“Behold the turtle, the only time he makes progress is when he sticks out his head”...

Jonathan Winters was a US comedian, actor, broadcaster, TV presenter, artist and author who received eight Grammy nominations for Best Comedy Album during his career.

He had a troubled childhood and developed his comedy persona as a response to his emotional traumas, and won a talent competition which led to a job as a DJ where his comedy gradually took over the show.

He was a constant sufferer from nervous breakdowns and bi-polar disorder, which contributed to his approach as a pioneer of improvisational stand-up comedy, with a gift for impressions (including ones of John Wayne, Cary Grant, Groucho Marx, James Cagney, and others) and mimicry, developing a range of characters that he used in his act – as he said himself: “I was fighting for the fact that you could be funny without telling jokes”.

Much-missed and troubled funnyman, Robin Williams, once explained why Winters inspired him. “It was like seeing a guy behind a mask, and you could see that his characters were a great way for him to talk about painful stuff,” he said. “I found out later that they are people he knows - his mother, his aunt. He’s an artist who also paints with words. He paints these people that he sees.”

This 3CD set includes the complete contents of his first five albums, all on the Verve label – The Wonderful World Of Jonathan Winters, Down To Earth, Jonathan Winters In Concert: Here’s Jonathan, Another Day, Another World and Humor Seen Through The Eyes Of Jonathan Winters, all recorded in front of a ‘live’ audience.

It naturally includes many of the routines which made him famous on TV and laid the groundwork for numerous performers and comedians.

REVIEWS

Humour is a subjective matter so it depends on your taste whether you find his brand of rambling, stream of consciousness technique hilarious or annoying. He doesn't tell jokes, but relies on observational humour through the eyes of various characters he creates that recur throughout the albums. I wouldn't want to listen to this set all the way through without a break but must admit that one album at a time is the best way to enjoy it. He probably influenced many who followed him and certainly offers something a bit different. A worthy addition to the growing number of comedy compilations on the Acrobat label. - Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 354)

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