Superhero COMICS
MARION McMULLEN looks back at some of our best-loved funnymen ahead of what would have been Tommy Cooper’s 100th birthday
MAGIC tricks that went gloriously wrong, props galore and an infectious laugh helped to make Tommy Cooper a comedy star... just like that.
The fez-wearing comedian was born in Caerphilly in Wales 100 years ago on March 19, 1921, and later moved with his family to Exeter and Southampton.
At 6ft 4in tall, he was a towering stage presence who made use of his gangly frame, but prior to finding fame he served with the Horse Guards.
The star is said to have acquired his trademark hat at a NAAFI concert in Cairo during the Second World War. He could not find his own army issue pith helmet so he borrowed the fez from a passing waiter. It looked so comic that the headgear immediately became part of the act.
Tommy was an accomplished magician and a member of the Magic Circle, but quickly realised he could get more laughs if his tricks went wrong.
He kept a gag file of all his handwritten jokes that included such gems as “This officer stopped me and said ‘Why are you driving with a bucket of water on the passenger’s seat?’ I said ‘So that I can dip my headlights’ and I asked the waiter ‘How long will my spaghetti be?’ He said ‘I don’t know. We never measure it.’”
Tommy became one of Britain’s highest-paid and best-loved entertainers, part of a golden age of British comedy that also saw the rise of Sir Ken Dodd.
Knotty Ash’s most famous son was extremely knowledgeable about the art of comedy and had thousands of books on the subject.
He became famous for his tickling stick, the Diddy Men and his marathon live shows. He earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for telling 1,500 jokes over three and a half hours at one Liverpool Theatre with the audience attending in shifts. At another show he was still going strong as midnight approached and he told the audience: “You think you can get away, but you can’t. I’ll follow you home and I’ll shout jokes through your letterbox.”
Bob Monkhouse kept books filled with jokes during his career and offered a £10,000 reward when they were stolen in 1995. They were later recovered.
The comedian and game show host once joked: “When I first said that I wanted to be a comedian, everybody laughed. They’re not laughing now.”
Comedy favourite Les Dawson, who presented quiz show Blankety Blank from 1984 to 1990, was also a writer and an accomplished pianist, but could murder a tune on the keyboard to get a laugh.
Les was also the undisputed master of the mother-in-law joke, with such classics as: “The wife’s mother said ‘When you’re dead, I’ll dance on your grave.’ I said: ‘Good. I’m being buried at sea.’”
Double entendres and innuendos served up with a large helping of sauce made Frankie Howerd one of the top names of his era. He originally applied to drama school Rada to train as a serious actor, but switched to comedy when he was turned down.
Radio, TV and film success followed, while his catchphrases like “Titter ye not,” “Shut your face” and “No missus” remain popular to this day.
TV sitcom Up Pompeii saw Frankie playing Roman slave Lurcio and it was followed by a film version in 1971. Lurcio said of the seer Cassandra: “Oh, she’s very embittered, you know. Very embittered. You’ve seen the ring she had on? Well, allegedly, that was given to her by her fiancé when she was 18, and he jilted her, and she hasn’t had it off since.”
Londoner Max Bygraves would say to his audiences “I wanna tell you a story”.
Max was one of nine children and realised he could make money from his talent for music when he won a school talent competition at the age of 13.
He was also an altar boy and made his first public appearance singing Handel’s Largo in Westminster Cathedral. As a teenager he made 10 shillings (50p) a night singing in a pub.
He volunteered for the RAF during the Second World War. He launched his professional showbusiness career in 1946 and topped the bill at the Royal Variety Performance 17 times.
He would joke: “A man was laying in bed at three in the morning and suddenly the phone rang. He picked up and said ‘Hello. You have the wrong number, try the Admiral’. His wife said ‘Who was it?’ He said: ‘Just some fool asking if the coast was clear.’”
Of course, it is only fitting that birthday boy Tommy Cooper has the last laugh: “Two cannibals were eating a clown.
“One said to the other ‘Does he taste funny to you?’”
When I first said that I wanted to be a comedian, everybody laughed... They’re not laughing now.
Bob Monkhouse’s self-deprecating jokes were a signature of his act
Flash Back
Chops and Noddy’s favourite programme? Why Planet Of The Apes, of course. The TV series followed the