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The Hotel Sketch, by Doug Case and Ken Wilson
Characters: Receptionist, female, Italian Tourist, male, British The receptionist is standing at reception. The tourist enters Receptionist: Ah! Bongiorno! Tourist: Pardon? Receptionist:...
View ArticleThe Army Sketch, by Doug Case and Ken Wilson
Scene: An army parade ground Characters: Captain, Private Large, Private Small, Private Potter The Captain and Privates Large and Small can be played by male or female actors. Private Potter is always...
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The pressures of modern motherhood – why good enough is good enough
I’m copying this interview that my daughter Anya Hayes did about writing her book The Supermum Myth. I hope it will be interesting to all parents, mums AND dads…. Can you tell us a bit about how you...
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Reading aloud is a complete waste of time.
This is a re-write of a blog I did eons ago. I got into a discussion about the subject more recently with a bunch of teachers, so I thought I would revisit/revise/refresh/rehash/regurgitate (TICK...
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Who CARES what English people have for breakfast?
The Full English. According to some books, this is what English people have for breakfast. Before you start reading, can I apologise for the advertisements that appear when you read this on phone or...
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What would you rather do – stop the exploitation of child workers in Africa?...
The other evening, I was talking to my daughter Rowan and a couple of other people about phones and other devices and Rowan came up with an astonishing fact. If iPhones were made from scratch in the...
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Five drama activities
1 Be someone else Level Elementary + Time 5–20 minutes Aims To give students the chance to ask and answer basic personal questions. Preparation No preparation is needed for this...
View Article1. What would you do?
https://kenwilsonelt.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/28-what-would-you-do.mp3 What would you do if you woke up one morning And found that everybody knew your name? If you were a famous movie star, would...
View Article2. It makes me mad
https://kenwilsonelt.files.wordpress.com/2020/07/19-it-makes-me-mad.mp3 People walk down the street and drop litter at your feet Everybody throws away things they bought yesterday Don’t worry about the...
View Article3. Looking forward to the day
https://kenwilsonelt.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/03-looking-forward-to-the-day.mp3 I’m looking forward to the day When everybody can stand and say You can’t get away with that What you take out you...
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4 He’d still be here
https://kenwilsonelt.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/04-hed-still-be-here.mp3 When we met each other, we were young If we’d been older, who can say? We would have known the way to talk to each other And...
View Article5. Just in my imagination
https://kenwilsonelt.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/05-just-in-my-imagination.mp3 I was walking down the road the other day When a woman appeared in front of me She wanted to know where I was going She...
View Article6. Fear Of Flying
I’ve got to leave for the airport It’s almost time to catch my plane Time is running out for me I’ve got to leave again Tomorrow I’ll sing for some different people In a town a thousand miles away...
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Walking Wounded
My uncles James and Thomas Gratrix, who were both killed in the First World War. James was 20 and Thomas was 24. I wrote the following story during my Creative Writing Masters course at Birkbeck...
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Will anyone be learning English after Brexit?
…. but for how long? In his new book The Great British Reboot: How the UK Can Thrive in a Turbulent World, Alex Brummer lists Britain’s ‘remaining and undersung strengths’, the things which will keep...
View ArticleIt’s January!
So here’s a song to help your students remember the months of the year. Sung by Gillian Bartlam, musical arrangement by Richard Vranch. Bass played by Steve Hall. Recorded at Hallmark Studios, Soho...
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The Ticket Inspector
This is the audio and script of a sketch from the English Teaching Theatre, written by Doug Case and me back in the 1970s. The ETT was a group of actors, teachers and musicians who toured a stage show...
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The King of Boonland
Hugh Trethowan as the King of Boonland and Kieran Fogarty as the Buckingham Palace guard The King of Boonland is one of my favourite sketches, partly because it’s one that I performed many times on...
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The Post Office
Angela Carr and Garry Fox in The Post Office sketch The Post Office sketch was first performed by the English Teaching Theatre in 1989. An old lady goes to a post office with a fish-shaped parcel that...
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The story of Mister Monday
Singing with Dede at International House music club in 1970. Cigarettes and beer … what a bad example we were setting! I started work at International House London in the summer of 1969. For those of...
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