Dave Allen: The Immaculate Selection

Dave Allen could best be described as a comedian operating on the margins of acceptability, at least as far as the mainstream television companies were concerned. He never cared about offending people, especially the members of the Catholic Church, while his characteristic stage pose, with a glass of Scotch and a cigarette, was obviously designed to antagonize the health police. No one would let him do that kind of thing today, if he were still alive.

Despite this, Allen was a genuinely funny man. He had a particular way of delivering a joke, using a matter-of-fact voice, almost as if he were telling stories to customers in a pub - and the punchline was seldom spoken in different tones. He left it to the viewers or his audiences to work out when the joke had finished. Allen was an observational comedian, someone taking look at the absurdities of the world he inhabited and satirizing them. He was never a 'stand-up' comic in the old-fashioned sense of the word, but someone born to deliver monologues in front of a captive audience.

DAVE ALLEN: THE IMMACULATE SELECTION offers a representative sample of his humor, taken from the BBC shows recorded between 1971 and 1986. Sometimes we become painfully aware of just how much the world has changed since then, both in terms of definitions of so-called "political correctness" as well as "acceptability." Some of Allen's jokes would be considered terribly off-color these days. Nonetheless, we can still admire him as a master of comic timing, ably assisted by his permanent repertory company of supporting players, including Michael Sharvell Martin and Jacqueline Clarke. Definitely work a look - not just for nostalgia buffs but for anyone interested in seeing a master performer at work.