SPACE CAPTAIN SMITH

Comic sci-fi of the joke-in-every-paragraph variety is a narrative challenge, but Clive Catterall carries it off. A courageous but clueless commander of the British Space Empire rust-bucket space ship JOHN PYM collects a motley crew. His mission to avoid galactic disaster takes listeners to distant planets that curiously resemble Earth communities of New Agers, religious fanatics, or American rednecks. Catterell’s brisk delivery absorbs stereotypes, parodies of dozens of movies and books, stunning puns, and situations that flirt with farce. He doesn’t need a sound track to makes an ambush by an alien warlord exciting. His perfect pacing gives listeners time enough to laugh but not enough to groan. M.C.T. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2011]