Comedians were my saving grace in my teens as the world seemed much bigger than I thought I could deal with !!!
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
When I was a kid I had a bunch of favourites on the radio and TV who were comedians that had worked their apprenticeships in music halls, working man’s clubs, various Christmas pantomimes, and endless touring of summer specials up and down the coasts of the UK.
My parents more or less took me to theatres from an early age – I remember seeing Whitehall farces with comedians like Leo Franklyn from the age of maybe 8 tears old when we made visits down to see my mother’s family in Essex, and it would be a regular treat that we would visit saturday matinees at the Lyceum and King’s theatre in Edinburgh to watch touring groups like the Fol-de-Rols with comedians like Leslie Crowther (above) – who did one of the funniest sketches I ever say on stage. What a tragedy he never as fas as I know did anything funny on TV, like many comedians today in Italy and the UK, selling himself out to quiz shows and stupid panel games.
In Scotland there were home based comedians like Rikki Fulton & Jack Milroy(above), Jimmy Logan(below), Jack Radcliffe, Andy Stuart and Stanley Baxter.
In those days it was rare for any scottish comedians to make it south of the border as Scottish accents ( like local accents in England) were a taboo for anyone on BBC TV and radio.
Stanley Baxter managed to become an English star too but the others hardly made any impact.outside of their Scottish successes.It was only later when media acceptance of local accents became the norm that modern-day comedians such as Billy Connelly could become household names, and that due to the boom in TV transmissions and channels, VHS videos and eventually DVD and Blue Rays…
But the radio comedians I remember that made me laugh were the Goons, (Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe), Kenneth Horn with star-comedians like Kenneth Williams, then Jimmy Clitheroe (“whea’s me shirt? I can’t find me shirtanywhea?“). Often live with an audience and before canned laughter these shows brought light to lonely sundays…
Then the TV brigade of comedians I loved to follow would include Morecambe and Wise(above), Tony Hancock, Mike and Bernie Winters, Harry Worth, Michael Bentine, Tommy Cooper(below) the latter dying. on a live TV show,
Charlie Drake, Benny Hill ( the early period) and the occasional American comedians: shows like Lucille Ball, Dick van Dyke, the Munsters….
Sunday afternoons in Edinburgh in the 50s and 60s were dire – Scottish Presbyterianism thanks to its founder John Knox still had its evil roots and rules – no singing or dancing on sundays !!! – so what was left for me were sunday afternoon movies – there I met the movie comedians – the Marx brothers, Danny Kaye, Gene Kelley, Donald O ‘Connor, Fred Astaire, Jerry Lewis and Abbot and Costello.
But the guy who tickled my fancy the most and who always made me laugh was the unique English comedians/strong> MAX WALL.
Max was a comic whose heart was first in his actions, a naturally funny man who had learnt his trade in those days before the 2nd world-war, and later in the 50s and 60s was one of the regular comedians on all the important stages and TV shows round Britain.
But what a tragedy when Max told a joke on BBC radio which by today’s standards would be regarded as tame( “A beautiful girl was walking across a very narrow bridge. I didn’t know if I should block her passage or toss myself off”):
Max was banned from the BBC for 5 years. I personally believe there was more to this than just the joke – I believe he was railroaded out of work for some other more sinister reason. A comedians’ conspiracy no less.
I saw Max perform his almost two hour show at the Strand Theatre in 1974 and had the thrill of being on the same bill as my favourite of all comedians in my first cabaret at the Deptford Albany in the same year. What joys the radio and those comedians gave me!