Time Slip by Wally K Daly

Memory can be a funny thing. Sometimes literally. Usually my memory’s pretty good – unless it’s something that made me laugh. For some reason, recalling things that made me laugh, either on the page, television or audio is when my memory is at its most fallible. Often I remember things as being more funny than they actually were, and there have been a few embarrassing occasions when I’m telling somebody about this funny thing I’ve seen / heard / read and they look it up to find it differs from what I remember. Whether this is because I’m a writer and constantly seeking to improve my work, that I subconsciously seek to improve the work of others out of habit, or whether I’m just bad at remembering jokes – is difficult to say.

The radio play under review, a 60 minute chuckle-fest from the pen of audio stalwart Wally K Daly. It’s one I remember as being extremely funny, in a very understated manner. In the years since I first heard, I’ve described its most successful comedy moments and caused the person I’m telling to laugh. Based on the information revealed in the previous paragraph, you may perceive some bad omens. Thankfully, this is one occasion when my re-writing comedy brain is actually correct and Timeslip really is every bit as sharply funny as I remember.

Not be confused (as I was) with Timeslip, the cult children’s television programme, this is a comedy about two practical jokers, Paul and Frank who test new technology for producers boys’ toys. Or should that be big boys’ toys? Trouble ensues

when Head Office sends a prototype 3D copier to be tested. Being such jokers, they copy themselves and send their duplicates (plural) home to their wives while they have a night on the town. But their game backfires on them.

There is much hilarity to be had as Daly’s farcical comedy unfolds over 50 minutes. There are two Pauls and two Franks, and both think each is the original. The only way to tell is after 3 hours, when the unstable reproductions will explode. But before we get that far, much fun is had as the copies fight over the one pair of slippers and argue about who gets the most casserole at dinner time.

Pity Paul’s poor wife Fay, who’s had enough of her husband’s practical jokes and now finds there are two of him to put up with. She announces a permanent headache until the situation is resolved, whilst Frank’s wife contemplates being book ended in bed by a pair of Franks.

The boys are no better. When they realise their reproductions are exact copies, even down to mannerisms and memories they see the four of them dividing their time between work and the golf course, which they eventually decide against and leads to the funniest line of the play “That’s a lot of golf to give up!” Of course they soon realise this won’t work when they remember the copies have an inbuilt lifespan (due to the experimental nature of the tech) The situation deteriorates until they eventually join their wives for a game of bridge (“two husbands each and we still can’t make a four”). There are some great jokes, “I had no idea I’d let myself go to seed so much…. My bald patch, that paunch, my shambling gate”.

Wally K Daly takes a seat next to James Follet and John Finnemore as two people who have a list of radio credits that is actually quite scary. Daly strikes me as a very effervescent writer. He never confined himself to one genre or one style. There was always room in his writing for something different. If there is one gravitational pull to Daly’s output it is in the direction of the vaguely ludicrous. A notion that of something that not be, and then explored as if it were something in the real world. Timeslip is an excellent example.

Timeslip is honest to goodness easy listening. There’s a small cast of just five players, each likeable and just the right side of ridiculous. It’s all very middle class and posh accents abound but this is such delightful fun, criticising of any nature seems like bad form. Witty, silly and ever-so-slightly thought provoking. I love a bit of farcical comedy but that goes double for Timeslip.

Timeslip can be found on the internet in mp3 format (engage your favourite search engine) and a box set of Wally K Daly’s radio plays (including Timeslip) is available from the usual suspects (Amazon etc.) on CD and digital.

YOUR Subscriber Benefits

Paid subscribers to Awesome Audio Reviews receive exclusive benefits

TWO brand new audio book reviews every month
Access to the full Awesome Audio review archive (containing reviews of over 20 different titles)
Plus, free Awesome Audios monthly digest direct to your inbox

My Book

“…have you ever heard of an anti-gravity generator?”

When celebrity activist, ‘The Taff’ is murdered, Jim and his friends must protect the inventor known as Fitz and stop his incredible creation from falling into the hands of murderers, foreign agents, and the biggest enemy of all.

Was innocent music fan Andy really tortured to death? Is there really such a thing as an anti gravity generator? And can Jim deal with an agonising revelation about the love of his life?

Morrison’s Ghost is an offbeat eco-thriller and coming-of-age story with a hint of romance