EARL OKIN'S COMEDY
(WELL, HERE
IT IS...THE BIG SELL!!!)
Many of
you logging on to this page, possibly thinking about booking Earl,
may assume that being a comedian means one of three or four
things...
(1) Stand-up.
(2) Improv. or written sketches.
(3) Comedy acting...
or even THIS sort of thing
But there's SO MUCH more.....
You can do comedy with juggling, comedy with ventriloquism, comedy with magic, comedy with poetry, comedy with mime and so on...
But no. Earl is none of these! He's pretty much a one-off, even though, no doubt, there are moments of 'stand up' (well...er...'sit down', actually) in his show.
Also, although
Earl has acted in the past, his show is not exactly comedy acting
either...
So...what
DOES Earl do...?
OK, you twisted my arm. I'll tell you! Earl Okin is a comedian
concert-artist who combines comedy with MUSIC!
(Yes, OK! I know! That doesn't really tell you anything, because there are so many ways you can combine comedy with music.)
He's introduced almost always as
'MUSICAL GENIUS...SEX SYMBOL!'
because...well,
that's what he IS!...
He's created a character based on an exaggerated version of certain
facets of his own real personality.
Dressed like a bank-manager, he may not seem like your idea of a sex-symbol, but by the end of the first , sensually hilarious, Jazz-flavoured song, you're convinced...well, the women are, anyhow...and what would you men know!!?
(He was once told that he was the only male comedian who performed to women directly, rather than talking to men about women)
The format of his show is of spoken comedy routines which turn out to be an extended introduction to the next song (mostly Jazz in style) as funny as the patter preceding it, although sometimes, he'll double-cross you and sing something straight.
He IS a great singer/musician too!
Apart from sexual politics, his main targets are types of music that, he feels, need his special attention!!! All is treated with a sense of pseudo-serious silliness, which is typically British.
The tone may always be gentle and sophisticated but beware! There are sharp barbs under the surface.
In a full
two-hour show, Earl uses both piano and guitar and covers quite a
range of musical genres, yet always with that seductive edge that
justifies the second half of his byline.
The result is a comic creation as unique as anyone you've ever
watched. As one reviewer said...
"...a MASTER of cabaret, he appeals to all from 19 to senility!"
Earl favourite audience-comment came after a Comedy Club night in London. A woman came up to him and said...
'We
laughed at the other comedians when their material was good...but
YOU...You were just funny!'
We
break off here to offer you a picture of entirely gratuitous
sex
and here's some more...
Disgraceful!
Now, back to Earl Okin
The main thing to remember here is that his style seems totally international. He's not performed in a country where the humour hasn't worked exactly as it does at home. Here is a recent example of a Festival outside the UK where Earl triumphed...
You can find more
examples of where Earl has worked abroad recently abroad (in Europe)
on his Berlin
and Germany
page.
SHOWREELS/AUDIO
CASSETTES
Earl has showreels of various worldwide TV programme clips in both
USA and European video formats. In addition, to let you know what he
is like with a live audience, there is available an audio-cassette of
him live with a Comedy Club audience. You can hear him take a quiet
unresponsive audience and get them screaming for more in just 20
minutes or so!
STOP
PRESS!!!
FILM SCRIPT
Earl has this year written a romantic comedy script provisionally entitled 'Let's Swing Old Chap'. It takes place in New york in 1947, but the lead part has to be British, funny, a great Jazz singer and with the ability to sing like a trumpet. Now, let's see. Who could we find to play the part!?
Naturally, any film producers are invited to contact us directly at...
spats@spats.demon.co.uk
INFLUENCES
Every
performer has influences. Earl is much more forthcoming about his
MUSICAL influences, but when forced into a corner, he lists the
following...
The format and irony of Tom Lehrer.
The silliness of The Goons.
The moment when
Chaplin comes to grief after showing off...
Here's a rare picture of Chaplin with, on the left, Max Linder, an early French silent comedian who influenced Chaplin at the beginning of his film-career. Stranglely, though, it's Douglas Fairbanks Sr. who is wearing the silly clothes...
...and this is a publicity post-card of just about my favourite film of all time.
Finally, here he is in City Lights...
...The
moment when someone as 'straight' looking as Harold Lloyd starts
doing things you'd never dream he would.
The moment when Woody Allen calls himself 'A Stud!'
but, most of all...
Years of breakfast-table humour with his own father...
(WHO WROTE/PERFORMED COMEDY IN THE R.A.F DURING WORLD WAR TWO)
However, Earl
wants to make it quite clear that not all World War Two shows looked
like this!...AND...that when Earl says he longs for the return of
Variety to British Comedy, this is not what he means
either!
BOOKING
EARL ?
Nothing
could be easier.
Just return to the WELCOME page.
There, you'll find telephone numbers for Spats Music Ltd. and his representation in Brazil and Germany if required.
He is not currently signed with any major agent, but is always open, as they say, to offers...
You can also
send an e-mail from there...!
Earl is also happy to hear from fans anywhere in the world and always
tries to reply personally whenever he has time at
home.
Reaction of
British stand-up comedian (no, not Earl) after discovering his part
in a TV programme has been cut.
Oh yes. Time for another practical tip from Earl.
Remember always to approach hurdles in life your way.
Don't let anyone make you do them their way! You'll just get stuck!
RETURN
TO WELCOME PAGE
THE EARL OKIN ENIGMA
These days, Earl is of-course established as a mature sex-symbol. Finding this rare early picture of him taken in the 1960s, however, one is driven to ask...
Could he have been the inspiration behind the character of Austin Powers!!!?
Probably, we'll
never know...
If you can see the above
animation, (you'll need Shockwave Flash plugged into your browser)
this is just to let you know that is was put together by one of
Earl's more demented friends, the Belgian comedy-magician, GILI.
However, what you're hearing in NOT, repeat NOT Earl's voice!
LAST BUT NOT LEAST....
Those of you who want to know about the history of comedy, but British Alternative Comedy in particular, really ought to get the following book. Tony Allen was the first 'alternative' comedian that Earl ever saw. He was immensely impressed then and his respect for Tony Allen as performer and now, as author, has diminished not one whit.
The book is part history, part autobiography and part analysis of what stand-up comedy should be...Earl says that he couldn't put it down and feels that he feels really enlightened having read it...and at 10 pounds, it's a snip!
He wants to let other people know about it, because it is not published by a major company.
