A Christmas Carol: A Signature Performance by Tim Curry

It used to be a habit of mine to talk about something Charles Dickens-centric on here at least once during this time of year. I'd like to revive that at least for one more year, so if you'll indulge me, Funny People, I'll proceed.

The reading of A Christmas Carol is an annual tradition for me, as it is for many, but only just last year, I came across what might be the perfect audiobook of that wonderful text: The Signature Performance edition, read by none other than Tim Curry.

Tim Curry is one of those actors who defined my childhood. Whether he was threatening to destroy the rain forest in Fern Gully, scaring the shit out of me as Pennywise in the original IT TV-miniseries (sorry, not sorry, remake people), or betraying Jim and Captain Smollett as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island, his presence on screen or in audio was a delight. Even when he played a baddie, as he often did, you couldn't help but like him and his character, and the dark whimsy he brought to those charisma-laden roles often made them all the more frightening when he chose to appear as such. Nothing's scarier than a villain who's doing something dastardly, laughing all the way as he does it.

So for this wonderful actor, with his iconic voice, to read one of the best "Christmas stories" in literature is a natural choice. 

Curry brings to Dickens' story both the playfulness one would expect from a reading of Dickens, who was first and foremost a humorous writer and literary entertainer, and something often left out of adaptations of this particular story: the dark menace. Carol after all is a ghost story, and no ghost story is complete without a touch of grim darkness (at least). 

A good example of this comes near the end of STAVE THREE, the section where Scrooge has spent time with the Ghost of Christmas Present. This character has usually been depicted as the friendliest of all three of the spirits, post-Marley. But, in Curry's performance of the text, this most merry of ghosts actually comes off much closer to how he is in the text: sterner, even frightening, especially at the end when warning Scrooge of the vices he must avoid if he is indeed sincere in his intent to better himself.

If you're looking for a way to enjoy A Christmas Carol That you might not have before, then I'd highly recommend this audiobook. 

Until next time, Funny People, stay safe, stay healthy, and take care. 🙂