Hello there - got me a new history of northern comedy out called On Behalf of the Committee which, er, tells the story of northern comedy, from Victorian music hall to tinternet, George Formsby senior to Peter Kay.

It' a 656-page monster of a thing - took nearly five years to write and research - and can be found here:

See Amazon product listing

...amongst many other places (such as actual bookshops).

The book also asks the question - is there really any such thing as northern comedy and, if so, how does it differ from southern comedy? There's a thread in itself there!

Pip pip
TH

Looks interesting! Congrats on it, must have been a helllllll of a lot of research there! I may even get a copy and read it at some point.

Is definitely something I will get if it is in shops. I have a phobia of internet shopping. I hope it mentions Ken Goodwin, the funniest and possible most forgetten northern comedian ever. By rights there should be a whole section devoted to him.

Yes Ronnie, Ken Goodwin does indeed get a page or so - I used to love him on the Comedians too. Brought a bit (!) of humility to the show, in and among all that testosterone!