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Peter Cook
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Tragically I Was an Only Twin: The Comedy of Peter Cook by Peter Cook (3-Oct-2002) Hardcover Hardcover

by Peter Cook (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 86 ratings
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To his many friends as well as his legion of fans, Peter Cook was quite simply the funniest man ever. His unique gifts and the way he led the transformation of British comedy (from music hall to perverse absurdity) and his clear comic influence on Monty Python's Flying Circus and every show since, has been much written about. But never before has there been a collection of Cook's own writings.Tragically, I Was an Only Twin gathers the treasures of Cook's comic career, from school and university via Beyond the Fringe alongside Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore, to his sureal, satirical journalism for Private Eye. It includes his monologues, the cream of his irreverent essays, and highlights from his much celebrated partnerships with Dudley Moore as Pete & Dud and Derek & Clive. Illustrated with his own drawings, this is the first, the only, and certainly the definitive collection of the transformative genius of comedy that was Peter Cook.
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    Century; 1st edition edition (3 Oct. 2002)
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B012HUIM3M
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 86 ratings

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Peter Cook

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
86 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Patricia A. Donovan
5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great book, it contains the transcripts of Peter Cook's ...
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2016
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This is a great book, it contains the transcripts of Peter Cook's sketches and writings.
Writing and especially comic writing at it's very best. This book was a wonderful surprise!
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James Atkinson
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2014
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Great humor (for those for who do not have to #Press One For English)
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David Wineberg
4.0 out of 5 stars The Brilliant and the rest
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2014
The best description of Peter Cook came from Stephen Fry, who said he was the funniest man who ever drew breath. This volume collects about as much of the short form written record as exists. Unfortunately, a great deal of Cook's oeuvre on the BBC was systematically and deliberately destroyed - to make space, of all things. But Cook was so active in so many media, it could fill a book. And here it is.

Having it all in front of you gives you the opportunity to attempt to make sense of it, to figure out how Peter Cook was funny. A great deal of the answer is that it was in the delivery. The dry, phony, ignorant Briton, be he upper class or lower, was a natural for Peter Cook to imitate and caricature. His vehicle was repetition, constantly repeating what his friend or interviewer or random encounter would say. Cook would echo it. Repeatedly. Even "Good evening" became the basis of many a hilarious routine. Say it enough, and it becomes absurd. The works show that he could be funny differently, as needed. He didn't tell jokes. There is no way to stereotype him. He was clever, biting, sarcastic and bombastic, as needed. He had the potential to own every medium.

Only Twin also reveals Peter Cook in media we don't readily remember him in. Sports columns, editorials, and radio phone-in shows for example. They showed his talents but also his huge weakness. Cook never really worked at anything. His success began right in school, and he rode his wave without ever honing his gift. The result is dilettantism - trying this or that, expecting to be effortlessly brilliant. He wasn't. Had he stuck with anything, we might have seen refinement, growth, and that brilliance adapted and expanded. But his editorials are superficial, his sports columns bland, and the call-in by "Sven" quite uninspired. His films cause consternation.

Reading the short form scripts, particularly the Dudley Moore two-handers, you can hear how Cook made dull bores excruciatingly funny. The ignorant assumptions of his characters, the tiny bit of knowledge extended far beyond its worth, the pompous self-serving assessments - are all there, but they're there in Cook's delivery. Very few actors could pick up these scripts and do as well with them as Peter Cook did.

So the magic remains his, but the collection of these works is enormously valuable, not to mention enjoyable.

David Wineberg
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Betty Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Satire at it's best
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2014
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What an unusual delight---------
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Gauhri
2.0 out of 5 stars hard to bleieve he is straight
Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2014
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title is best part of book
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Richard Hanechak
1.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly disappointing.
Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2016
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Incredibly disappointing.
Stephen Fry and John Cleese both mention this book as a guide and superb example of British comedy.
I didn't laugh once and I truly adore Peter Cook and his comedy.
I really, really wanted to like this book.
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Top reviews from other countries

Diggs
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent compilation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2023
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A dip in the ocean - highly readable. Prepare to laugh out loud- and be surprised.
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Amazons Customers
5.0 out of 5 stars "Tragically I was an only Twin"
Reviewed in Germany on August 7, 2015
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The complete works of Peter Cook, the funniest man who ever lived. The book is really very funny and had me laughing a lot. But comedy in a book is not the same as seeing the comedy live or on TV. You can't see. for example, Dudley Moore trying to control his laughter as Peter Cook ad libs in many of the sketches (eg "At the Art Gallery"). But still good to have.
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Mr. Frederick B. L. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Tragically, I was an Only Twin - The Complete Peter Cook
Reviewed in Canada on April 3, 2013
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The book, "Tragically I was an Only Twin", arrived promptly. I chose to rate five stars because the book is hilarious for which I had hoped. To have the prose and scripts along with excellent commentary about Peter Cook and Dudley Moore both of whose comedy I have been a fan since I saw them in "Beyond The Fringe" in 1961 in Toronto. so, to finally get a book of the writings of Peter Cook, justly termed one of the funniest minds of my generation Is a bonus. "Tragically I was an Only Twin" is truly a 'must' for fans of Peter Cook's humour.
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John Cameron
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty funny in the way only loony British humour can ...
Reviewed in Canada on June 2, 2018
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Pretty funny in the way only loony British humour can be funny. The real revelation here is Chris Morris in the "Why Bother?" series. Morris turns out to be the perfect foil for Cook. Dudley Moore was mostly a set-up man, feeding Cook opportunities for witticisms. Morris goes for his own laughs, and Cook for once is forced to compete or at least to rise to a real challenger. The result is the funniest section of the book. There are even some times when Cook can't come up with a topper for a question Morris has flung at him, and you can "hear" him floundering until Morris relents with a feeder line. I recommend the book for that section alone, or in tandem with the "12 Days of Christmas" interviews that are in the same section (with Ludovic Kennedy instead of Chris Morris).
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David Wilson
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 25, 2015
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Cook is hard to get, but is worth the effort.
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