Comedy Chronicles Page 7
The tales of Hoffnung: The unscripted genius of Gerard Hoffnung
Sunday 3rd October 2021
Graham McCann examines the legacy of forgotten comic genius Gerard Hoffnung.
Tony don't fall backwards: Hancock at the Royal Festival Hall
Sunday 19th September 2021
Tony Hancock was one of the most successful comedians of his generation, but a combination of personal problems and increasingly erratic professional decisions turned his 1966 'comeback' at the Royal Festival Hall into an unfortunate night to forget...
Just very naughty boys: Dave Allen, Peter Cook & Dudley Moore Down Under
Sunday 5th September 2021
Censorship can seem to be ever-growing in modern times: new "woke" sensibilities clashing with long-established political correctness, and both in turn with classical liberalism - but it is nothing new, as Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Dave Allen found out 50 years ago this month on Australian television.
I can't talk now, 'cos he's here: The true story of Peter Cook's Where Do I Sit?
Sunday 22nd August 2021
In an age that sees television celebrated when chaotic and rough-around-the-edges, we look back to 1971 and Peter Cook's chat show, Where Do I Sit? - deemed such a disaster it was cancelled after just three episodes.
It Just Is Cricket: British comedy's sport of choice
Sunday 8th August 2021
The cross-over between sport and comedy is more often than not one destined to failure; but one game more than any other seems to lend itself very well. Dust down your whites and dive into the realm where cricket and comedy mix.
Lost Balls: When British comedy went golf mad
Sunday 25th July 2021
Graham McCann says: "There used to be few things more frightening for television viewers than the sight of a comedian in a Pringle sweater. It meant that he was almost certainly about to talk about golf..."
Très Chic: The unique comic genius of Chic Murray
Sunday 11th July 2021
A profile of "the funniest man on Earth", Scottish comedian Chic Murray. Graham McCann says "That he isn't better known these days is nothing short of shameful."
Stranger Things: When sitcoms strain to be different
Sunday 27th June 2021
Difference is good. Experimentation is to be lauded. But in a handful of cases, television sitcoms have made difference itself their raison d'être, rather than a factor in their storytelling.
That's Me In The Corner: Four Comedy Stooges
Sunday 13th June 2021
You don't really see them these days: those odd, idiosyncratic, seldom-speaking comic characters whose entire raison d'être is to be the recurring butt of a well-known comedian's jokes. Go back forty years or more, however, and they were a common sight. Graham McCann looks at the careers of Jackie Wright, Johnny Vyvyan, Arthur Tolcher and Johnny Hutch.
The life and times of Frankie Howerd's toupée
Sunday 30th May 2021
What a strange job it was, being Frankie Howerd's wig. It had to rest there on top of his head, doing its best to seem subtle and discreet, whilst its owner regularly blew its cover by scratching it, flipping it and skewing it...