On The Likes Of Sykes

With Eric Sykes

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Tommy Cooper was a true original - the trademark Fez, that distinctive laugh, the clumsy, bewildered delivery, and, of course, the catchphrases make him one of the most instantly recognisable of all comedy icons. He didn't have to say anything to make his audience laugh, his appearance alone was enough.

Like many others, Cooper's first foray into showbusiness was with the forces. After serving as an apprentice shipmaker he joined Horse Guards, from where he became part of the entertainments unit.

It was while entertaining the troops, at a Naafi show in Egypt, that the fez became part of his look. Legend has it that he simply lost the pith helmet he had intended to wear, and grabbed the waiter's hat instead.

The tale of how he adopted his maladroit stage act is equally apocryphal . He supposedly botched an audition as a serious magician so badly that everyone thought it was deliberately hilarious.

If the persona came about by accident, Cooper was meticulous in honing it for every last laugh. A notoriously demanding perfectionist, he would be the bane of those working alongside him.

He was a hard worker, too. On demob in 1947 he joined London's Windmill Theatre - the devilishly hard venue where so many comics learned their craft, performing to uninterested punters between the strip shows. Cooper reputedly performed up to 52 shows a week there.

Tours, TV and a role in Eric Syke's film The Plank followed as, throughout the Sixties and Seventies, he cemented his place in the public's affections. In 1969 he was voted ITV's Personality of the Year.

His appetite for work was so voracious that few were surprised that his death came on stage, doing what he loved. And such was his reputation as a relentless joker that when he collapsed during that televised show, most of the audience thought it was just another of his gags.

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I'm 15 years old, and doing a talk on the legend that is Tommy Cooper for English. My mates don't have a clue who he is. Bit of shame really, they're missing out on some serious laughs

Soph, May 2005

We have just watched the best of Tommy Cooper on DVD and we all could not stop laughing this was truly funny and gentle man. God bless you Tommy, keep them laughing whereever you are

Peter Cooney, March 2005

I'm 20 years old, and I find it a crying shame that many people my age haven't actually seen any of Tommy Cooper's work. This is one situation where I would welcome some repeats on TV - let's allow the latest generation revel in that Tommy Cooper magic.

Siobhan, December 2004

Not many people can walk on stage and have you in fits of laughter without actually saying or doing anything. One man who could, was Tommy Cooper.

Bill Taylor, September 2004

Whenever the name Tommy Cooper crops up in conversation, everyone of a certain generation you speak too has a Tommy Cooper memory. Mine is watching Tommy starring at the Palladium a few years before his death. The compare didn't announce him when it was his turn. He just walked out from behind the curtain and stood there holding a scrawney plucked chicken by the neck in one hand and an egg 20 times bigger than the chicken in the other. He stood there for 5 minutes without saying a word, just looking at the egg, the audience and the chicken. As you can imagine, the audience was hysterical as well as everyone watching on television. The punchline was "If it lays another one like that, it will kill him ". Who else would have got away with that? nobody, that's what made Tommy totally unique, an original, a one off. Thanks for the memory Tommy, I and millions of others will never forget you.

David Harrington, February 2004

He was, in my eyes, the best comedian that ever walked on this earth.

Steve Vanbesien, October 2003

No child will ever watch Tommy Cooper without laughing and I was no exception, a talented magician and comic and thoroughly likeable stage presence. One of the comics whose reputation will simply be enhanced by time.

Dom Kingsmill, August 2003

One minute he was the corniest comedian ever and then the next he was doing something totally original. A natural funnyman.

Rayray, August 2003

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