I first encountered Tom Lehrer songs… aged about eight or nine. I have two older brothers, who were both fans. I think we had them on reels, to be played on something that looked like this (it was the early 1960s)…
So it was a joy to discover that the 2025 Edfringe had three shows featuring Lehrer’s songs So, to get back to the 2025 shows, I was very excited to discover this year’s (2025) Fringe had no less than three shows featuring Lehrer’s songs and promptly went off in search of them all.
They are:
An Unwasted Evening – The Genius of Tom Lehrer with Antony Hubmayer (aka Dr H Music)
Late Night Lehrer – with Caspar Phillipson
Tom Lehrer died aged 97 on July 26 just a few days before each of these three shows opened at the Fringe. He was an American satirist, singer-songwriter, pianist, and brilliant mathematician who rose to fame in the 1950s and 1960s with his sharp satirical songs. He lampooned politics, science and society with catchy tunes and unlikely rhymes, such as the conclusion to the Elements song:
These are the only ones of which the news has come to Hahvard,
And there may be many others but they haven’t been discahvered.
He also contributed songs to the satirical TV show That Was the Week That Was. In the 1970s, he retired from music to focus on teaching mathematics at leading universities. It seems he’d simply had enough of performance and was happiest in academia. In 2022, he released his entire musical catalogue to the public domain.
So, to get back to the 2025 shows, they turned out to be a fascinating and eclectic mix, each with a different slant. Each is a tribute to Tom Lehrer and his music but none would describe themselves as a tribute show, so don’t expect a recreation or imitation of a Tom Lehrer performance. And each were generous in agreeing to an audio interview with me so enjoy the insights into how (and when) Lehrer’s music first inspired them and how that influenced creating the show they have brought to the 2025 Edfringe.
Antony Hubmayer (Dr H Music) and Caspar Phillipson are both very accomplished pianists. Mitch Benn has a go but admits keyboards aren’t really his thing and plays guitar for most of the songs in his show. His accomplishments lie in extending and bringing in some modern notes to the songs as well as contributing some new ‘Lehreresque’ numbers of his own.
Benn’s focus is the way that Lehrer’s work inspired his development as a satirical songwriter and his prolific output for the radio and elsewhere; Phillipsons on his discovery of Lehrer during lockdown and how each of the songs he performs spoke to him, both are personal narratives in different ways.
Both Phillipson and Benn flag up how contemporary some of the songs are, with Benn extending some (and adding some Lehreresque songs of his own), Hubmeyer’s approach is to stay with the original songs but encourage lots of audience participation – in stark contrast to Lehrer who famously said as he introduced The Irish Ballad “… this happens to be a good song for group singing. So if any of you feel like joining in with me on this song, I’d appreciate it if you would leave – right now.”
You can hear their interviews here:
Caspar Phillipson on discovering Lehrer during lockdown and how the songs helped save his sanity
Antony Hubmayer shares his passion for both Lehrer’s music and encouraging the audience to join in
And if you’re reading this before the end of Edinburgh 2025…
Mitch Benn: The Lehrer Effect is at Underbelly, Bristo Sq, 16.00 to Aug 25th. Late Night Lehrer – with Caspar Phillipson Greenside 20.45 till Aug 23rd. An Unwasted Evening – The Genius of Tom Lehrer is part of a wider programme and has just one further performance at 18.30 on Aug 21st, artsSpace@St Mark’s Church
