Playing the Moldovans at Tennis

Product Information

The full-length feature film version of his book Round Ireland with a Fridge, starring Tony, Josie Lawrence, Ed Byrne and Sean Hughes, was released in Autumn 2010. Filming on the follow-up, Playing the Moldovans at Tennis, with Steven Frost, Angus Deayton, Morwenna Banks and Laura Solon, has just been completed. In March 2011 Tony travelled to Japan to appear at the Okinawa International Film Festival where Round Ireland with a Fridge was nominated for Best Comedy.

Playing the Moldovans at Tennis by Tony Hawks | Goodreads

Arthur Smith is also a funny guy. He’s a friend of Tony Hawks and has starred alongside him on the comedy circuit and on “Red Dwarf”. He’s also pretty fond of telling Tony he’s not very good at tennis, which upsets Tony because Tony thinks he’s actually rather good at the game. And so it is that one night, whilst watching England beat Moldova 4-0 and after quite a few drinks have been consumed, a bet is made. The bet is as so; that Tony can’t beat the entire Moldovan football team at tennis. Tony’s writing style is again very chatty and straightforward. Whilst not flowing quite as well as “…Fridge”, it’s still a very easy book to read, as it’s told in a relaxed, almost conversational, style and you can almost hear Tony’s voice in your head, relating the events to you. The funny moments are rarer than in “…Fridge”, but there’s some real laugh out loud moments, although even they seem to reflect the Moldovan way of life in that they appear more frequently both before and after he’s been to the country and less so whilst he’s there. Cu siguranță că acum nu este așa „faptul că un actor de comedie din Anglia a venit în Moldova ca să încerce să-i bată la tenis pe fotbaliștii din echipa națională a Moldovei nu este o știre de presă”. So, to fill the time in trying to find Moldovan footballers and force them to play tennis against him, Tony sees some of the country. He visits some gypsies and presents their King, Arthur, with a somewhat predictable gift. He meets who he believes to be the Chief of Police and gets to know the Moldovan family he is staying with a little better, even if he does have to resort to some unfortunate miming to get an important point across. It gives you some interesting first hand views on Moldova – for instance when he is in the bar savouring a beer and the people are looking at him strangely as they down a vodka in seconds and leave – there is no social drinking just something to ease the pain.Since I am right now living and working in the Republic of Moldova, it will come probably not as a surprise to you, dear readers, when I am trying to get my hands on any books written by Moldovan authors that are translated in a language that I am able to read. There are indeed a few quite interesting authors whose translated books I will feature here in the future. It's not nearly funny enough. There are many smiles, but few big laughs. 2. The book is good. It revealed that the author learned a lot about himself from his experience in Moldova. This only vaguely transfers to the screen. 3. The plot is reasonably but not compellingly constructed. If the streaming had stopped half way through (it didn't, it worked well), I am not sure I would have felt any need to find it again to see the end. He knows nothing about the cultures he is visiting but he relays his experiences in a funny first-hand way and you learn as you travel with him. Today I am writing a few lines about a rather humorous book by the British comedian Tony Hawks: Playing the Moldovans at Tennis. At the beginning is an eccentric wager: Tony is betting with a friend (after they watched the Moldovan football team in TV losing against England) that he can beat every member of the Moldovan National team in tennis. (It should be mentioned that a short time before his Moldovan adventure he won a bet that included his traveling around Ireland - with a fridge!)

Playing the Moldovans at Tennis - Softcover - AbeBooks Playing the Moldovans at Tennis - Softcover - AbeBooks

The reason why Hawks has the odds against him for writing a travelouge that works (and under no circumstances is capable of writing a great travelouge) is that is simply doesn't have a clue about Moldova. As anyone that succeeds with making a living out of something he doesn't have a clue about, he does not try to behave like he is an expert, he chooses a subject most other people don't have a clue about either and of course it does not hurt that he has a great humor and a lot of good spirit. And so we are taken to Moldova around the turn of the millennium, and spend most of the book immersed in precisely how grim the 90s were in the former Soviet Union as it transitioned to a proper market economy. From these descriptions to the final scene outside a Woolworths, the book feels dated now, but in a way that's quite charming and has given me an unexpected wish to go and see what Chisinau is like 20+ years later. Excellent concept: a few drinks, watching the soccer, you’re good at tennis, could you beat the Moldovan soccer team at your own sport? If not, you have to strip naked to their anthem. Once in Moldova, things don’t go a great deal better. It takes Tony a lot of time to even get the first game going, as the pace and quality of life in Moldova is such that even football players don’t just drop what they’re doing and enjoy a frivolous game of tennis. Indeed, it’s a place where there are no manhole covers, no street lighting and quite often not enough money to pay proper salaries to doctors and medical staff. Added to Tony’s woes are that very few people speak English at all, much less good English. And the ones that he can speak to and explain the nature of his visit to Moldova all think he’s insane.Tony Hawks is a funny guy. After all, he is a comedian, and comedians tend to have to be funny. But in recent years, he’s progressed from being “funny ha-ha” to being possibly a little bit strange. It’s not his fault, I guess. He just can’t resist a challenge. So when he got drunk one night and was bet that he couldn’t hitch hike around Ireland with a fridge in tow, he did, and then promptly wrote a book, the hilarious, if not terribly imaginatively titled “Round Ireland With a Fridge”

Playing the Moldovans at Tennis - Macmillan Playing the Moldovans at Tennis - Macmillan

Despite these trials, Tony's understanding of the country and its problems grow. He develops a strong bond with the family he is lodging with and an unconventional and, at times, downright awkward relationship with Lulian, his translator - a relationship that mirrors the clash of their starkly differing cultures.A good part of the humour of the book is based on the clash of culture between an over-optimistic Englishman and a local population who seem to be a bit reserved and not particularly surprised about Tony's plan. In a country where almost everyone is focused on surviving the next day, that is probably not surprising. (The book was published in 2000, but things have not changed a lot and Moldova is still the poorest country in Europe.)

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Playing the Moldovans at Tennis - Episode BBC Radio 4 Extra - Playing the Moldovans at Tennis - Episode

Of course I am not telling you here if Tony was successful and was really able to beat all players. You have to read it by yourself, and I can assure you, it is a very entertaining book. And since there not many books about Moldova, it is still a must-read for anyone who travels there.

You might also like

If you’ve enjoyed either of Tony Hawks’ other books, this is definitely one to read. Whilst not being “travel” in any real sense of the word, it’s certainly about a journey, and one worth following. If you like people who do silly things, it’s worth a look and if you’ve ever wondered how people in other cultures, particularly in Eastern Europe live their lives, then this is something that’s going to be of great interest. For those looking for barrels of laughs, then other books would be more to your tastes. Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author, famous for his Quizotic travel accounts undertaking bizarre wagers with friends. Hawks performs stand-up comedy, and is a regular on TV and radio panel games in the UK, including I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, Just a Minute, The Unbelievable Truth and Have I Got News for You, although he first came to prominence as one of two resident performers — the other was Jo Brand — on semi-successful BBC monologue show The Brain Drain. pentru contribuția ta din Moldova la faptul că „oamenii cu orice fel de dizabilitate trebuie să fie respectați de către societatea în mijlocul căreia trăiesc și să aibă dreptul la o viață pe cât e posibil normală și satisfăcătoare”. In summary, it's an OK film. This is a shame, because Tony Hawks has funded the film himself from his retirement savings. All proceeds (and these will be low) go to a hospital for mentally handicapped that Tony himself has founded in Moldova.