"Dr. Whom?" My Search For Samuel Johnson - David Benson
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 เม.ย. 2020
- Video of my solo show at the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh at the 2009 Fringe Festival.The show was commissioned by the British Library to make the Tercentenary of the birth of Samuel Johnson (1709-84). It was later performed at the Gough Square house where Johnson wrote the Dictionary of the English Language, Rasselas, the Rambler essays and many other writings, some of which are quoted from in the show.
This is my very personal appreciation, not as an academic but as an actor with a deep love of Johnson's philosophy and writing that continues to deepen with the years. - บันเทิง
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When I volunteered at Dr Johnson's House, I frequently had people come in and be disappointed that it wasn't Pepys's house.
I discovered Johnson through the Ramblers and read one every night. It's brilliant to recommend his actual writing.
I adored my visit there when i was performing at the lichfield arts fest. Got some cool pics on the great mans house steps
I just found out that Dr Samuel Johnson is in my family tree. I just started doing research on everyone in my family. Thank you for sharing
Very enjoyable. I've been fascinated by Samuel Johnson ever since when many years ago as a teenager I found an old leather bound edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson in an abandoned and derelict old house. It was great to read the book with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever as to who Samuel Johnson was. A few years later on a rainy winters day I made a pilgrimage to London by train and visited his house. It was a lovely little day out and I purchased a Hodge the cat bookmark and a Dr Johnson decorative spoon from his house. I have since had my Boswell's Life of Johnson book re-backed and it remains one of my most treasured possessions.
How wonderful that you found the great man by chance, as if the book called you. The Gough Square house is amazing - you almost expect him or Frank Barber to answer the door. Have you had his 'Rasselas'? It is pure, undiluted Johnson at his best.
This was wonderful. The more I learn about Johnson, the more I love him.
I did recently read an article that said he probably had Tourette Syndrome. The descriptions you quoted seem to back this up.
David Benson, my hat is off to you!! A fine achievement, sharing your love & admiration for Johnson by bringing him alive for today’s audience-placing a vivid “IDEA” of that unique man in their minds. Sir, you did not disappoint. Thank you!!
Thank you! I very much appreciate your words
Reading Rasselas made me admire Johnson immensely, but John Wain's biography of made me love him. His appeal is his humanity, his vulnerability (weeping profusely at his wife's death, his depression, his physical infirmities, his early poverty), his charitable nature to vagabonds and the homeless and his humanitarianism (he left his estate to a former Jamaican slave whom he adopted), his spurning of "cant" (empty or excessive verbiage - "clear your mind of cant"), and standing up to abuses of authority with eloquence and dignity (e.g. Letter to Lord Chesterfield), his famous patriotism, his sincere Christian faith (h wrote beautiful prayers), his immense humour ("you dogs, I'll have a frisk with you!"), his defense of animals against vivisection (cruel dissections of live dogs without anesthesia at the time, merely to illustrate anatomy or satisfy curiosity), his great erudition, his work ethic (the Dictionary), his loyalty to friends (Live of Savage), his brilliance (Intro to Shakespeare), and of course his wonderful insights, well-known aphorisms, and his unparalleled mastery of prose. All of which makes the 18th century "the Age of Johnson." Johnson is a hero for me. I feel that I understand him. This inspires me to re-read that biography for the 4th time. It's such a great read. He is such an immense figure. More people ought to know of him, and perhaps learn to love him, across the gulf of time, as I and many others have.
Marvelous overview!! Of course, we can each compile our own, quite different lists out of the immensity that was that man. Mine overlaps considerably with yours. One thing I would include is that of Johnson standing in the rain looking out upon the field where the Litchfield fair used to be held and where his father used to sell books-weeping as he remembered one time when his father asked his help setting up the stand and the boy spurned the request, preferring to play with his friends.
Thank you for you thoughts on Johnson. Like you and so many others, I feel a strangely personal connection with him. We all have our own idea of Samuel J. and who he was and what we would like to have asked him had we been as lucky as Boswell. I feel that we find the heart of him in the Rambler essays and Rasselas - 'the wisdom of the ages' and so poetically expressed.
Great post!
Great talk. Thank you.
went to Samuel Johnsons house in London learned a lot about the great man.learned he might have had Autism explained how he new so much and gathered a lot of info .
I didn't have time to watch this in its entirety, but it is amazing! Thank you.
Thank you!
@@DavidBensonActor Hi David, do you have more solo performances to be uploaded here, as I have only discovered your channel this weekend, and I love the content. Loved the Princess Diana's death one, superb! Always remember you from Goodnight Sweetheart.
@@johnking5174 Thank you, I am very pleased you like the shows. There are one or two others and your messages prompts me to make an effort to upload them. Promise to do so soon!
@@DavidBensonActor Thank you David. I will be looking forward to them!
Why David, I had absolutely no idea you'd done this show. I'm a huge admirer of Think No Evil Of Us and your readings of KW's Diaries etc, but to find that you're a Johnsonian as well has really brightened up this freezing cold Paris morning no end. I have a few treasured bedside books which I turn to when I'm weary of novels and simply want an old faithful that I can dip into at random in the expectation of an unexpected gem. These include Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, the Oxford Dictionary of English Literature (the old Paul Harvey one) and Boswell's Life of Johnson. They never let me down. Do you know Nabokov's Pale Fire? I imagine so. I love the epigraph he chose: "But Hodge shall not be shot, no Hodge shall not be shot". Although somebody else (no spoilers) is. I digress - I greatly enjoyed this and will certainly be rewatching in a few days. Chapeau for giving Johnson the sort of accent he (and Master Shakspere) would have had, rather than the booming Churchillian tones actors so often adopt when portraying the Great Cham (Robbie Coltrane RIP gets a pass because he was bloody funny). I won't bore on, and anyway my coffee's ready - but many thanks. Er...have you dug out that Frankie Howerd tape yet?
Thank you Nick! Very pleased to have entertained your Paris morning, what a lovely thought. Also, thank you for your kind words about my other work, it is good to know it is remembered and appreciated. I have done a few SJ readings on my channel (some Rambler essays) and I must admit, for these I did not use a Midlands accent since it gets in the way of the words and their meaning. I read them in the voice I feel he would want them read in, with full resonance and dignity, as it were. I am great admirer of his writings and always turn to the Ramblers, Idlers and to Rassalas for wisdom and comfort. Yes, I did find the recording you mention and posted it recently. I am not sure if you subscribe to my channel but if you do, you will not be able to escape my updates. A bientot
th-cam.com/video/vzy2qJ5wH5A/w-d-xo.html
Wasn't it Churchill who called his depression his black dog? Or he may have been quoting the great man. A fine video by the way.
I believe Churchill used it as well, though Johnson was not the first.
Loved this video, David. I didn't know you were such an authority on Dr. Johnson - wonderful!
'I hope you will not object if I also offer the Doctor my most enthusiastic contrafibularities...I'm anaspeptic, phrasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericombobulation.' Abi x
Thank you - I became an 'authority' just through reading all I could about him for years and learning to appreciate the beauty of his thinking and writing
I'm going to have a university lecture about Johnson, watched this video, and got mesmerized. Every single word was so encouraging.
Thank you! So pleased you enjoyed
Absolutely loved this! It's made me want to go and read Samuel Johnson.
Penguin’s paperback “Selected Writings of Samuel Johnson” is a great place to start. Includes a strong sampling of “Rambler” & “Idler” essays!
@@PabluchoViision Yes, although... sadly they don't give the titles of the essays which is really useful when you are trying to navigate them. I prefer an edition with the titles. Many thanks for writing!