Tommy Cooper Born: March. 19, 1921 Died: April. 15, 1984


Legendary Comedian. Born in Caerphilly, Wales in 1922, he moved to Exeter in the first few months of his life. He was noted for his trademark fez and magic tricks. One night he was performing his act to a group of soldiers in Cairo. The act involved a routine with a pith helmet and on this particular night he reached up to his head to grab his hat only to find that he had forgotten to wear it. As chance would have it a local waiter was walking past the stage carrying a tray of drinks. He reached out and swiped the hat off of the waiter's head and used that instead. He got a bigger laugh wearing that fez than he ever did for the pith helmet, so it stayed, becoming his instantly recognizable trade mark. By 1957 Tommy Cooper was a well known star. He already had a successful debut at the Hotel Flamingo in Las Vegas and had to turn down a season at the Radio City Music Hall because he was already booked solid for the next two years in England. His first TV series was for Associated- Reinfusion, one of the new independent ITV stations. His show "Life With Cooper" was so successful that even before the end of it's run he was being offered another series. In 1963 he returned to America to record two Ed Sullivan shows. Sullivan, who at the time had one of the most influential shows on American TV, introduced Tommy Cooper for the second show as "The funniest man to ever appear on this stage." His act was popular on both stage and screen, often playing to a packed London Palladium. One of his most famous funny moments was meeting the Queen after a Royal Variety Performance: "Do you think I was funny?" he asked her. "Yes, Tommy." replied The Queen. "You really thought I was funny?" "Yes, of course I thought you were funny." "Did your mother think I was funny?" "Yes, Tommy. We both thought you were funny." "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" "No, but I might not be able to give you a full answer." "Do you like football ?" "Well, not really." " Then can I have your Cup Final tickets?" In April 1984, Tommy Cooper collapsed during a live television broadcast at Her Majesty's Theatre. The people in the audience were still laughing as Tommy, lying on the stage, had the curtain brought down on him and the show cut to a commercial break. They thought that it was part of the act. He died within minutes on the way to hospital.


Classic Cooper. Now Known as Cooperisms. I went to the butchers the other day and bet him £50 he couldn’t reach the meat off the top shelf. He said “No, the steaks are two high.”


I said to the butcher, “This chicken’s got one leg shorter than the other.” He said, “Do you want to eat it or dance with it?” I said, “Forget the chicken, give me a lobster,” and he brought me this lobster. I said, “ just a minute, he's only got one claw.” He said, “Well he's been in a fight.” I said, “Well give me the winner.”


I backed horse last week at ten to one. It came in at quarter past four.


A man goes to the Psychiatrists and the Psychiatrist says: “What's the problem?” The man says, “I think I'm becoming a kleptomaniac.” The Psychiatrist says, “Here take these tablets and if you're no better in a week ..... Bring me a colour TV.”


A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet. “My dog's cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him?” “Well let’s have a look at him,” says the vet. So he picks the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth. Finally, he says, “I'm going to have to put him down.” “What? Because he's cross-eyed?”


“No, because he's really heavy.”


“Doc, I can't stop singing the green green grass of home.” “That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome.” “Is it common?” “It's not unusual.”


I'm on a whiskey diet. I've lost three days already.


A man walked into the doctor's, The doctor said 'I haven't seen you in a long time' The man replied, 'I know I've been ill'.


Police arrested two kids yesterday, one was drinking battery acid, the other was eating fireworks. They charged one and let the other one off.


So I was having dinner with Garry Kasporov and there was a check tablecloth. It took him two hours to pass me the salt. He said "You remind me of a pepper-pot", I said "I'll take that as a condiment".


17.


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