Saturday, January 20, 2007

Lauren Laverne

The Culture Show returns tonight on BBC2, after a month's break, and Lauren Laverne will be presenting once more. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Lauren Laverne. She's very attractive, and she has one of those charming regional accents which, these days, functions as an instant passport to a job with the BBC. However, on this particular show I reckon she is, how shall I say, 'winging it'. Now, this is actually a subtle skill: whilst 'blagging it' involves a dexterous and extemporary use of words to conceal a lack of knowledge or truthfulness, winging it often requires one to judiciously remain silent, or to encourage other people to talk, in order to conceal a lack of knowledge or preparation.

Lauren is on reasonably firm ground with, say, pop music or popular cinema, but when she's chatting to the bloke with the double-barrelled name about some installation or exhibition, I don't really sense a great depth of interest. I sense that Lauren is simply passing through, en route to Saturday night TV on BBC1. Whereas Verity Sharp, I feel, is very much at her final destination.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pretty but distinctly limited. Did you watch the programme by ...can't remember his name on early Christian art midweek, Gordon? Can't think of his name but I like what I see of him generally. Possibly one of those double-barrelled names you folk specialise in.

Gordon McCabe said...

Well, there's Waldemar somebody-or-other, and then there's Andrew Graham-Dixon, the Culture Show blokey. Maybe it was Bill Oddie you saw.

Anonymous said...

I don't think it was William St Oddie, probably AGDixon.

Anonymous said...

No comment.