Thank You, Jeeves

The antics of Bertie Wooster are delightfully performed in this staged adaptation. Simon Templeman may not be David Niven, but he hits the spot as the young gallant, and Paxton Whitehead is perfect as his unflappable valet, Jeeves. Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan, who guest stars as the American millionaire J. Washburn Stoker, gives an adequate performance but is upstaged by the skills of the other actors. Jennifer Tilly's normally annoying shrill voice is ideal in her portrayal of the sultry Pauline. This program is a pleasant reminder of why Wodehouse is one of the greatest humorists of the century. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

August 4, 2008
Like a comic novelist Nostradamus, Wodehouse seems to have aimed his prologue at an audiobook audience 74 years after this first full-length Bertie-and-Jeeves novel was written. He begins by enumerating the pitfalls of \x93writing\x94 the book through dictation and gives us a Victor Borgeian demo: \x93Quote No comma Lord Jasper Murgatroyd comma close quote said. No, better make it hissed Evangeline comma quote I would not marry you if you were the last man on earth close quote period.\x94 Nicolas Coster is a genuine joy to listen to, both as Wodehouse and his silly cast of characters. He plays Jeeves's sublime interactions with Bertie and his colleagues in the manner of a true gentleman's gentleman: with cool bemusement and calm. When chaos ensues, Coster's proper British manner makes everything even funnier.