Flanders and Swann At the Drop of a Hippopotamus
Friday 23rd June 2023 at 8:00 pm

A tribute to the words and wit of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann.

In 2001, multi-award winning comedian Tim FitzHigham and BBC Radio 4 musical maestro Duncan Walsh Atkins took to the stage in a theatre in Sussex to raise money for a small cottage hospital and Flanders and Swann – At the Drop of a Hippopotamus was born.

The Masters of 1950s and 1960s madness, mirth and total silliness – Michael Flanders OBE and Donald Swann are paid affectionate tribute to in this evening of their words and music. Mud, Mud Glorious Mud (The Hippopotamus Song), The Gnu Song, Madeira M’dear, The Gasman Cometh, and many of their other songs have passed into legend along with the duo’s anarchic sense of humour, wordplay and fun.

With generous support from the estates of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, At the Drop of a Hippopotamus continues to go from strength to strength.

Over the years, Tim and Duncan have embarked on the largest Flanders and Swann tour since Flanders and Swann toured in the 1960s, playing to the largest Flanders and Swann audiences since the great pair played The Theatre Royal, Haymarket in the 1950s, headlined the International Flanders and Swann festival in Donald Swann’s house, as well as becoming a staple of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

‘Genius wordplay.’ The Guardian

‘Impressive, suave… a delight!’ The Times

‘Classic… joyously frivolous‘ Critics’ Choice, Sunday Times

‘Much more than a nostalgic love-in Flanders and Swann also showcases two contemporary, must-see talents in the forms of Walsh Atkins and FitzHigham.’ ★★★★★ Fringe Review

https://flandersandswann.info

Listen to FitzHigham & Walsh Adams

Online ticket sales for this event are closed.

Refreshments

Refreshments will be available for purchase (Cash Only) before the concert and during the interval only

Artist Information

Tim FitzHigham

Multi-award commedian and much more besides

Tim FitzHigham is a Perrier nominated multi-award winning comedian, explorer, quadruple world record holder, historian, archaeologist and author. His series, Super Human Challenge, aired on the CBBC Channel, where he met the humans who defy science and then puts their powers to the test – against himself. His Radio series, The Gambler, based on his 2011 Edinburgh Fringe show, has had two Radio 4 series. Tim has played in the mud on Time Team, burnt duck on Ready Steady Cook, ended up in a Hollywood film, Wolfman with Sir Anthony Hopkins, and made appearances in two further films Booked Out, and Hereafter, directed by Clint Eastwood. He’s also an Edinburgh festival veteran, with his 2012 and 2013 shows receiving phenomenal critical acclaim, which you can see here. He regularly performs stand up all over the UK.

www.fitzhigham.com

Duncan Walsh Atkins

Multi talented musician

Duncan Walsh Atkins studied at Oxford, where he conducted the University Gilbert & Sullivan Society. After graduating he worked as a choirmaster in South Africa before moving to London. He has been musical director of Showstoppers! since 2009, which has had sell-out Edinburgh Festival Fringe and West End runs, national and international tours, BBC Radio 4 series and an Olivier Award. His other credits include Adam Megiddo’s Burlesque which won the 2011 Off-West End Best New Musical Award, and The Tailor-Made Man at the Arts Theatre (which he co-composed with Meggido), Half a Sixpence UK tour with Gary Wilmot, The Blues Brothers Party UK and Japan tour, Round The Horne UK tour, the Flanders & Swann tribute At The Drop Of A Hippopotamus, Mitchell & Webb’s Macbeth & The Beanstalk, Noel Coward’s Words & Music, the touring West End/Broadway tribute Mad About the Musicals, and Jonathan Harvey’s Taking Charlie for the 2004 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He has also appeared several times on BBC Radio, recording September Tide with Jonathan Firth, the Tina C and Ida Barr series with the comedian Christopher Green, and Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night. He has collaborated with fellow Showstoppers Ruth Bratt and Lucy Trodd on their Radio 4 series Trodd En Bratt and with Pippa Evans on her musical contributions to the Now Show. He was musical director of the BBC2 improvised comedy series Fast and Loose in 2010, hosted by Hugh Dennis, has played keyboards on Jersey Boys in the West End, and can occasionally be seen in a wig portraying Benny Andersson in Abbamania.