Pitch Black

Ronald Charles Epstein is a Toronto-based freelance writer and published poet.

Arthur Black established himself as a major Canadian humorist with his
CBC Radio One program Basic Black. Cable television viewers may be
familiar with his Life Network programs Weird Homes and Weird Wheels. In
1981, he wrote his first compilation, Basic Black, and he published his
last one, Pitch Black, in 2005. In 2006, all 10 books were anthologized
in Black Gold.

The retired radio broadcaster mines personal experience with varying
results. Originally a commissioned travelogue for the Air Canada
in-flight magazine, enRoute, the chapter titled “We Didn’t Get
Sick” chronicled his “all-expenses-paid Caribbean vacation courtesy
of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.” The title indicates that the trip
was a disaster; the assignment was cancelled. The fact that the
magazine’s editor killed the idea exposes travel magazines’
phoniness.

The actual story is not as effectively related. Black’s flight was
miserable. He also experienced hotel problems and went to the hotel
office to complain, only to find it “staffed” by a parrot.
Unfortunately, the author did not also salvage his holiday.

Black’s secondary sources are not always useful. “The Wonderful
Game of Bloopers” is Black Gold’s funniest article because it
highlights sportscaster Larry Frattare’s bungled eulogy. That
announcer mourned the great living black actor James Earl Jones after
being informed of the death of James Earl Ray, the white racist who
assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King.

On the other hand, “Tabloids and Ethics: A Natural Oxymoron” is
boosted by Jonathan Lynn’s and Anthony Jay’s satirical survey of the
British press from their book Yes, Prime Minister. Dave Allen, an
Australian comedian, was equally trenchant when he read the same piece
on television years earlier. That material is stale, at best.

Overall, though, the material is funny, and library readers could be
expelled by angry librarians for inappropriate laughter.