Comments on: When John Claridge Met Tommy Cooper

By: Cherub

Cherub — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 17:25:24 +0000

I remember watching his act on TV that night in 1984 and thinking there was something not right when he collapsed. It was very sad when it was announced he had died.

By: Jill Wilson

Jill Wilson — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 05:42:01 +0000

What fantastic photos and laugh out loud jokes! And lovely to hear John found him a lovely man.

By: William Cahill

William Cahill — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 23:05:06 +0000

Oh guess what? I thought I was replying to the post about Mr. Claridge’s excellent portraits of former boxers. Fierce looking men. Butch and scary. Do look at them.

Meanwhile, I will be comparing montures. So very nice.

By: William Cahill

William Cahill — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 22:52:19 +0000

A very impressive body of work, truly. Wouldn’t want to cross any of these guys, for any reason, ever.

The fan museum is more my speed.

By: Lynne Perrella

Lynne Perrella — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:01:10 +0000

Claridge + Cooper + Jokes = “Thanks, I needed that!”

By: achim

achim — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 11:07:37 +0000

Tragic and hilarious at the same time. Today’s post prompted me to take a look at Tommy Cooper’s career. The videos show his genius. And of course John Claridge captured him wonderfully! I had to pick up his EAST END book again right away. Terrific!

Love & Peace
ACHIM

By: Marcia Howard

Marcia Howard — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 10:10:40 +0000

Such a funny man, and with such daft jokes. We as a family were all watching TV at that time Tommy collapsed on stage. Of course, like many, we thought it was part of his act – until that dreadful moment when we knew it wasn’t. Reading some of his daft lines above immediately made me smile again…. All still so funny!
Looking at his eyes though in some of the pictures above, show a real sadness to them. RIP Tommy.

By: DAVID LAWSON

DAVID LAWSON — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 10:04:23 +0000

What wonderfully evocative photographs.
I’m pleased we had the one liners as well otherwise i’d be tearing up just at the images.

By: Annie S

Annie S — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 09:29:02 +0000

Ah…Tommy Cooper, what a legend.
The captions under the photographs made me laugh!
Super images of a proper character.

By: Angela Almond

Angela Almond — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 07:40:08 +0000

When he died, the BBC interviewed a man from a Bazaar in Morocco who sold hats. He said this polite gentleman was trying on a Fez. “I said, excuse me sir, are you English?” “Yes I am, why do you ask?” “Well sir, every other Englishman who comes here to try on a fez goes ‘just like that!’ but you didn’t”… It was the great man himself. 40 years on, people still say it!