The School of Night Launch The Fame Formula

The launch party for The Fame Formula last Friday, by the side of a steaming pool in the glorious Artspa at Lower Mills Estate near Cirencester, went, if you’ll forgive the pun, swimmingly.

The much-missed Ken Campbell, who passed away a week ago, was supposed to have been at the launch to perform, but his School of Night came anyway and improvised gloriously on themes, topics and publicists in the book.

They were challenged to write and perform instant sonnets about T.R. Zann and Harry Reichenbach, amongst many other things – here’s a video of one of the results of this particular challenge.

Another highlight was this tale of dolphins in need of a publicist, told at full throttle in Chaucerian English; no mean feat.

The School of Night brought The Fame Formula to life in glorious iambic pentameter and song – the chorus of “Oh Jim Moran” keeps coming back to me – with a wit and speed that defied logic. Ken would have been proud – I know I was.