The Art of Tommy Cooper torrent

Broadcast on BBC Four, 7:00PM Sat, 18 Jun 2011

First broadcast BBC Two, 7:30PM Mon, 25 Aug 2008


Tommy Cooper was a national comedy institution whose catchphrase still remains in the language today. This bumbling giant with outsized feet and hands, whose mere entrance on stage had audiences erupting with uncontrollable laughter, was born in Caerphilly in 1921.

This programme looks at the life and art of the man in the fez whose clumsy, fumbling stage magic tricks hid a real talent as a magician. His private life was complicated and often difficult, but as far as his audiences were concerned he was first and foremost a clown whose confusion with the mechanisms of everyday life made for hilarious viewing.

Contributors include Tom O\'Connor and Barry Cryer.