NOW WE ARE SIXTY

As one who is careening headlong toward his 60th year, this reviewer pricked up his ears when this cassette came his way. The title parodies A.A. Milne's precious NOW WE ARE SIX, the book that Dorothy Parker, in her column "Constant Reader," reviewed with the comment: "Constant Reader Thwowed [sic] up." These slender verses on aging will keep your stomach where it belongs, shaking with laughter. Stylistically, they owe less to Milne than to W.S. Gilbert, whose BAB' BALLADS put him on the satirical map before his famous stage collaboration with Sir Arthur Sullivan. They are wickedly witty in the writing, the performing, and the production. Though they are very British and numerous references may fall limply on Yankee sensibilities, no English-speaking "mature" listener with a sense of humor will fail to find plenty here to tickle the risibles. If you have to grow old, do it laughing. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]