interview: Kenton Hall, author of "The Goodies" Pods and Monsters"
19/02/2023 19:59 GMT

Posted by lisa

The Goodies Rule - OK! Fan Club is pleased to present an interview with Kenton Hall, author of Chinbeard Books' second Goodies novella, "The Goodies: Pods and Monsters" (available for pre-order now from https://www.chinbeardbooks.com/apps/webstore/products/show/8264419).

1. How did you become involved in writing the novella?
I’ve worked on a number of projects for Chinbeard Books, and Barnaby (Chief Beard) knew I was an aficionado of all things comedy. I was honoured to help out with a couple of jokes and some editing on the first book “Avengers Dissemble” so I was thrilled to get a chance to tackle one of my own.

2. Were you a fan of The Goodies work (their TV or radio shows) prior to becoming involved in this project?
I’m Canadian, but I’ve always been obsessed with comedy, particularly British sketch comedy. I grew up on cassettes of I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again. I deep dove into Python, Goodies and pretty much everything connected to that era. To paraphrase Ringo Starr, they look large in my legend.

3. Have you met any of The Goodies?
I haven’t yet had the pleasure, although Graeme does have input on the books, which is astonishing enough. Knowing Graeme, Bill and Tim’s wife Christine support the books makes the experience much more exciting. I would love to meet Graeme and Bill though, just putting that out into the universe.

4. Was it intimidating to try to write a book in the Goodies' style?
Trying to live up to the quality is certainly nerve-wracking. But they had such an influence on my own style, it’s about making it recognisably The Goodies while also making it my own. With comedy you can only write what you think is funny and hope other people will feel the same.

5. How nervous are you about the fans' reaction to your work?
Well, I AM a fan, so that’s the only preliminary test I can run. Obviously, you want fans to like it, you want any reader to like it, but you can’t have that in your head when you’re writing. You have to go with your gut.

6. What other projects have you worked on that we might know?
Well, there’s the comic memoir, Bisection about living and parenting with bipolar disorder. That’s my most personal book and I’m confident it has more jokes per page than any other book about mental health. I also co-wrote Getting Better: The Fight for the NHS for Audible, starring Rhod Gilbert. And I wrote and directed the film “A Dozen Summers” on Netflix. There’s a lot of other stuff and some very exciting things in the works. I’d recommend buying the Goodies book first and then one of mine.