- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: JR Books Ltd (25 Oct 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 190621767X
- ISBN-13: 978-1906217679
- Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 18.8 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 70,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"* 'Contains gems of Dawsonian surrealism' The Spectator * 'How infinitely clever, pithy, imaginative and genuinely surreal were the works of Les Dawson...funny and touching selection' Mail on Sunday 'Probably one of the funniest books of the year, it's a brilliant tribute to a comedy legend' Sunday Sport"
Product Description
The voice of the great Les Dawson, it has to be. Dawson, the comedian’s comedian, a man with a massive following in his lifetime and now a real cult hero. Who can forget the out-of tune piano playing, the mother in- law jokes, the fast-fire gags and routines that shot from his mouth with apparent ease? Here now, selected and introduced by his widow Tracy, is a treasure-trove of unseen and unpublished Les Dawson material, culled from his notebooks and diaries. Clearly, for Les it was never easy or effortless, and just how hard he worked on, and honed, his material is clear from the boxes of hand-written gags and routines he left behind, each page funnier and more outrageous than the next. Heading after heading, is followed by pages of one-liners: I wouldn’t Say she was a Fast Eater But . . . I wouldn’t Say he was Mean, But . ..I Wouldn’t Say She Was Thin. But . . . And there are the Blankety Blank routines (‘Some quiz shows.come, some quiz shows go . . . thisone is still waiting for a lift.’) as wellas the inventive letters, the radio and.television routines, the silly drawings,and crazy, off-the-wall stories. On top, of all this, there are Les’s often,poignant diaries, including early days when he was a Hoover salesman. A rich and fabulous feast indeed, and one that will be devoured by Les Dawson’s countless fans. Born in Collyhurst, Manchester in 1934, Les Dawson was one of Britain’s finest and best-loved comedians. He toured the clubs and pubs for many years, before he was ‘discovered’ on Hughie Green’s TV show, Opportunity Knocks in 1967, becoming a household name. Les was also a prolific writer with thirteen books to his credit. He married Tracy in 1989, and their daughter Charlotte was born three years later. Les died suddenly of a heart attack at their home in Lytham St Annes in 1993.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book is a real treasure trove, containing priceless material from the great comic's secret archives. There are absolutely hilarious one-liners, monologues, surrealist letters, scripts and pictures. It has real laugh aloud material showing Dawson's comic genius.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I heard that Les once wanted to be a poet, but was too embarrassed, having literary ambition coming from a working class background, to parade his poetry...
If this is true, it is in many ways, unfortunate, as his love of words and phrases is so evident, I'm sure he would have been a wonderful poet, but if he had been a poet, maybe we'd never have heard the out of tune piano...
This book demonstrates that Poetry's loss was comedies gain... Les worked at his act and these notebooks show how much... His one-liners and monologues show a wonderful diction and a glorious sense of the absurd...
His world-weary persona is so well known that you can't help hearing Les's voice as you read these words...
Ben Elton would love to have a vocabulary as broad and as wonderful as this, and he would also wish to be half as funny as this as well...
Les you are missed, but books like these always ensure that you can be experienced over again...
If this is true, it is in many ways, unfortunate, as his love of words and phrases is so evident, I'm sure he would have been a wonderful poet, but if he had been a poet, maybe we'd never have heard the out of tune piano...
This book demonstrates that Poetry's loss was comedies gain... Les worked at his act and these notebooks show how much... His one-liners and monologues show a wonderful diction and a glorious sense of the absurd...
His world-weary persona is so well known that you can't help hearing Les's voice as you read these words...
Ben Elton would love to have a vocabulary as broad and as wonderful as this, and he would also wish to be half as funny as this as well...
Les you are missed, but books like these always ensure that you can be experienced over again...
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is a treasure trove for any Les Dawson fan. You can hear Les's voice in your mind as you read the gags.There are copies of his notes as he worked on a new routine mistakes and all!Mother in law gags Abound. I have been banned from reading this book in bed as my laughing keeps my wife awake. Buy it and enjoy and thank you to Les's wife for compiling these memories of one of the best comedians there was.
Listmania!
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