Mike Hodd – photo by John Burns (Random), taken in 2010 at an Ivan Shakespeare Dinner at Cafe Rouge, Maida Vale
Since 1992, NewsRevue has been part of my life. For the first several years, in the 1990s, as a writer for (and regular attender at) the show. Latterly, through the enduring friendships and sense that “NewsRevue Writing Alum” is an integral part of my identity.
I explained much of this in a piece I wrote three years ago for the 40th anniversary of the show:
I, together with countless others who have been involved with the show over the decades, owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mike Hodd, who died on 19 September 2022.
Mike Hodd was one of the founders of NewsRevue in 1979. But Mike’s role went way beyond founding. By the time I came along, 12 and a half years later, Mike wrote little if anything for the show himself. But Mike was a regular presence as a mentor and friend to those who were or had been involved with the show.
Mike gave me lots of encouragement when I first started writing for NewsRevue. Also beyond those early months. I especially remember Mike heaping praise on one of my songs, about Bill Clinton and his priapic nature:
I also remember Mike telling me that the above lyric reminded him of one of his own, presumably about some earlier licentious politician, which Mike had written to the tune of Son Of Hickory Holler’s Tramp by O C Smith. I recall Mike’s delight when I told him that I was familiar with that track and thought it suitable for such a song.
If anyone out there by chance has a copy of Mike’s “Hickory Holler’s Tramp” lyric, I (and no doubt many other NewsRevueistas) would love to see it.
John Random and I are currently excavating the Chris Stanton NewsRevue script archive. So far we have only recovered one “original Hodd” which i replicate below.
Just in case anyone reading this doesn’t remember the Karin B incident from 1988, it was an Italian barge loaded with hazardous waste bound for Nigeria, perceived by the public, once word of the practice leaked out, as a dodgy idea commercially, morally and environmentally.
Which brings me on to the other side of Mike Hodd, which was his actual career as a Professorial expert on development economics and the economics of corruption. Mike wore his incisive intelligence lightly and politely when discussing any topic, even those upon which he was an expert.
After I and my “NewsRevue Class of ’92” cohort stopped writing, we continued meeting up regularly for Ivan Shakespeare Memorial Dinners, which Mike Hodd would quite often join.
Thus Mike became a mentor in ways other than comedy. Indeed, in the correspondence following the above 2009 gathering, Random described him as Mike “MaHoddma” Ghandi.
Mike was exceptionally generous in his mentoring. When I mentioned in passing in late 2005 that Janie and I would be going to Ethiopia on holiday soon, Mike asked me if I had read Remote People by Evelyn Waugh, which at that time I had not. The next time I saw Mike, he slipped a copy into my hand.
Another example – when I saw Mike after my own “economics plus” effort, The Price Of Fish, was published in 2011, Mike quietly commended the book and told me that he had bought multiple copies of it to give away to his friends.
That was Mike.
Almost everyone who knew him reasonably well has a favourite anecdote about Mike, but there tends to be a common theme to those stories. Mike’s warmth, generosity, intelligence, sense of humour and ability to laugh at himself clearly shines through.
The last time I saw Mike was at that previously-mentioned Newsrevue 40th Anniversary event, at which he delivered a coupe of comedic pieces, including a stand-up routine making comedy out of his own Parkinson’s condition. Brave comedy, delivered without self pity and with supreme comedic timing. A fitting memory of Mike Hodd.
Thank you for this, Jack and I really enjoyed reading it. I will also always remember Mike’s sense of humour and comedic timing, he was still saying stuff that cracked us up almost to the very end and he was a wonderful story teller.
I remember the Karin B song because I had it in my run of Newsrevue, though in my memory it was sung by a girl called Michelle Whitehead. She had a tray like a cinema usherette, which seemed like a good idea at the time, though I can’t think why. I’d forgotten that it was Mike’s song.