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Stephen Fry is Allergic to Dancing

Desperate for something to listen to for the trip back to Victoria, I subscribed to Stephen Fry’s ‘Podgrams’ podcast. I figured that anything the erudite and charming Fry did would be worth listening to. And I wasn’t disappointed.

His second episode has a lengthy but highly entertaining rant explaining how and why he hates to dance. I don’t feel quite so passionate about the topic, but I sympathize.

I don’t like to dance either. There’s a scene in the season one of Dexter, where Dexter, his girlfriend, his sister and her boyfriend are cleaning out his father’s home. Somebody puts on an old record, and people start dancing. Everyone except Dexter, the emotionless sociopath. He stands, arms crossed, with a look of bewildered awkwardness that felt so familiar.

In any case, I highly recommend Fry’s monologue. I’ve cut it out of the larger podcast, which you can find in its entirety on Fry’s website.

[audio:http://www.box.net/shared/static/l02tayblwg.mp3%5D

9 comments

  1. Count me among those who don’t like to dance. I’m just so physically awkward in general; with dancing, in particular. Singing falls into this category, though I love to do it…just not with others around 🙂

  2. Thanks for the website for the podcast and the blog. Stephen Fry I think is one of the smartest and funniest people on the planet. I also highly recommend his book Moab Is My Washpot.

  3. Everyone except Dexter, the emotionless sociopath.

    Spoiler alert:

    The other emotionless sociopath in the room was dancing quite nicely, I believe. Maybe Dexter is just a lousy dancer.

  4. By the way, there’s a great scene in Jeeves and Wooster that might reflect reality a little.

    Bertie Wooster, played by Hugh Laurie, a talented musician and vocalist in real life, asks his manservant Jeeves, played by Fry, to accompany him in a rendition of Minnie the Moocher. Bertie pounds out a soulful version of the song on the piano, and Jeeves fills in the chorus with a very dry “Hi dee hi dee ho, sir”.

  5. Double:

    **Another Spoiler Alert**

    I don’t think you could describe Dexter’s brother as ’emotionless’.

  6. *** ALERT *** MORE SPOILERS BELOW! ***

    I don’t think you could describe Dexter’s brother as ‘emotionless’.

    He’s faking it, just like Dexter is. And Dexter’s not totally emotionless either, but has an emotional disconnect from life in general.

    Rudy is a portrait of what Dexter would be if not for Harry’s Code. Although I’m not sure that Harry’s Code should make him a bad dancer.

  7. Double:

    *** ALERT *** STILL MORE SPOILERS BELOW! ***

    I disagree that he’s faking it. That is, through the series he’s displacing one emotion for another.

    Once his veil is off, when he’s making confessions to Dexter in their old house, he seems to be very emotional.

  8. *** WARNING, EXTREME SPOILER ALERT ***

    I just re-watched that one last night. Yes, he’s emotional, but Dexter gets emotional as well. Look at him during Rudy’s exit scene on the table.

    The problem isn’t that they’re unemotional, it’s more that their emotional state is unaffected by the emotions of others around them. Which is what allows them to kill so easily.

  9. What is wrong with me?
    Why am I the only one that thinks that Fry could have done a much much better job with podcasting?

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