Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls
Encyclopedia
Bert Fegg's Nasty Book For Boys And Girls is a humorous book first published by Methuen in 1974 which purports to have been written by a psychopathic character, Dr. Fegg. In fact, the book is the work of Terry Jones
and Michael Palin
, who adapted a range of material from scripts written for the television comedy series, Monty Python's Flying Circus
. Some material was later used in Palin's 1977 TV series, Ripping Yarns
. The first edition was sold bearing a sticker on the front cover which read "A Monty Python Educational Product".
The book satirises elements of educational text books, as well as annuals
, which were popular hardcover publications for children featuring short stories, comic strips, and games, often based upon television series and films of the day.
humour associated with the Monty Python series and relies on the use of non sequitur, parody
, anarchic humour, juvenile references to bodily functions and black comedy
-style descriptions of gory violence for comedic effect. A fictional character, Dr. Bert Fegg, is presented as the author of the book. His bloodthirsty, psychopathic character is depicted in constant conflict with the publishers, as they attempt to raise the moral tone of the book and censor violent content.
The exchange between author and publishers is presented through textual interjections such as "That's enough - the Publishers", in the style often used in the satirical magazine Private Eye. Dr. Fegg's angry comments are scrawled handwriting printed on the pages.
Recurring jokes throughout the book include a number of parody advertisements for exotic household gadgets, appearances by the sinister West Bromley
Fighting Haddock, and passing references to "the Bournemouth
Killings".
(A Cowboy Story), cartoonists Martin Honeysett
and Lolly Honeysett, and Paul Buckle, an illustrator who worked on a number of instructional football skills books in the 1970s.
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
and Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
, who adapted a range of material from scripts written for the television comedy series, Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
. Some material was later used in Palin's 1977 TV series, Ripping Yarns
Ripping Yarns
Ripping Yarns is a British television comedy series, shown on BBC 2 from 1976 to 1979. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame...
. The first edition was sold bearing a sticker on the front cover which read "A Monty Python Educational Product".
The book satirises elements of educational text books, as well as annuals
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
, which were popular hardcover publications for children featuring short stories, comic strips, and games, often based upon television series and films of the day.
Style of humour
The book uses the characteristic absurdistAbsurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
humour associated with the Monty Python series and relies on the use of non sequitur, parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
, anarchic humour, juvenile references to bodily functions and black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
-style descriptions of gory violence for comedic effect. A fictional character, Dr. Bert Fegg, is presented as the author of the book. His bloodthirsty, psychopathic character is depicted in constant conflict with the publishers, as they attempt to raise the moral tone of the book and censor violent content.
The exchange between author and publishers is presented through textual interjections such as "That's enough - the Publishers", in the style often used in the satirical magazine Private Eye. Dr. Fegg's angry comments are scrawled handwriting printed on the pages.
Recurring jokes throughout the book include a number of parody advertisements for exotic household gadgets, appearances by the sinister West Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
Fighting Haddock, and passing references to "the Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
Killings".
Authors and contributors
Python writers Terry Jones and Michael Palin wrote the content, with artwork provided by several British illustrators. Contributors to the book include British comics artist Frank BellamyFrank Bellamy
Frank Bellamy was a British comics artist, best known for his work on the Eagle comic, for which he illustrated Heros the Spartan and Fraser of Africa. He reworked its flagship Dan Dare strip....
(A Cowboy Story), cartoonists Martin Honeysett
Martin Honeysett
Martin Honeysett is a cartoonist and illustrator.After studying at Croydon School of Art, he worked briefly in a London animation studio, and then spent several years abroad both in New Zealand as a lumberjack and in Canada before returning to England to work as a bus-driver for London Transport...
and Lolly Honeysett, and Paul Buckle, an illustrator who worked on a number of instructional football skills books in the 1970s.
Content
Among the topics covered in the book are:- The Wonderful World of Nature - descriptions of several fictional animals, such as the Patagonian Bursting Rabbit and the West Bromley Fighting Haddock
- Across the Andes by Frog - a burlesque of a travel diary in a mock-heroicMock-heroicMock-heroic, mock-epic or heroi-comic works are typically satires or parodies that mock common Classical stereotypes of heroes and heroic literature...
style; this material was later used in the TV series Ripping YarnsRipping YarnsRipping Yarns is a British television comedy series, shown on BBC 2 from 1976 to 1979. It was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of Monty Python fame...
(1977) - Soccer My Way by the Supremes - a parodyParodyA parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of football tactics books featuring the popular singing groups the SupremesThe SupremesThe Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, illustrated by Paul Buckle - Interesting Machines - illustrated in the style of Heath Robinson, this page describes a range of fantastical devices including the "Tally-Ho" Automatic Bed Wetter and the "Hygena" Automatic Nose Picker.
- The Famous Five go Pillaging - a short story which parodies of the writing style of Enid BlytonEnid BlytonEnid Blyton was an English children's writer also known as Mary Pollock.Noted for numerous series of books based on recurring characters and designed for different age groups,her books have enjoyed huge success in many parts of the world, and have sold over 600 million copies.One of Blyton's most...
; five children witness the collapse of Roman imperialismRoman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and their friends and family are slaughtered by 9000 invading Vikings. - Great Men of History - in fact a collection of nonsensical poems about three women: Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Boadicea and Lady GodivaLady GodivaGodiva , often referred to as Lady Godiva , was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants...
- A Cowboy Story - a pastiche of a WesternWestern (genre)The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
comic strip, in which cowboy "Kid" Masterton's horse develops bronchial pneumoniaPneumoniaPneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and is taken for to a clinic for treatment; illustrations are by British comics artist Frank BellamyFrank BellamyFrank Bellamy was a British comics artist, best known for his work on the Eagle comic, for which he illustrated Heros the Spartan and Fraser of Africa. He reworked its flagship Dan Dare strip....
. - Aladdin and his Terrible Problem - a humorous pantomimePantomimePantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
script following the exploits of AladdinAladdinAladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
and his sidekick, Pisso the Alcoholic Dog. The script ends abruptly with "Curtain. End of Act Two. Theatre goes out of business." The original hardcover featured a page of paper dollPaper dollPaper dolls are figures cut out of paper, with separate clothes that are usually held onto the dolls by folding tabs. They have been inexpensive children's toys for almost two hundred years. Today, many artists are turning paper dolls into an art form....
s of the play's characters that, in theory, could be cut out and used to perform the play. - How to Destroy this Book - a final exhortation by Dr. Fegg to his young readers to wanton destruction, censored by the publishers.
- The original UK edition also included references to a faux contest whereby readers were invited to look for a "deliferate mistale" (sic) located "somewhat" in the book.
- The book climaxes with a two-page, gory illustration of Bert Fegg chopping open a monster with an axe (presented in the style of Terry GilliamTerry GilliamTerrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
's animations), followed by profuse apologies by the book's publishers and a final scrawled rant by Fegg.
Later editions
Expanded and revised editions of the book appeared as Dr. Fegg's Nasty Book of Knowledge in the US in 1976 and Dr. Fegg's Encyclopeadia (sic) of all World Knowledge, in the UK in 1984.External links
- Terry Jones Books - PythOnline's Daily Llama
- Books by Terry Jones
- Nasty Frank - a review of Bellamy's illustrations