"Dear Mum, I'm crying as I write this letter, so please excuse the tearstains..." wrote 12-year-old Billy after he got his first taste of show business as the only boy in a troupe of Dancing Babes.
Alexei Sayle was one of the founders of what has come to be known as 'alternative comedy'. His roots aren't in the traditional theatre but in the pubs and clubs more associated with the world of rock music.