Friday, January 11, 2019

musings on sharing a packet of greek fags with the third best hugh laurie tribute act in leicester

hi there


it is perhaps fair, look you see, to say that just about all you need to know of this particular post is right there in the title. true, yes, that a good headline does indeed give you the story, but in this particular instance i suspect that i've gone somewhat beyond that motto of the fourth estate.

no matter, i will press on. or i shall, if that is the correct way to word it. up to you really, just read whichever of the options i have given you for wording it that you believe to be correct and accept that is it and move on.

for what reason is it that i am in a position to speak of, or have musings on, the subject of the title? a not unreasonable question, but one that i do not have a reasonable answer for. the truth is it just struck me as something that some of you might quite like to read, and so i arranged it.



yes, pictured above is the third best hugh laurie impersonator one can find in leicester. no, that is Atari 2600 mode, as it is what he requested. part of the agreement to post all of this was that i only used 8-bit style images of him, and didn't reveal his name. it turns out that the society, or if you will union, of hugh laurie impersonators is hotly contested, and they are reticent if not outright reluctant to reveal the ways in which they look like hugh, for fear of competitors stealing their act. beyond that, i did promise Phil that i wouldn't put his actual name up here, so he shall be referred to as P from here on out. which, in fairness, will save on typing a bit.

how did i come to arrange a meeting with leicester's third best hugh laurie tribute act (impersonator?) some research, hard work and dedication. the top two were, perhaps unsurprisingly with the massive upsurge in demand at this time of year, solidly booked out. happily the third was free. this was mostly due to him only being relatively new to the leicester based hugh laurie tribute act circuit; in some of his words apparently "the arse has fallen out" of the will young tribute act market and so he's diversified a bit.

securing the services of P to share a pack of greek fags was by no means straightforward. certain conditions for this were put in place. firstly, as indeed the first image gives every indication of, alcohol had to be present. the meeting also had to take place at least one hour drive outside of leicester, with what P referred to as "the wolverhampton axis" being a preference. further, the greek fags had to be of the finest quality. in respect of this, some rather splendid old friends in the form of George Karelias (or however you spell it) were procured, with thanks as ever for this going to Spiros.



exactly how big is the market for hugh lauire impersonators (or tribute acts) in leicester? massive, man. bloody huge, in fact. as far as leicester is concerned, modern culture peaked, or reached a quite natural epitome, with the rise to prominence of hugh laurie. as everything what came after hugh is thus considered a waste of time, leicester simply continues to celebrate hugh, flying the flag or burning the candle for him, or whatever. why? well, why not. i am a fan of hugh.

for what reason is it that i wished to engage the services of a hugh tribute act to smoke greek fags? i don't know, really. a lot of it was spontaneous, i suppose, that classic "it seemed like a really good idea at the time" thing. looking back it is possible to say it was an accidental tribute to the celebrated Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie, or if you like A Bit Of Fry & Laurie sketch set in a greek restaurant, but i don't honestly recall us eating any baklava or stuffed vine leaves.

does being a (predominantly) leicester based hugh laurie tribute act (or impersonator) attract a lot of fanny? oh, goodness me yes. quite remarkable stuff, really. for the sake of avoiding rival impersonators, or indeed the paparazzi, we selected a location rather off the beaten track instead of the usual tourist hot spots associated with the so-called "wolverhampton axis". a somewhat barren and formidable place, the type which makes The Slaughtered Lamb out of An American Werewolf In London seem rather cosmopolitan in comparison. and yet still the ladies flocked to the hugh.



how did this all work out for me? quite well, as point of fact. in truth P was a little hesitant in trying the greek fags, as he had "heard stories", and they were not tales which he was at all comfortable with. i gave him several assurances, however, and so he tried, and found that they were indeed most splendid.

is there any chance of this post featuring a picture of me with an enormous glass of gin, loaded with all sorts of fruit but of a predominantly citrus based nature? sure, of course.



no, i am not really a gin fan. there was a period that i wished i was, of course. like most who saw the film, my conclusion on seeing Bowie in The Man Who Fell To Earth was that it must be awesome to just sit in one of them roadside cafe things, wearing a splendid hat and just basically drinking loads and loads of gin. i went off and gave this a try, then, but found that i was not overtly keen on gin. as that was well north of twenty years ago, however, who knows? maybe i should try again, perhaps i have developed a taste for it.

was this not all a quite costly venture? it depends on how you look at it. should you take the entire spend and weigh it against that which was gained from all of this, i think a "break even" point was most decidedly reached.

perhaps it is fair to say more than break even, as in a slight weight push in the direction of that which was gained, when you consider the below "animated gif" thing. in a rather kind gesture, Phil, who has requested to be referred to as P here, agreed to smoke one of the greek fags in a "very hugh laurie way".



yes, i would have very much liked to have experienced this in what one might describe as the natural environment for a hugh laurie impersonator / tribute act, which is leicester apparently. my understanding is that leicester is "all sangrias and sunchairs from 10am every day", which sounds quite lovely. one never knows what the future holds, perhaps one day this will happen.

since he is central to all of this, for he provided the greek fags what made it possible, where is Spiros? that is a good question. no, i am not protecting him as usual here, i really don't know. well, maybe. reviewing my correspondence with him, the greatest legal mind of his generation, it seems that the last thing i sent him was a "know your own urine" guide. perhaps he has taken this with him as he goes about his proclivity for making short term but nonetheless mutually beneficial friendships with gentlemen (preferably in uniform) in bathrooms and other such public lavatories and restroom facilities.

one more picture emphasising how the ladies flock to hugh laurie impersonators (tribute acts) whilst they are enjoying a greek fag? i see no real reason not to share another. how about, to "mix things up", this time we see it in all the glory possible with the nintendo gameboy mode?



right, ok, well, then, that's that. i really do not believe i have much more else to say on this. actually, and you may well have noticed, i ran out of things to say about this several paragraphs ago. but, with all these pictures, i may have added some padding and a bit of waffle.

by the way, i was only going to publish this in february, but Phil, who wishes only to be referred to here as P, got a bit Australian about that and insisted it be this month. so, here.

if for some reason i find myself in another land, smoking cigarettes of greek provenance, in the presence of some form of impersonator or tribute act, yes, i shall surely do all that i can to record or capture the moment and share it here.


until then, then,



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





No comments: