Wacky Iraqi by Drew

'“I thought when we got back things would be different,” he said. “They are,” I said, “I’m not working in that cheese shop anymore. And we’ve got a toilet.”' I thought this was a great novelty piece and an excellent showcase for Drew's ability to write comic dialogue.

Thanks Tony and Rokkit. The inspiration for this one was actually Laurel and Hardy, the film where they join the foreign legion. The best L + H moments are when they play each other's wives but I don't know how to get that across in a story. I'm a big fan of Salem Pax as it happens Tony. His blog is here Or you can buy his book - I thoroughly recommend it. The book is called 'Salem Pax - The Baghdad Blog'. It's the diary of a gay Iraqi bloke before, during and after the war.

I watched that film about a month ago on satellite at about 2 in the morning... i was disturbed to see that in most of the frames, L & H had no faces... just big white blobs...

Drew - I found this link on the blogger's site. I think you might be interested!

hehe - looks good. Thanks Tony. (and I thought my title was original)

"In Iraq we don't drink alcohol but we drink this drink which happens to have alcohol in it". My favourite of about two hundred hilarious lines. I think Drew is my favourite comic writer. Somebody please publish him like in a proper book.

Thanks Neil - a very nice compliment. I'm having great great fun writing these stories. The next couple are already planned. I enjoyed your Men's Night Out piece. You kind of remind me of O Henry. Are you a fan? If not, you can pick up a collection of 100 of his stories in Borders for £1.50 in the classics section. Beware of the self-help section though!!

I don't get as enthusiatic as some do about Drews work, but i do enjoy it. And i did laugh out loud the Sniper and Beatles practical jokes in the second part of the story.

I read both stories through at once, and I really enjoyed them. Drew must have one of the most reader-friendly styles on abc - one idea per sentence, strict chronology - it's beautifully lit. I especially like his witty sentences, sheltering under their guise of naivety. It's a unique style - pure comic prose; and good comic writing is rare. Only a writer can do this on paper, not comedians or stand-ups. (I say that having laboured to read books by Stephen Fry and Ben Elton.) Drew is in the tradition of Wodehouse and Pratchett, in my opinion. Some of the humour was bizarre - like about the toilet - where the narrator turned in dizzyingly on his own words. Some, like the on-and-off bras, was pure Benny Hill. But the second instalment developed a more stealthy humour, in which our stereotypes about Iraquis were played upon in a sustained narrative sequence. The only problem I had - which didn't spoil it for me - was with the plotline about the missile and the filming. I read that through twice but couldn't quite work out what was going on. (If Dan and his men were a rogue unit, what was their purpose? And what were the missiles for?) Maybe it's just me, though, as I'm not that quick on the uptake. Great stuff, Drew. d.beswetherick.

Thanks Flash and d bes. Flash, thanks for reading even if you are not so keen. d bes, my own feeling about the end is the same as yours - I think it's all a bit quick. the problem is with editing I am always tired when I get to the end. Anyway, the weapons are 'wmds' - it's to do with dan's words at the beginning. When I finish all these stories I want to edit them thoroughly. I think it'll be easier once I've got an overall idea. It's also easier coming back to them after a period of time; then you can better see your mistakes. Saying that I have already been working on the first three stories. As I said before, they are great fun to write.

Hey i thought they were funny, i just don't seem to get so wildly excited about them as some do.......must be something wrong with me?