an early success was a novelty song which went to number one. ..in finland. # it looks like a purple people eater to me.# there was a comedy panel show on itv. good evening, ladies and gentlemen, welcome tojokers wild, a game in which some of the country s top comedians match wits to see who, if anybody, knows all the jokes. and hello cheeky on tv and radio. he wrote for almost every leading comic, from frankie howerd to spike milligan, dick emery to kenny everett, the two ronnies to mike yarwood. when morecambe and wise switched from the bbc to itv, he and john junkin wrote their scripts. we ve been so looking forward to working with you! come this way. it s just the same here - as what they are at the bbc. denis norden always says there s a sitter and a pacer, there s someone typing and someone walking about. and i would sit there scribbling or typing,
the two ronnies to mike yarwood. when morecambe and wise switched from the bbc to itv, he and john junkin wrote their scripts. we ve been so looking forward to working with you! come this way. it s just the same here - as what they are at the bbc. denis norden always says there s a sitter and a pacer, there s someone typing and someone walking about. and i would sit there scribbling or typing, and john would walk around, waggling his glasses. what a lovely audience! where are they? oh, there they are. yes never mind, they ll do. i saw them arriving on the coaches. did you really? yeah, with their blankets over their heads. - # my short term memory s shot to pieces # and i ll tell you something else # my short term memory s shot to pieces.# he was still performing well into his 80s. a man whose trade was quite simply making people laugh. # ha ha ha.# applause
down in london, he wrote gags for the drag artist, danny la rue, as well as performing himself. an early success was a novelty song which went to number one. ..in finland. # it looks like a purple people eater to me.# there was a comedy panel show on itv. good evening, ladies and gentlemen, welcome tojokers wild, a game in which some of the country s top comedians match wits to see who, if anybody, knows all the jokes. and hello cheeky on tv and radio. he wrote for almost every leading comic, from frankie howerd to spike milligan, dick emery to kenny everett, the two ronnies to mike yarwood. when morecambe and wise switched from the bbc to itv, he and john junkin wrote their scripts. we ve been so looking forward to working with you! come this way.
# i know a fat old policeman # he s always on our street.# barry cryer, a mainstay of radio s i m sorry i haven t a clue, but that was only the beginning. what a lovely audience! morecambe and wise. never mind, they ll do. kenny everett, les dawson, frankie howard, the two ronnies he wrote for them all, and on radio 4, a 50 year comedy partnership with graeme garden. he was very convivial, very funny, loved telling jokes. and he loved to laugh, and he loved the sound of laughter. born in leeds, he d started out in stand up at the city varieties, but he was primarily a writer, working with everyone from danny la rue, jack benny and bob hope to the satire of rory bremner. i was very lucky when i started the bbc in 87, they said oh, barry cryer is going to write for you. that s incredible, because he d written, as you said, morcambe and wise and two ronnies, but he wrote satirical sketches for us as well. he just had such a variety and a versatility. in the 60s, the comedy writer oc