Didn't You Kill My Mother-In-Law?

The Story of Alternative Comedy in Britain from The Comedy Store to Saturday Live

by Roger Wilmut & Peter Rosengard

In May 1979 a tiny club called the Comedy Store opened in London as a showcase for new comedians. The abrasive style of stand-up comedy which emerged there quickly encapsulated the fashion for what was called 'alternative comedy' in reaction to the often crude middle-of-the-road humour of provincial club comics and the generally bland humour of British television. During the 1980s British comedy came to be dominated by a generation of comics who had cut their teeth at the Comedy Store. They included Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Tony Allen and Ben Elton. Their stand-up acts and the TV shows and films they later made were often anarchic and frequently objectionable; but they avoided the sexist and racist comedy of many club and TV comics. Mother-in-law jokes and Irish jokes were definitely out.

Roger Wilmut is the author of The Goon Show Companion, Tony Hancock 'Artiste', From Fringe to Flying Circus, and Kindly Leave the Stage!

Face To Face with John Freeman

with an introduction by Joan Bakewell

This book doesn't actually include the interview with Hancock, as in the earlier Face to Face book here. However, it does mention that the Hancock family (one member in particular - who shall remain nameless), didn't want the transcript / interview republished!

Black boards / Silver inscribed spine

Go here for the Jonathan Cape publication of Face To Face - and to read the Introduction, a few words from John Freeman and the actual interview as it appears in the book - and to see a couple of portraits by Feliks Topolski

Still On My Way To Hollywood - An Autobiography

by Ernie Wise

As one half of the classic comedy partnership which endeared itself to millions, Ernie Wise (celebrated owner of the short fat hairy legs) is perhaps best known as the long-suffering foil to Eric Morecambe.
Less well known is Ernie Wise the gifted child entertainer from Leeds, the 13-year-old overnight West End success whose career represents a fascinating link between two worlds - the pre-war era of variety (peopled with comic landladies and bizarre ‘speciality acts’ left over from the days of music hall) and the post-war light entertainment business which relied on the insatiable medium of television to produce its stars.
At the heart of the book is the lifelong friendship of two inseparable performers. For the first time Ernie reveals the surprising insecurity and vulnerability of Eric, the consummate comedian, and with touching insight describes the complex nature of a man whose compulsion to amuse finally killed him.
Above all, though, Ernie Wise’s story is one of warmth and humour, a star-studded memoir rich in anecdote and reminiscence of a born performer still on his way to Hollywood.

Black boards / Gold inscribed spine

Remembering Peter Sellers

by Graham Stark

'It is refreshing in this day and age of the cobbled show business biography to see justice done to a reputation by someone who was on intimate terms with his subject . . . Graham Stark has speared the real Peter Sellers . . . Highly recommended.' Bryan Forbes, Independent

Red boards / Gold inscribed spine

As well as there being a paperback publication of this book, here, there was also another hardback, published in 1992 by Chivers Press. This is a Large Print edition and the rarest of the three publications. It was also released as an audio book by Right Recordings as: ISBN 0 95354 460 5 in 1999 for £14.99

Writing For Television

by Gerald Kelsey

Successful television scripts can bring substantial rewards but new writers and writers experienced in other media need to appreciate that writing for television is a craft in its own right.
This invaluable guide introduces you to television production methods and the particular requirements of script layout. It comprehensively covers plots, story construction, characterisation, dialogue and comedy. There is also a useful'Do's and Don'ts' section which will help beginners avoid the pitfalls that can lead to rejection.

Gerald Kelsey saw his first script televised three weeks after ITV started in Great Britain. Since then he has contributed scripts to a great many top BBC and ITV drama series and for children's programmes. He has recently received an American award 'In Recognition of Excellence in Television Movie Production in the Category of Best Children's Production'. Other work includes film scripts, stage and radio plays. He is a former Chairman of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain.

A Point of View

An Autobiography

by Barry Took

Barry Took became known to a large and appreciative TV audience for his seven and half years as presenter of the BBC viewers' bouquets-and-brickbats programme Points of View. But, as his colleagues in the large and amorphous world of showbusiness would tell you, he has been around for a long time, not only as Music Hall comedian, revue and cabaret artist, radio and TV performer, but also as a script writer, journalist and historian . . . In his autobiography A Point of View we have, for the first time, a glimpse behind the scenes and an amused and amusing insight into the world of entertainment from the viewpoint of an experienced practitioner.

Brown boards / Gold inscribed spine

Kenneth Williams - A Biography

by Michael Freedland

'He was the most neutral man I ever knew. I was with him constantly for a whole year and in that time I never saw him with anyone, man or woman. I would defy anyone to be able to define Kenneth perfectly. Everyone has a different angle, but I don't think anyone knew him properly. He made an absolute mastery of hiding himself behind the personalities he created.' Lance Percival

'Resourcefully fey and lyrically frivolous... his face-pulling, sidling humour has a family relationship with the hands-on-hip simpering, beloved of pseudo comedians who, when in doubt, "camp it up", but Mr Williams assumes a stage personality which is elegant, faintly macabre and immensely funny, a curious blend of the music hall fairy and the awful child.' The Times

'He was a very earnest, very intelligent gentleman - and very much a gentleman.' Peter Rogers - Carry On producer

Blue boards / Silver inscribed spine

Saucy Boy - The Life Story of Benny Hill

by his brother Leonard Hill

Benny Hill has made more people laugh longer than any entertainer in history,' his elder brother Leonard asserts in this witty, lively biography of the world's most popular comedian. For forty years Benny Hill has been to television comedy what Charlie Chaplin was to the silent movies. Today the Benny Hill Show is broadcast regularly in over 100 countries, including the USSR and China, and may be seen every night in the USA. Yet, though his comic genius is universally recognized, few people know the real Benny Hill. Why is the man behind the clown's makeup such a mystery? And what are the sources of his comic art? To answer these - and many other - questions, Leonard Hill tells for the first time the full, intimate story of Benny's life and career. Fascinating anecdotes reveal the extraordinary character and bizarre lifestyle of the man voted by Variety magazine 'Global TV's Top Banana'. Every aspect of Benny's development is described - from his difficult relationship with his father to his turbulent love-life...

Orange boards / Gold inscribed spine

Terry-Thomas ...Tells Tales - An Autobiography

by Terry-Thomas with Terry Daum

Terry-Thomas will be remembered by millions for his inimitable portrayals of the upper-class English cad in such classic films as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines and How to Murder Your Wife, and with this characteristically witty autobiography - completed shortly before his death - he has left a frank, moving and vivid account of his extravagant and idiosyncratic life.
In these colourful reminiscences he recalls his humble beginnings in Finchley and amateur dramatics, his experiences in variety, radio and television and the films which led to him becoming Hollywood’s favourite Englishman. Starring alongside such legends of the film world as Doris Day, Jayne Mansfield, Jack Lemmon and Gina Lollobrigida, his encounters with the famous and infamous make racy reading (the nights he shared Diana Dors’ bed in Beverly Hills, for example; or the time he and comedienne Edie Adams consumed a gourmet meal under the table at a top Hollywood restaurant!).
But Terry-Thomas can’t just limp off the stage; I’ve still got something to say before I die, insisted Terry. That was when this book was written. He called it his final performance...

Blue boards / Gold inscribed spine

Ken Dodd - Laughter and Tears

by Gus Smith

A biography of the stand-up comedian in the music-hall tradition of fellow Liverpudlians Tommy Handley and Arthur Askey. The epitome of carefree laughter, he has lived a life with more than its share of private pain, from the tragic death of the woman he loved for more than twenty years, to the financial revelations that shocked his fans in 1988. The author reveals the man behind the comic mask and traces the many triumphs of a thirty-year career as Britain's favourite 'salesman of mirth'.

Pictorial laminated boards / No dust jacket

Remembering Peter Sellers

by Graham Stark

'Stark delivers Sellers with his full complement of warts, and doesn't shirk from giving us the truth, whatever light that truth might throw on Sellers. He does it, however, with affection, candour, integrity, understanding and a most admirable respect for the friendship they shared all those years.' Empire

'It is refreshing in this day and age of the cobbled show business biography to see justice done to a reputation by someone who was on intimate terms with his subject . . . Graham Stark has speared the real Peter Sellers . . . Highly recommended.' Bryan Forbes, Independent

Stars In Battledress

by Bill Pertwee

Stars in Battledress, as the army entertainers were known, was a flying squad of artistes that included such famous names as Charlie Chester, Michael Denison, Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe, Janet Brown and Faith Brook. The RAF Gang Shows boasted the talents of Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers (then a brilliant drummer), Dick Emery and David Lodge, while Donald Hewlett, Jon Pertwee, Arthur Lane and Russ Conway were among naval personnel. The post-war Combined Services Entertainment is also looked at, among whose ranks could be found Frankie Howerd, Jimmy Perry, Ian Carmichael, Kenneth Williams and Stanley Baxter . . . STARS IN BATTLEDRESS is a memorable account of the early days of some of Britain's best-loved and most well-known entertainers, brought together by circumstance and a common desire to 'do their bit' for Britain.

Black boards / Gold inscribed spine

Don't Laugh At Me

An Autobiography

by Norman Wisdom with William Hall

All the laughter and tears of Norman Wisdom's own story are contained in this, his long-awaited autobiography. A rags to riches saga of the man Charlie Chaplin said would take his mantle and who went on to make millions laugh around the world for nearly five decades, this is the truth about the little man in the tight-fitted suit and cloth cap who could make people laugh and cry at will. Here are the hardships, tragedies and triumphs that gave him his inspiration.

William Hall, who assisted Norman Wisdom with his autobiography, was film editor of the London Evening News for 21 years. Currently President of the Critics' Circle and film critic for Prima Magazine, his other published works include Raising Caine, the authorised biography of Michael Caine.

Black boards / Silver inscribed spine

A Divided Life - Memoirs

by Bryan Forbes

It would be a mistake to describe this mordant, though often wildly funny, odyssey as just another show business autobiography, for, as might be expected, Bryan Forbes tells his story with the directness and honesty that have characterised his divided life as an actor, author and film maker of distinction.

Marshalling his recollections with humour and compassion, he writes incisively of his enduring friendships with Dame Edith Evans, Graham Greene, Peter Sellers, Katharine Hepburn, Elton John, Bette Davis, Terence Rattigan and Eind Bagnold, to name but a few of the famous who punctuate his personal narrative.

Whether he is writing with affectionate warmth of his wife and family or describing the many hilarious exploits that have bestrewn his long career, the author employs an unerring photographic eye for intimate detail.

Grey boards / Silver inscribed spine

The Real Benny Hill

by Margaret Forwood

Benny Hill was one of the most famous comedians in the world. At the height of his career, he had an audience which, thanks to overseas sales of his shows to America, Japan and Russia, could literally be counted in billions. Yet it is doubtful if more than a handful of people actually knew him well. Worth millions, he was the most self-sufficient man imaginable. He never married, lived alone, fended for himself. Few managed to get across his doorstep . . . Benny did not enjoy publicity, but one of the few people to penetrate the barriers was journalist Margaret Forwood. From the moment they met, they hit it off. It was to her he first publicly admitted the existence of the two wheelchair-bound women he described as his closest friends.

In this candid and affectionate biography, Margaret Forwood traces Benny Hill's extraordinary life, and tells the inside story of the final years of this much-loved star.

Blue boards / Gold inscribed spine