Letters from Uncle Val

by Andy Jones

Overview

One of comedian Andy Jones' great creations, Uncle Val is a curmudgeonly old man, a dry wit, and an incisive critic of modern society.

Between 1986 and 1989 Uncle Val, an elderly outharbour gentleman, wrote nineteen letters from his new home in the suburbs of St. John’s to his old friend Jack back home. Val’s move from the Bay to the ‘burbs' to live with his daughter, her obnoxious husband, their youngsters and two useless poodles is an uneasy one. His slow adjustment and eventual appreciation for life in town is endearingly revealed through his letters to Jack.

Written by Andy Jones with Michael Jones Sr. Performed by Andy Jones. Dedicated to the Memory of Francis Colbert

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780973758689
Publisher:	Rattling Books
Publication date:	05/09/2007
Edition description:	Unabridged

About the Author

Andy Jones has been a professional writer and actor for over thirty years. He has written five critically acclaimed one-man comedy shows: Out of the Bin, An Evening with Uncle Val, Still Alive, King O’ Fun, and most recently, To The Wall. He has toured extensively to critical acclaim across Canada, the UK, and Ireland. Andy was recently nominated for a Gemini for his performance in To The Wall on CBC Television's Opening Night series, as well as winning Best Performance at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax. This September a film version of his one-man show King O’ Fun premiered on BRAVO! TV and was shown at The Atlantic Film Festival.

Jones was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland where he co-founded the Resource Centre for the Arts at the L.S.P.U. Hall, co-writing, acting in, and directing many original productions. He is well known in Canada as one of the groundbreaking Newfoundland comedy troupe CODCO, in both its theatrical and television incarnations. With the CODCO collective he wrote 5 full-length theatre pieces: Cod On A Stick, Sickness Death and Beyond The Grave, Das Capital, Pocketcrumbs, and The Tale Ends. Other notable works include Albert, a one-act play for one man and a budgie bird, and the children’s plays Jack Meets the Cat and Jack-Five-Oh.

Andy Jones has performed across Europe with The Madhouse Company of London, in England with The Ken Campbell Roadshow, and across Canada in theatre productions including The Time and Place (Theatre Smith-Gilmour, Toronto), Pilk’s Madhouse (Second Stage, Halifax), Love and Anger (Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary), Pope Joan (Nightwood Theatre, Toronto), The Postal Show (Theatre P.E.I., Charlottetown), and Bloomsday (Anna Livia Productions, Toronto).

In television Andy has co-written and performed in Kids in the Hall, Dooley Gardens, The Cathy Jones Special, and Nasty Habits. In film he played principal roles in Rare Birds, Brain Candy, Extraordinary Visitor, A Secret Nation, Paint Cans, Life With Billy, Coleslaw Warehouse, and The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood (which he also co-wrote and directed).

Andy’s numerous awards include two Gemini awards, five Gemini nominations, two Emmy nominations, two Genie nominations, election to the Newfoundland Arts Council Hall of Honour, The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Award of Excellence, and the ACTRA Award of Excellence for Lifetime Achievement.