Love "MC"? You'll love these. Never heard of "MC"? Give these a miss. (I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: In Search of Mornington Crescent (Audio CD))

Member Name: gooeyuk

Product:	I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: In Search of Mornington Crescent (Audio CD)
Date:	20/06/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very funny if you already know the point of "MC"

Disadvantages: Completely baffling if you don't get the point of the game

First of all, if you don't already know what game of Mornington Crescent is about, do not buy these CDs as it will have you almost entirely baffled. Needless to say it's little to do with a Tube station in London and less to do with the street of the same name.

If, however, you're an afficianado of Mornington Crescent then these CDs are little belters.

Mornington Crescent is a game played on the Radio 4 panel game "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" in which contestants take turns in naming (usually) London Tube stations or London roads. The background is that it's a game played using the London Tube map as a "board" (or the A-Z) and there is a mythology that it has a complex set of rules, variations and gambits wheras in fact it has just one rule and one aim. The rule is that the first player to say "Mornington Crescent" wins. The aim is to be funny. There are actually no other rules and part of the humour of the game is in the utter simplicity of the actual point of the game versus the game's fictitious complexity.

The first of the two CDs has the documentary "In Search of Mornington Crescent" which orignally aired on Radio 4. It's presented by Andrew Marr and includes contributions from the regulars of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, i.e. Humphrey Lyttleton, Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke Taylor and Graeme Garden as well as Adam Hart-Davis, Anthony Worrall Thompson, Barry Davies, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Michael Gambon. The premise of the documentary is to explain the background of Mornington Crescent and to discover the definitive set of rules. Needless to say what it actually does is to give a background to the game's mythology.

The second CD contains monologues from Lyttleton, Cryer, Brooke Taylor and Garden on the general subject of Mornington Crescent. They're very clever and witty.

I'm completely well aware that Mornington Crescent divides people. Some find it a hilarious parody on complicated board games. Some people find it utterly baffling, even if they understand what is actually going on. And some people hate the general "clique"-iness of people "in the know" not explaining what the actual point of the game is and confusing people with complicated "rules" and "gambits".

But if you do appreciate Mornington Crescent for what it is, a parody, then you'll love these CDs. If not, not. I'm in the first camp but not everyone will agree with me.

The two CDs costs around £8 onlline.

Summary: For those who love "MC", a great pair of CDs