Jonathan Routh

Jonathan Routh (born 1927) co-starred in the British version of the television show Candid Camera (1960-67) and co-starred with Germaine Greer and Kenny Everett in Nice Time. He has published a number of humorous books.

Guidebooks created with John Glashan

With John Glashan, Routh created an unusual set of small guidebooks: The Good Loo Guide and The Good Cuppa Guide (both about London), The Guide Porcelaine to the Loos of Paris, and The Better John Guide (about New York). The humor owed much to the apparent seriousness, and to the affectionate parody of the connoisseurship of The Good Food Guide (then as now a trove of information on fine eating).

The Good Loo Guide

The Good Loo Guide, a compact fifty-page booklet subtitled "Where to Go in London", written with Brigid Segrave and "conveniently illustrated" by John Glashan, was the first of the series, published in London by Wolfe in 1965. A note on the copyright page sets the tone:

This is an impartial guide. Our visits to loos have been anonymous. We have not declared ourselves even after making use of the establishment's facilities. Nor have we at any time accepted hospitality, but paid cash for all chargeable facilities we have used.

Loos are rated by the application of stars, three-star establishments being "worth travelling out of your way to experience". The illustrations are numerous as well as convenient, with Glashan's characters (typically bearded men) experiencing various adventures and misadventures.

The "completely new & revised" edition of 1968 lives up to its billing. More is included, and ten establishments earn a new award, the "Good Loo Royal Flush".

Two decades later, Routh (but not Glashan) would reexamine this issue with the Initial Good Loo Guide, on which see below.

The Good Cuppa Guide

The Good Cuppa Guide: Where to Have Tea in London, published in 1966, was "blended" by Routh and "milked and sugared" by Glashan. The format and charm (and, in its day, usefulness) are those of the Good Loo Guide. Providers of cuppas are rated with a maximum of five stars.

Guide Porcelaine to the Loos of Paris

In the Guide Porcelaine to the Loos of Paris (1966), Routh must of course provide convenient phrases for the nervous English tourist. An example: Donnez-moi les ordres simples pour atteindre le pissoir le plus pres d'ici; et, s'il vous plait, sans les gesticulations sauvages et tumultueuses [no diacritics in the original], i.e. Please direct me to the nearest loo in simple terms and without waving your hands in too dangerous a manner.

A French translation also appeared: Guide porcelaine des "lieux" de Paris (Editions de la Jeune Parque, 1967).

The Better John Guide

Unlike the three-and-sixpenny (£0.21) booklets described above, The Better John Guide: Where to Go in New York (New York: Putnam, 1966) was a $2.50 hardback. Written with Serena Stewart, it had "graffiti" by Glashan. Unfortunately this graffiti is largely recycled from the convenient illustrations of The Good Loo Guide. Some of the text was recycled too -- understandably, as neither work was likely to have been known in the other capital.

Other books by Routh

The Little Men in My Life. London: Barrie, 1953. (Reissued in 1962 as An Exhibition of Myself.)
Captain d'Arcy's Filthy Picture Book. London: Wolfe, 1967.
Dr. Crocker's Exercise Book. London: Wolfe, 1967.
The Hangover Book: Prevention, preparation, treatment and cure. London: Wolfe, 1967.
So You Think You've Got Problems: A book of disasters. London: Wolfe, 1967.
Routh's Weekend Guide. London: Anthony Blond, 1969.
The Nuns Go to Africa. London: Methuen, 1971.
The Nuns Go to Penguin Island. London: Methuen, 1971.
The Nuns Go East. London: Methuen, 1972.
The Nuns Go West. London: Methuen, 1972.
Jamaica Holiday: The secret life of Queen Victoria. London: Harmony Hall, 1984.
Jonathan Routh's Initial Good Loo Guide: Where to "go" in London. London: Banyan, 1989. ISBN 0-7119-1282-3 Illustrated by Enzo Apicella, this paperback is considerably larger than the earlier work by Routh and Glashan. The odd title derives from the book's sponsorship by Initial Textile Services, a company that serviced loos.

External links

Nice Time On Nice Time, the television series (BBC Comedy Guide).

The Human Person as an Icon of the Trinity Revised text of a university sermon preached in Great St Mary's, Cambridge on 13 October 1985 by Timothy Ware (Bishop Kallistos of Diokleia) that takes as its starting point an anecdote of the Surrey Room restaurant of Waterloo station, as recounted by Routh in The Good Cuppa Guide.