AustLit logo

AustLit

John A. Marks John A. Marks i(A110799 works by) (a.k.a. Johnny Marks)
Gender: Male
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 y separately published work icon Hopping Around the Christmas Tree John A. Marks , Colin Buchanan , Benjamin Johnston (illustrator), Lindfield : Scholastic Australia , 2018 15391106 2018 single work picture book children's

'Hopping around the Christmas tree, At the Christmas party hop. Pouches full everywhere you see All the joeys dance and bop!

'Flapping around the Christmas tree, Let the Christmas bells sway. Later well have some worm mince pie And well look for Santas sleigh!

'All the Aussie animals are coming for the big Christmas shindig. They're bringing decorations for the tree and yummy food to share. Sing along to this all-new Australian version of the classic song, Rockin Around the Christmas Tree with the BONUS SONG performed by Colin Buchanan!'   (Publication summary)

1 Rum Doings John A. Marks , Pat Hanna , The Famous Diggers , 1923 single work drama sketch (theatrical) humour

Described in the Adelaide season program as 'an original military episode.'

1 y separately published work icon The New C. O. John A. Marks , Pat Hanna , The Famous Diggers , 1922 (Manuscript version)x401904 Z1438530 1922 single work drama sketch (theatrical) humour

A comedy sketch about a new commanding officer.

1 Chic and Bert at the Party John A. Marks , Pat Hanna , The Famous Diggers , 1922 single work drama sketch (theatrical) humour
1 History Repeats Itself John A. Marks , The Famous Diggers , Pat Hanna , 1922 single work drama sketch (theatrical) humour

Billed as 'the king of soldier sketches' and described as a 'pseudo-dramatic military episode', History Repeats Itself revolves around two lone diggers and a jar of rum.

A review of the 1926 Brisbane production suggests that much of the humour was due to the fact that the actors, Pat Hanna and Joe Valli, were 'well versed in the lore of the A. I. F.' (Brisbane Courier 15 May 1926, p.22). The Daily News (Perth) reports, too, that 'Messrs Hanna and Marks are the diggers in a bit of ghostly history, staged in a shell-smashed chateau [in] France' (16 April 1923, n. pag.).

1 y separately published work icon The New War John A. Marks , Pat Hanna , The Famous Diggers , 1921 (Manuscript version)x401905 Z1438543 1921 single work drama sketch (theatrical) humour

The fun is 'provided by a hilarious inebriate who insists on displaying his hospitality to his sleepy room mate' (Brisbane Courier 7 December 1923, p.11).

1 y separately published work icon Demobilisation John A. Marks , Pat Hanna , The Famous Diggers , 1921 (Manuscript version)x401898 Z1377068 1921 single work drama sketch (theatrical) humour

This sketch is presented in two parts: 1. 'How We Would Like It To Be' and 2. 'How It Really Was.' (See manuscript note below.)

1 Two-Chinned Chow John A. Marks , The Famous Diggers , Pat Hanna , 1921 single work musical theatre burlesque humour

A burlesque of Chu Chin Chow, which had recently closed in Melbourne after a three-month season at the Tivoli Theatre.

1 y separately published work icon The Minced Spy John A. Marks , Pat Hanna , The Famous Diggers , 1920 (Manuscript version)x401903 Z1438498 1920 single work drama sketch (theatrical) humour

A comic sketch involving General Nosecap, Lieutenant Hartburn, Private Flapper of the Y.W.S.S.W.M.P (Young Women's Society for the Suppression of Wowsers and Military Police), Colonel Krayfissh (a German spy), and an orderly.

The storyline begins with the general lamenting his failure to capture 100,00 prisoners and 200 guns: he succeeded only in capturing a broken-down field cooker, eight tins of German sausage, two mules, and a sergeant major, and advancing three yards on a front of eighty-one feet. The lieutenant then shoots down a carrier pigeon with a message warning the Germans that the Allies intend attacking at 4 am. Private Flapper enters and warns the general that, while in London, she saw Colonel Krayfissh signalling Zeppelins with a cigarette, and later spotted him on the East Coast floating on his back and semaphoring to the U-Boats with his feet. A false message is sent back, saying that the attack is to be delayed a hour (a second pigeon is later shot).

In the meantime, a romantic interlude occurs between Lieutenant Hartburn and Private Flapper, who is really Lady Hermentrude Joyed Llorge. She informs the lieutenant, however, that she cannot think of love until the spy is brought to justice. When Krayfissh learns he has been fooled, he swallows a Mills hand grenade. The two lovers embrace, and plan a celebration with minced pigeon pie.

1 y separately published work icon The Leave Train John A. Marks , Pat Hanna , The Famous Diggers , 1920 (Manuscript version)x401902 Z1438431 1920 single work drama sketch (theatrical) humour

A comic sketch revolving around a group of soldiers on temporary leave from the trenches. The Pat Hanna Collection manuscript includes a good deal of slanguage and the use of malapropisms, such as 'you've been cremated and made mess orderly' and 'you'll blow some of those huns back to maternity.'

X