© 2024 Texas Public Radio
Real. Reliable. Texas Public Radio.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Neil, Gamin': The Author Is Quizzed On Gilbert & Sullivan

Gaiman offered "Bee Dangerous" honey, made from his very own bees, as the grand prize.
/ NPR
/
NPR
Gaiman offered "Bee Dangerous" honey, made from his very own bees, as the grand prize.

When he was nine years old, author Neil Gaiman won a newspaper contest about Gilbert & Sullivan, the Victorian-era composers known for advanced, often over-the-top wordplay in operas like The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore and Pirates of Penzance. One listen to the "Major-General's Song" (which would later become the basis for one of our favorite Tom Lehrer songs) and it's clear these songs are not for the faint-of-tongue. See how much Gaiman remembers about the duo's 19th century operettas...and whether he can sing his answers.

Plus, Gaiman advises that everyone should have a hobby that could potentially kill them (his is beekeeping), and lends his voice to an extra-creepy rendition of Jonathan Coulton's "Creepy Doll."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.