking about how a working-class Ipswich lad like him ended up going to Cambridge. You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 2, Olly looks in the Family History Box and finds a scrap of paper on which his Dad wrote down some words to remind him to look them up in a dictionary. Do YOU know what ‘deracination’, ‘ineffable’, ‘chapbook’, ‘mimetic’, ‘liminal man’ and ‘sacral’ mean? If not, you won’t want to miss Eddy’s Definitions Quiz! After that, there’s a short clip from Eddy’s eulogy at St Denys’s Church, Sleaford – and then Olly reads a letter he wrote to his Dad on 10 October 1983. This leads him to muse on his musical obsessions – and realise how much they echo Eddy’s. The episode ends in style with Olly recording his tribute to Louis Armstrong’s 1966 recording of ‘When the Saints Come Marching In’ – which was one of the songs played at Eddy’s funeral. You’ll find all the historic items discussed in this episode on our Instagram account: @letterstomydeaddadpod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oliver Double - Olly to you - explains what his brand new, super-cosy podcast is all about. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.