The Friends of Little Bookham Church
present
David Barlow Alan Maryon Davis Peter Christie
on
Saturday 27th June 2015
At 7.00 pm
At All Saints Church,
Manor House Lane, Little Bookham
Tickets £12.00 (to include glass of wine and finger buffet) from:
Either Mrs Barbara Henry 01372 452024
OrMrs Val Winter 01372 454273
Or Mrs Pat Mills 01372 454293
Peter Christie, David Barlow and Alan Maryon Davis
Best known for their long association with BBC Radio’s Stop the Week, Instant Sunshine’s unique and original humorous songs, laden with self-parody, have delighted audiences at home and abroad for decades. As a musical comedy team they have been described as brightening up the dullest of days with their timeless entertainment.
They play regularly at festivals and theatres throughout the United Kingdom and have delighted audiences on their travels round the world to New York, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Bermuda where they returned for the Millennium Festival. On their first appearance to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe over 30 years ago they were voted Hit of the Fringe and return regularly to this wonderful carnival to savour the delights and meet old friends. One year a collection of comedy shows called The Lunatic Fringe transferred to London’s West End for a season and Instant Sunshine took part in this.
Over a hundred Instant Sunshine songs are on record, cassette or CD and a number of songs are on the EMI compilation of hilarious recordings entitled British Comedy Classics where Instant Sunshine are described as following in the great British tradition of humour typified by Flanders and Swann.
However it is the group’s visual humour that enhances the songs and which adds a unique touch to their live shows. Several other groups have recorded Instant Sunshine’s songs all written by Peter Christie including the King’s Singers. The Lords Taverners’ CD of cricket songs includes Instant Sunshine, as does the BBC's Princess Diana Memorial CD. The BBC radio collection series of recordings has also Instant Sunshine on 'Today', a history of the Today programme.
In 2002 Instant Sunshine played an anniversary concert to a full house at the Old Vic in London and a recording of this concert is available on CD. The group returned to the Old Vic in 2007 with great success. Both concerts were in aid of the Tommy’s Baby Charity and further concert was held in 2012.
In 2008 Instant Sunshine visited Bermuda again and performed at Government House raising funds on behalf of the National Trust of Bermuda. The group play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe regularly and had a successful run at the Pleasance Ace Dome in 2011. They returned to the Fringe in August 2013 with a four star review. The three LPs made with EMI some years ago at Abbey Road studio have been released as CDs recently and EMI have made them available on line.
There are plans to release a new album this year.