Tommy Cooper

Barry Cryer: 'Tommy Cooper had a sadistic streak'

Tommy Cooper had a 'sadistic streak' which made him relish making people uncomfortable, Barry Cryer has revealed.

Maybe you would expect a programme like this to be on at Christmas, not after it - but the timeless nature of Cooper's act and art makes a fine clip show, whenever it's broadcast. A lugubrious physical comedian, Cooper was never "off" - he died on stage - and resisted efforts made by interviewers to get into his psyche. To that end, this includes his appearance on Parkinson, during which he makes the perspicacious interviewer simply another prop in his act.

Why Tommy Cooper's fez was much more than a prop

Four months after opening its archive about the comedy great without including his famous bonnet, the V&A has added one to its collection.

The V&A Museum's plans for the Tommy Cooper collection

Comprising over 116 boxes of archive material and 24 props and posters, the Tommy Cooper Collection that London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has recently acquired charts the career of the famous magician and comedian known for his trademark fez and endearingly flustered jokes. Museums Journal caught up with Simon Sladen, the senior curator of modern and contemporary performance at the V&A, and asked him about the importance of the collection, and what the museum's plans for it are.

How to do the perfect Tommy Cooper impression

Tommy Cooper's handwritten jokes are to go on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, after it bought the late comic's archive. The exhibition doesn't include his trademark red fez, but does feature a metal cabinet, in which his jokes were filed alphabetically. John Hewer is currently preparing to tour the UK with Just like That: The Tommy Cooper Show. He plays the comedian in the tribute, and has spent years perfecting Cooper's act and mannerisms.

Review: Just Like That! The Tommy Cooper Show

With his deadpan delivery, Cooper was the comedian's ultimate comic and this show clearly demonstrates why, although his gags are as old as the hills, they are still profoundly funny, of the ones included in this show, the jokes that raised the biggest laughs were, "I sold my wife for a car, it was a good swap," and "I asked a librarian if she kept books on pigmies and she said no, we keep them on shelves."

A selection of 12 comedians with blue plaques in London

Here's our guide to the 12 comics with blue plaques in London.

Tommy Cooper to be given blue plaque

Tommy Cooper is to be honoured with a blue plaque at his West London home.