
Graham McCann
- English
- Author
Graham McCann features
Comedy Chronicles: A road less travelled - John Le Mesurier and The Culcheth Job
Sunday 23rd March 2025
A deep dive into The Culcheth Job, an obscure, light-hearted heist movie short from the mid-1970s that John Le Mesurier ended up getting involved in after splitting from his snobby agent, Freddy Joachim.
Comedy Chronicles: Let's do the show right here? The pros and cons of improv
Sunday 9th March 2025
Graham McCann takes on the topic of improv comedy. He notes that it is considered an almost magical kind of creative activity to some, while - to others - it is little more than a series of stabs in the dark being played out under a full set of lights.
Comedy Chronicles: The Great Tiddlywinks Caper - Goons, Royals and Cambridge games
Sunday 23rd February 2025
The story of the time The Royal Family asked The Goons to represent them in a game of tiddlywinks against the University of Cambridge.
Comedy Chronicles: There's something about Hetty - The cross-dressing comedy of Hetty King
Sunday 9th February 2025
A profile of Hetty King, a masterful cross-dresser who was once known and celebrated internationally as 'England's greatest star'.
Comedy Chronicles: The Quiet One - The understated art of Hugh Paddick
Sunday 26th January 2025
Graham McCann argues that the quiet and classy delicacy of Hugh Paddick's comedy performances should have won him far greater praise than he received, both in his lifetime and after it.
Comedy Chronicles: Mr Hobbs takes a vacation - When it all backfired for Jack Hobbs
Sunday 12th January 2025
Poor Jack Hobbs. The hilarious but embarrassing tale of what happened to the publisher of comedians' books on a train to Walton-on-Thames has been immortalised thanks to many retellings by his friend Spike Milligan.
Comedy Chronicles: Who you gonna call? When Ernie Wise launched the mobile phone
Sunday 29th December 2024
An article looking at comedians helping to launch new technology, particularly sitcom star Reg Varney making the initial withdrawal from the world's first voucher-based cash-dispensing machine and Ernie Wise making the first mobile phone call.
Comedy Chronicles: Random acts of kindness #2 - More comedians being nice to each other
Sunday 22nd December 2024
A series of anecdotes about comedians being genuinely kind and nice to each other. Those featured include Ray Alan, Roy Hudd and Arthur Askey.
Comedy Chronicles: The incomparable charm of Kenneth Horne
Sunday 1st December 2024
A profile of one of comedy's great facilitators. For many years, Kenneth Horne was at the centre - the heart - of some of the funniest and best-loved shows of his era.
Comedy Chronicles: Do I have to spell it out? Neil Innes own right
Sunday 17th November 2024
A profile of Neil Innes, the comedy writer and musician who so many times managed to dip our hearts, as well as our brains, in joy.
Comedy Chronicles: Up and away - The big fall of Duggie Small
Sunday 3rd November 2024
The sobering, warning story of comedian Duggie Small. He won TV talent show New Faces in 1986 but things did not go smoothly for him.
Comedy Chronicles: Stage fight - When comics fall out in plain sight
Sunday 20th October 2024
A look at squabbles between stars that took place in the full glare of the spotlight. When Bill Maynard was paired with Derek Nimmo it turned out to be a particularly notable recipe for resentment, rage and revenge.
Comedy Chronicles: A Hackney diamond - The much-misunderstood Ray Martine
Sunday 6th October 2024
A record-straightening reappraisal of comedian Ray Martine, usually either forgotten or lazily maligned, his career heights and boundary-pushing bite are long overlooked.
Comedy Chronicles: You'll all be doing it tomorrow - The strange ways of Roy Jay
Sunday 22nd September 2024
'Slither!'. 'Spook!'. Graham McCann recounts the slow rise and rapid fall of Roy Jay, the comic with a strange zig-zaggy walk. Graham McCann recounts the slow rise and rapid fall of Roy Jay, the comic with a strange zig-zaggy walk.
Comedy Chronicles: Tell me darling - am I going too far?: The protean powers of Betty Marsden
Sunday 8th September 2024
The overlooked and untold subject in this article is the chameleonesque comedian and actor Betty Marsden, best remembered for roles in Round The Horne and Carry On Camping.
Comedy Chronicles: Hark at the other Barker - The many achievements of Eric Barker
Sunday 25th August 2024
A profile of Eric Barker. He is best-remembered these days for his roles in countless British film comedies from the middle of the 20th-century, including several of the Carry Ons. That, however, is merely the tip of the iceberg.
Comedy Chronicles: 'A very small pebble in a very large pool' - When Peter Sellers broke up with the BBC
Sunday 11th August 2024
Graham McCann recounts the bitter feud between Peter Sellers and BBC executive Tom Sloan.
Comedy Chronicles - A dubious double act: Benny Hill and Dennis Kirkland
Sunday 28th July 2024
Benny Hill is noted as one of British television's great comic minds, but, entwined with producer Dennis Kirkland his fall from grace at the end of the 1980s is more complex than is often described.
Comedy Chronicles: The increasingly big balls of Martin Lewis
Sunday 14th July 2024
There has never been anyone quite like show business operator Martin Lewis. This profile particularly focuses on his work helping to create and grow Amnesty International's Secret Policeman's Ball comedy fundraising shows.
Comedy Chronicles: Up the polls! - Election campaigns and comedy
Sunday 30th June 2024
Comedy and politics regularly mix, but there has long been a significant hesitation amongst television broadcasters to poke fun during election campaign periods.