His "Bricklayer's Story", aka "The barrel", which he told to students
of Oxford University in 1958 was recently tested on MythBusters (2003)
He masterminded a series of concerts of hilarious musical parodies at
London's Royal Festival Hall. Famous composers including Malcolm Arnold,
Aaron Copland, and William Walton were commissioned to write
humourous works, sometimes involving unique musical instruments, such as
a garden hose and vacuum cleaners.
His Jewish family fled Germany during the 1930s, and his mother and he
eventually settled in London in 1939. He became an artist, cartoonist,
caricaturist, teacher, tuba player, and a much sought-after speaker. He
became a Quaker in 1955.