''Tim Key. With a String Quartet. On a Boat.'' is a

comedic Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

written by and starring

Tim Key Timothy David Key (born September 1976) is an English poet, comedian, actor, screenwriter and radio personality. He is best known for playing Alan Partridge's sidekick Simon in '' Mid Morning Matters'', ''Alpha Papa'', and '' This Time'', as w ...

and co-starring

Tom Basden Thomas William Basden (born 30 November 1980) is an English actor, comedy writer, and a member of the British four-man sketch group Cowards. He has written and performed extensively for comedy shows on the BBC and Channel 4 and often collabo ...

. The album is intended to be Key reading out his poems with the accompaniment of a

string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinist ...

, but actually it primarily features Key and Basden, who is nicknamed "Lord", constantly arguing with each other.

Plot

As the title of the album suggests, Key is on a recording studio based on a

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He is reading out his comic poems to music provided by a string quartet. Later during the recording Basden appears, unaware that Key had booked a string quartet and under the belief that he was to provide the music for the album with his

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

. Each track in the album consists of one poem read by Key, except for the track "Lord's Moment" which consists of Basden playing a song on his guitar. Many of the poems are very short, consisting of just four words and some tracks lasting less than a quarter of a minute. However, most of the album consists of Key and Basden arguing. For example, Key tells him he cannot have a

coke Coke usually refers to: * Coca-Cola, a brand of soft drink **The Coca-Cola Company * Slang term for cocaine, a psychoactive substance and illicit drug Substances Soft drinks * Cola, any soft drink similar to Coca-Cola * Generic name for a soft d ...

if he is playing the

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica in ...

. At the end of "Jet Walsh", Key puts Basden's guitar case between Basden and the women in the quartet for fear Basden is getting too close to them. The reference incorrectly states that it is a viola case that is used as the barrier.

Production

The album was created the year following Key's victory at the

Edinburgh Comedy Awards The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...

in 2009 where he won the main prize for his show ''The Slutcracker''. In 2010, Key decided he was not going to do a new show so this left him a gap in which he could do new work. His management, The Invisible Dot, suggested creating an album. Key said in an interview with ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'': "It was the first thing I've done where I have had no idea whether it is viable or not. There was an awkward clash of styles, between a string quartet that are used to doing concerts, working with professionals and me just sitting there with scraps of paper, just saying: 'OK, can you do a bit more of your classical music, and I'll do my poems.' It is a very peculiar sell I think." Key told the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

that he had never performed with a string quartet before the making of the album. Joe Daniel, the co-founder of the

Angular Recording Corporation Angular Recording Corporation was an independent record label founded in New Cross, South East London. It was established in June 2003 by two ex- Goldsmiths College students, Joe Daniel and Joe Margetts, who reclaimed a local Ordnance Survey T ...

which made the album said that: "It isn't a 'live' album of a stand-up

how How may refer to: * How (greeting), a word used in some misrepresentations of Native American/First Nations speech * How, an interrogative word in English grammar Art and entertainment Literature * ''How'' (book), a 2007 book by Dov Seid ...

The material was put together specifically for the record, and in that respect it is like that quaintly English format, the radio play." The album was released only as a digital download and as 1,000 limited edition

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

Reception

Reviews of the album have been mainly positive. Steve Bennett of Chortle said, "his unique persona is warmly compelling, and his imaginative word-pictures are ideally suited to an audio release. In the end, the gently brittle journey Key takes you on is as modestly beautiful as it is charmingly disconcerting." Tim Burrows of ''

'' said that the album, "is closest in spirit to

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

and

Dudley Moore Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE (19 April 193527 March 2002) was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. Moore first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writ ...

's brilliantly foulmouthed project,

Derek and Clive Derek and Clive was a double act of comedic characters created by Dudley Moore (Derek) and Peter Cook (Clive) in the 1970s. The performances were captured on the records ''Derek and Clive (Live)'' (1976), ''Derek and Clive Come Again'' (1977), ...

, which first saw the light of day in 1976." However, Ian Wolf of the

British Comedy Guide British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedie ...

disagreed saying: "I think that is taking it a bit too far. For starters it is not nearly as rude (although 'Chess' does feature the c-word) and Key's album is not as laugh-out-loud funny as the genius of Pete and Dud." Wolf, however, also said, "the poems are funny no matter what the length" and that, "There are many moments of mirth and it is a worthwhile listen." Sam Walby of

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History '' ...

did have criticisms saying, "that Key is sometimes too deadpan for his own good, making his one-line pieces a little stilted. A case in point is the three poems about Bob ('Bob And The Pipe', 'Bob And The Octopus' and 'The Tragedy of Bob'), which might work on stage but do not transfer as well onto tape." However, he did say: "At points it drags, but ''Tim Key. With A String Quartet. On A Boat.'' is as good an introduction as any to Key's off-kilter insanity and love of everyday nonsense."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Tim Key albums English poetry Angular Recording Corporation albums