The Woody Allen Reader

Over the last forty years, not content with being a multiple award-winning film director, actor and screenwriter, a stand-up comedian, a Broadway playwright and a sometime jazz clarinettist, Woody Allen is  also a hilarious writer of short prose pieces, spoofs and dialogues,  which were eventually collected into three books - “Without Feathers”, “Getting Even” and “Side Effects”.

In 1988, Kerry Shale, who already had a formidable reputation for performing innovative and award-winning one-man adaptations of prose works on the stage in London, Edinburgh and Off-Broadway - most notably, his “Confederacy Of Dunces “ and “The Prince Of West End Avenue” - suggested to David Tyler that the books might be perfect for adapting for Radio 4 - many of the pieces were written as in Woody Allen’s own voice, but others would require a plethora of different American accents and characters, something at which Kerry Shale excels.

After negotiations with Woody Allen’s producers, Rollins and Joffe, we secured the rights, on the strictest of conditions - no cutting of the text, no repeats and the tapes to be destroyed after the relevant number of transmissions. We recorded the shows at BBC Broadcasting House and they went out in June and July 1988 as six twenty-minute episodes. Some contained one entire piece - such as the playlet “Death Knocks”, a spoof of The Seventh Seal, where Nat Ackerman, a New York furrier, plays Death at Gin Rummy for the chance of one more day of life - and beats him... Others have two or three sections. Kerry Shale plays all the characters.

The idea for the signature tune for the series arose out of something Woody Allen says in the film “Manhattan” - When asked what makes life worth living, the character of Isaac says - “Groucho Marx, Willie Mays, the 2nd Movement of the Jupiter Symphony, Louis Armstrong's "Potato Head Blues," Swedish movies, Flaubert's “Sentimental Education”, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, those incredible Apples and Pears by Cézanne, the crabs at Sam Wo's, and Tracy's face”. Hence - “Potato Head Blues”.

The Woody Allen Reader

The Woody Allen Reader

Alas, we're not allowed to play you extracts from the tapes for legal reasons - although it might make an enjoyable court case.

But you can find out everything you could want to know about Woody Allen by clicking here

And there's more specific information about the books here

Here's where you might buy the books ("Getting Even", "Side Effects" & "Without Feathers") -

It's got his new book, Mere Anarchy, also.

Find out more about Kerry Shale here

And of course, you must buy Louis Armstrong's Potato Head Blues. Here's why and here's how

(Ok, well maybe not the 10-disc set, but you never know...)