Tuesday 13 March 2018

Meet the Detectives

It's been a while, but I'm returning to London again - albeit the London of the late 19th Century.  Not since my epic journey through the canon of Sherlock Holmes have I attempted to unlock the past in such a way.  Last year I started recording some of the overlooked stories of detective fiction that had slipped through the cracks a bit.  I've read the complete Martin Hewitt, Investigator live last year online, and two of these are archived below.  For this show I'm doing two stories, one Martin Hewitt and one Horace Dorrington - which stories will be announced next month.  All the details are below - perhaps I'll see you there!

Milk Bottle Productions Presents
The Detectives of Arthur Morrison
Readings of Detective Mysteries from Martin Hewitt, Investigator & The Dorrington Deed-Box
Performed by award-winning storyteller Robert Crighton

Two classic stories by local author Arthur Morrison are brought to life in a live reading, from the producers of the acclaimed Complete Sherlock Holmes. Martin Hewitt was created as the antithesis to the famous Mr Holmes, an undemonstrative and jovial man whose detective practice is much more user friendly. Mr Dorrington couldn’t be more different – a hustler, con man and thief, he uses his detective skills to make as much money as possible and frequently at the expense of his ‘clients’. Two detectives, two completely different characters, one brilliant author.

Praise for Robert Crighton in THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES: Remotegoat ★★★★ Four stars! London Theatre Network ★★★★ Four stars! “... Crighton is an accomplished story teller... Immersive, enjoyable and cosy, you will leave the room with a satisfied smile on your face, as if you’ve just visited some old friends.” ★★★★ London Fringe Festival
Saturday 28th April at 7pm
Tickets: £6 / £5 Concessions – Pay on the Door
Venue: Loughton Baptist Church, 92 High Rd, Loughton IG10 4QU
Part of the Loughton Festival - www.loughtonfestival.org

Thursday 8 March 2018

February Round Up

Busy old month February...

Some short shorts, and a lot of stories from my unfortunate demise in The Other Day. Next month, more stories - the final version of The U.N. Special Representative and other interesting audio things to amuse you.

Short Shorts #4 - It Was What...


Short Shorts #5 - The Dog Barked...


The Other Day... The Massacre of St Valentine's Eve


The Other Day... The Claws of Outsource


The Other Day... The Dimensions of Mime

Thursday 1 February 2018

January Round Up

January is a slow month - it's after Christmas (eat/sleep/repeat) and there were various delays due to dying computers and internet issues.  January featured guest performer Professor Kaos - this wasn't planned, it's just how the month came out in the edit.  So you got... two episodes of The Museum of Tat and a random thing that grew out from the corner of the recording session and which I couldn't kill.  Enjoy if you haven't already - it's all comedy, and we could all do with a laugh.
February will be more story based, with some episodes of Short Shorts, The Other Day... and some other stuff my brain will create given time.  You can always help support my work by becoming a patron - go to www.patreon.com/robertcrighton and pledge from as little as a $1 a month.  Or if you don't want to get tied down, why not buy some one off merchandise in my terrifying shop of random.  Have a good one!

Museum of Tat: Plastic Rubber Duck Special


Say Cheese: A Conversation about Cheese



Museum of Tat: Guess Our Tat!

Tuesday 23 January 2018

Say Cheese!

I do like random things.  A random thing happened when recording a podcast last year - here is a edit of this random thing.  It is fairly random.  As random things tend to be.
Say Cheese - with Professor Kaos and myself.

Sunday 31 December 2017

The Obligatory New Year Round Up 2017

It's been an odd year - despite the high work load (as per) I don't feel as though I really got anything done in 2017.  I wrote two plays - one adaptation of The Time Machine which was staged mostly to my satisfaction (the projections had to be abandoned) and another which has been sent into the ether.  If it doesn't get picked up anywhere in the next few months I will produce an audio version and share it with the world.

I've produced a fair old amount of audio this year, though a lot of this has been audio versions of older work - I've just about got on top of archiving what I can of my old plays and stories, though there are still a few which are stuck because I don't quite have the budget to make them happen.
Minor successes for me have been The Other Day stories, which I've enjoyed creating, though I suspect there are not many more in the tank before I run out of genuinely interesting ways to be killed.


I did a little bit of work on the early drama side of things - the production of Duke Moraud being a surprise success.  It was only a short run and not many people saw it, but it was genuinely funny and not horribly self indulgent, which it could have easily been.  Audio material is archived below.



2018 is sort of planned out - though how things will fit together I cannot say.  Simon Nader and myself are producing a comedy show, with hopefully a roster of special guests, which we want to tour and generally have fun with throughout the year.  It's The Tat Roadshow, based loosely on the podcast series, The Museum of Tat.  More on that soon.  I'm also planning on producing a one off follow up to Metal Harvest, about maps in the First World War.  This will be a live show, probably appearing at the end of the year... somewhere.
In terms of new writing and audio, I'm not going to say more.  I will write at least one new play to go out to the usual suspects, and will write lots of short pieces for audio.  I'm producing at least one new thing to go out each week, so there's a steady workload of storytelling going on.  Please support this work - it really does make a difference.  Everything that I've created so far thanks to patreon can be heard below.  This wouldn't have happened without my patrons on and off patreon. Thank you.


Finally, I want to write a 'radio' serial.  I've mentioned this before, and I will do it eventually.  In an ideal world I'd have more time and money and get it produced asap.  The more patrons I get, the more likely this is to happen.  (Hint, hint.)
Happy New Year!

Sunday 24 December 2017

Advent Calendar Day 24

Merry Christmas Eve - Final Advent Calendar thing... huzzah!

The comedy that no one wanted to hear has been found!  This is especially confusing as it was never lost.
In 1973 a comedy script materialised on the desk of a radio station of a minor Soviet satellite state.  The script was performed, untranslated from the original English, in 1974 and immediately became an overnight sensation.  A copy of this recording was duly sent to the BBC so that all master tapes could be responsibly wiped, as was international government policy at the time.
Luckily an off air recording of the LP version was made by holding a modified SONY Walkman against a glass held against the wall of the house of the then Director General of the BBC, from which this archive recording has been restored.  This recording has nothing to do with the BBC.
The script turns out to have come from 2017 for the failed studio recording of the final episode of the long running podcast comedy show - Live from the Get In! - and episode three has long been one the collectors have shunned and ignored ever since.
The restoring restoration team hope to have a completely restored restoration of the restored episode in the New Year, but have released this trail to annoy the fans now.


The other two episodes of the long running series, plus bonus material, can be found HERE.

Saturday 23 December 2017

Advent Calendar Day 23

Open the door on the calendar and...
It's part twelve - the FINAL part of...
Attack of the Christmas Squirrels!
The story of what happens when one man's hatred of early Christmas advertising meets his secret squirrel training project.
All episodes will be released on my patron page - but because it is Christmas you'll be able to listen without pledging anything.  Though while you're there...

Listen to the last Episode HERE!

Go back to Episode One HERE and Episode Two HERE and Episode Three HERE and Episode Four HERE! and Episode Five HERE! and Episode Six HERE! and Episode Seven HERE! and Episode Eight HERE! and Episode Nine HERE! and Episode Ten HERE! and Episode Eleven HERE!

And incidentally...
Merry Christmas to Everyone At Home!