The Enid Blyton Society

Not sure if this topic has been covered before, but I am currently re-reading 'The Riloby Fair Mystery' and am thoroughly enjoying the comical parts as much as the mysterious parts. One of the best lines, in my opinion, has to be when Mr Linton asks Roger 'Dont they teach you manners at school?' to which Roger replies 'No - they think we learn them at home!' - a genuinely funny exchange, showing Enid's talent for writing such scenes, and a rare Blyton instance of a child cheeking their parent and getting away with it - usually it would be a child cheeking someone else, like Fatty and Goon, or Snubby and Uncle Robert or one of the Five and a villain, rather than a parent!

What are your favourite comic moments?

(apologies if this has been covered before!)

My favourite comic moment is in Five Go Off To Camp. Anne discovers the supplies that Jock has brought during the night. When she asks how they got there, Mr. Luffy suggests that a volcano threw them up, which is a reference to her thinking she was sitting on a volcano earlier. I think she throws a tea towel at Mr Luffy for teasing her. I've always liked that bit.

A good topic, Robert! I always laugh at Roger's cheeky comment too.

Some of my favourite comic moments:

Fatty forgetting to take off his earrings after having disguised as a gypsy-woman in The Mystery of the Vanished Prince, leading Mrs. Hilton to stare at him in astonishment and say, "Well, really, Frederick, I cannot approve of your jewellery!"

Binkle Bunny in The Adventures of Binkle and Flip inviting the folk of Oak Tree Town to come and see his "wonderful picture" and chuckling to himself when everyone praises the blue sky and the life-like portraits.

Mister Meddle in the story 'Mister Meddle Makes a Mistake' (Mister Meddle's Muddles) waking up in the morning to find his bedroom apparently transformed, and asking a strange woman to bring him breakfast in bed (I don't want to give too much of the story away, but it's hilarious).

I love a certain extract from Five Go to Camp, too! -

'If you dare to come in, I'll smack your silly face,' said Dick, thinking it was Timmy. 'I know what you want, you perfect pest - you want to flop down on my tummy. You just turn yourself round and go away! Do you hear?'
The head in the opening moved a little but didn't go away. Dick raised himself up on one elbow.
'Put one paw inside my tent and you'll be sent rolling down the hill!' he said. 'I love you very much in the daytime, but I'm not fond of you at night - not when I'm in a sleeping-bag anyway. Scoot!'

The head made a peculiar apologetic sound. Then it spoke. 'Er - you're awake, I see. Are all of you all right - the girls too? I'm only just back.'
'Gosh! It's Mr Luffy,' said Dick, filled with horror. 'I say, sir - I'm most awfully sorry - I thought you were Timmy, come to flop himself down on top of me, like he often does. So sorry, sir.'
'Don't mention it!' said the shadowy head with a chuckle. 'Glad you're all right. See you tomorrow!'

Also many scenes from the FFO series! I read a few chapters of The Mystery of the Strange Bundle last night and enjoyed reading about Fatty dressing up as his own visitor!

And of course, the many tricks the girls played in the Malory Towers and St. Clares series: especially the jumping plate trick (Second Form at St.Clares )!

I immediately think of Julian and Dick stuck in the Clopper outfit in Down to the Sea

Some good ones so far. Anita, I agree about the Fatty moment with his earrings, and I also find many situations in Binkle and Flip funny. Poppy - that has to be one of Enid's funniest passages - I'd completely forgotten that one - hilarious!

I always laugh when I read about the time Fatty answers Mr Tolling's question about the Skulking Hunch-Beetle of Thibet incubating 84 eggs and producing 168 young beetles..
"Now what do you make of that strange fact?"
"All twins," said Fatty solemnly.....

I've always loved this little peice from The Boy Next Door, as I child I used to laugh, everytime I read it!

The scene is when the children think this man is Kit's wicked uncle, as he says he's looking for a boy called Kit Anthony Armstrong.

Man - You don't happen to have seen a small boy about there at all, do you?
Robin - How small?
Man - Small as you.
Robin - I'm big!
Man - Well big as you then!
Robin - What colour eyes!
Man - Blue
Robin - What colour hair?
Man - Fair.
Robin - How many fingers?
Man - Do you think you're being funny?
Robin - Yes I do rather!

Brilliant! I'm glad I started this post - just the sorts of things I was thinking of!

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Mister Meddle in the story 'Mister Meddle Makes a Mistake' (Mister Meddle's Muddles) waking up in the morning to find his bedroom apparently transformed, and asking a strange woman to bring him breakfast in bed (I don't want to give too much of the story away, but it's hilarious).

Meddle was the first person who came to my mind! There's the one from 'Merry Mister Meddle' where Aunt Jemima forbids him to go out to the shop to get some sweets because she's holding a special tea that afternoon - and it's also too foggy. But he sneaks out anyway when he's supposed to be getting changed, and inevitably gets lost on the way back. After being unable to find his house, he decides to knock on the door of a random person to see if they can help...

"Please," said Meddle, "I'm lost in the fog. I want to get home quickly because my aunt is having a very nice tea - so could you tell me where I live?"

"Yes," said the person at the door, and a hand came out and boxed him smartly on the ear. "You live here!"

I love that last line!

Stephen wrote:"Yes," said the person at the door, and a hand came out and boxed him smartly on the ear. "You live here!"

I would have loved to have known Enid! She must have had such a great sense of humour! That story is one of my favourite Mr Meddle ones.

In spite of having several Meddle and Twiddle books, I have read very little of their exploits. I must remedy that.

Meddle and Twiddle are both extremely funny and will have you chuckling away in no timer Nigel.

The FFO produced a wealth of funny moments. Some of the best have already been stated above but Mr Goon and his attempts to spout "portry" come to mind. I always remember him standing in his kitchen and bedroom spouting "Abbledy abbledy abbledy. The boy stood on the burning deck; Abbledy abbledy no it's no good".

Fantastic idea for a thread.

As an adult, I think the most I've laughed at a Blyton book was in my last reading of The Mystery of the Strange Bundle. The episode where Fatty has Goon looking nervously around that old house in search of a pig, a dog, a cat and a man who wanted his auntie is achingly funny.

The funny moments I remember appreciating the most as a child were that episode in The Boy Next Door already quoted by Julie and the Mister Meddle moment mentioned by Anita.

Another favourite Mister Meddle moment was when he was staying in an inn with a friend (Jinky?) and insisted on having some fresh air in the middle of the night but couldn't work out how to open the window...

One of the reasons I enjoy both Meddle and Twiddle is that they are both inclined to lose their temper when they get frustrated with absolutely comical effects. The Twiddle stories have the edge for me now (though when I was a child I preferred Meddle) because of the banter between the Twiddles. In one of the stories an exasperated Mrs T. tells her husband that she is not speaking to him. Enid says that 'this was the kind of punishment Mr Twiddle liked because he felt that Mrs Twiddle spoke entirely too much. But he pretended to look very sad.' I love being the reader and enjoying that joke with Mr Twiddle.

I agree that the Find Outers series have many funny moments - more than any other adventure/mystery series, and a lot of that is down to Fatty's antics and Goon's naivety.