The Quibblerman Conundrum Solved
TRUE TALES OF THE ILLUMINATI:
THE QUIBBLERMAN CONUNDRUM
Written by and guest starring Tom Crowley
OUT NOW!
Stop the presses! Knockabout conspiracy sitcom podcast True Tales of the Illuminati has just hit its Season 3 crowdfunding goal, and as its creators promised, to celebrate they have released The Quibblerman Conundrum, a half-hour spin-off episode written by none other than me, Tom Crowley. I also guest star as the titular professor Herbert Quibblerman of the Department of Experimental Rocket Personnel. Sound familiar? If so, then you’re probably a fan of the adventures of Professor Bernard Quatermass, the eponymous science hero of Nigel Kneale’s classic British TV sci-fi serials. This goofy half-hour is my love letter to Quatermass, Kneale and various other similar-type old telly and film. I hope you enjoy it!
I got involved with knockabout conspiracy podcast sitcom True Tales of the Illuminati via one of its creators, Max Kreisky of Boston, MA, USA. He and I first met many years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe. Well, I say ‘met’, he called to me through a darkened Edinburgh fringe venue after a performance of my old sketch group’s show Sad Faces Present The Dawn Chorus. He said that he had seen us several years previously and that he was what you might call a fan. I believe I shouted back that this was very nice, but that I had to finish putting cardboard props into a hamper before the next show got in.
Flash forward a few years and Max and I have conversed here and there via social media, with him also expressing enthusiasm for Wooden Overcoats, the podcast sitcom with which I was intimately involved. Eventually he also told me that he and his partner and various other friends held dreams of putting together a radio sitcom of their own, which they would also release as a podcast. And then, before I knew it, they were doing so. It was called True Tales of the Illuminati and it was a nutty sitcom about the incompetent jobsworths behind global conspiracies. Max was even kind enough to hire me to draw them a logo for the show, and it’s still in use today! Yes, that accelerating eye-pyramid above was drawned by my own fair hand, guv. I’ve been overjoyed to see it in use on various bits of merchandise, including one very special, beautifully engraved metal pin badge that I simply had to get.
This is especially nice because I really love True Tales of the Illuminati. It’s got the richly conjured visuals that radio drama really requires, gret gag writing, lovely sound design, smart and funny acting and a wild ambition that has taken the show from Ancient Egypt to the 1969 Moon Landing. And where will it go next? Who knows? We all will know! In a while. Because as I said at the start of this post, they just made their Season 3 crowdfunding goal! So we can look forward to another miniseries of comedintrigue and conspiralarity soon. But meanwhile, you can hear my little contribution to the True Tales canon right now, at the link above. Remember, I was just talking about it before? Well, get to it, buddy! Hyah!