Tributes paid to comic great who backed city festival
Tributes to comic great and Bath Comedy Festival patron Barry Cryer have come from festival stalwart Ralph Oswick.
Bath Chronicle columnist Ralph said: “As a fellow patron of Bath Comedy Festival, I was very devastated to hear of the passing of comedy stalwart Barry Cryer.
“Others will list his amazing achievements in the world of comedy, not least his astonishingly comprehensive collection of parrot jokes!
“There’s barely a British comic great, from Morecambe and Wise to David Frost and The Two Ronnies to Frankie Howerd that hasn’t benefited from the mighty joke pen of our beloved Baz.
“Along with our other much missed patron Terry Jones, Barry was very supportive of Bath Comedy’s efforts to bring laughter to the streets, halls and hostelries of our fair but often staid city.
“His shows with rock legend Ronnie Golden were always hilarious and his other deadpan appearances had them rolling in the aisles.
“The old Widcombe Social Club was hardly the London Palladium. There was only a broom cupboard to serve as a ‘green room,’ so we offered Barry the use of my office across the road at Natural Theatre’s swish new HQ.
“Being an old trouper, Barry was horrified. ‘What, leave the building before a show?’ he fumed. Eventually he was persuaded, not least by the copious buffet spread out on my desk, along with a decent supply of beer.
“Shortly before the show I looked up the hill and caught sight of one of the most revered men in British comedy relaxing contentedly outside my office door in his sensible jumper, beer in hand, admiring the sunset over Widcombe and partaking of ‘a breath of fresh air’ (or having a quick ciggie as we would say).
“Who knows what parrot jokes were being sorted in his amazing brain for our delectation?
“Barry loved performing in our city, despite his oft repeated joke, ‘They say you only play Bath twice, once on the way up and once on the way down. It’s nice to be back!’”
Cryer “died peacefully, in good spirits and with his family around him” at Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow, north-west London.
During his seven-decade career, he appeared on stage, screen and radio and penned jokes for countless household names.
A statement from his family said: “Dad was a talented comedy writer and comedian in a particularly golden vintage. Incidentally he never really liked the terms ‘comedy writer’ or ‘comedian’ instead preferring hack and entertainer, and always thought the term ‘national treasure’ meant he’d just been dug up.
Broadcaster and author Gyles Brandreth, a close friend of Cryer, was among those paying tribute.
Sharing a photo of them together on Twitter, he said: “Here we are only a few weeks ago. Baz was just the loveliest guy: funny & generous.
“He’d worked with everybody & everybody he worked with liked him. I shall miss his happy company so much - & his regular phone calls: he gave you a gem of a joke with each one.”
He added: “Wherever Barry went he brought laughter with him - even to memorial services. And he went to lots because he’d worked with everyone! He was generous about everyone: a great mentor & friend.”
Cryer was born in Leeds and studied English literature at the University of Leeds.
Barry loved performing in our city, despite his oft repeated joke, ‘They say you only play Bath twice, once on the way up and once on the way down’. Ralph Oswick
He had a long-running partnership with Sir David Frost, with their collaborations including The Frost Report on the BBC.
The Leeds-born performer was also a panellist on BBC Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue for more than four decades.
He wrote for legends of British comedy, including Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, Sir Billy Connolly and Tommy Cooper.
In 2018, he was handed a lifetime achievement award for his comedy career by the British Music Hall Society.
He was made an OBE in 2001 and was also a member of the entertainment charity the Grand Order of Water Rats.