Superhero COMICS
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
GENIUS: Tommy Cooper
TICKLED: Ken Dodd
KEY MAN: Les Dawson
STORY TIME: Max Bygraves
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
CHEERS: Bob Monkhouse
HAVE A GOOD TITTER: Frankie Howerd