By Nick Elvin
Barry Cryer loves to reminisce about his life and career, but with so many stories to tell from more than 50 years in showbusiness, distilling those memories into one show would seem like a daunting task. However, he does manage it in Still Alive which comes to the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch.
Having written for the likes of Morecambe & Wise, Bruce Forsyth, Tommy Cooper, Kenny Everett, Les Dawson, Billy Connolly and Jasper Carrott, and a well-loved performer himself, the much banded about “distinguished career” is a deserved description of his life’s work.
“There’s a lot of stuff in my head,” says Barry, “so the shows are different every time.”
Barry started as a performer, with appearances in The Good Old Days and the film Expresso Bongo. He then turned his attention to writing, and working with Danny LaRue and later on The Frost Report, before providing a long list of top British comedians with material.
One constant in his career has been his appearances since 1972 in I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue on BBC Radio 4, and in Still Alive Barry is joined by Colin Sell, the pianist from that long-running show.
At the age of 75, Barry is “a third of the way“ through his life and busier than ever. But does he have any predictions for the next two thirds of his time on earth?
“No, I just take one day at a time,“ he says. “I’ve spent years writing, like a tailor making suits. Now my life has come full circle and I’m performing again.“ A regular feature of Still Alive sees Barry distributing paper and pens and encouraging audience members to write something down – anything they like. He then picks a few of these out of a bucket and must then use whatever is written.
“I live dangerously – they write anything,“ he says. “Sometimes they write just one word. Someone once just wrote the word ’farmer’, so I had to tell a farmer joke. But my favourite bit of paper was where someone wrote ’thanks for the free pen’.“ Is this talent for improvisation something he thinks is lacking in younger comedians nowadays?
“No, if anything it’s better,“ he says. “You just have to visit places like the Comedy Store to see that.“ Barry no longer sees himself as a writer and says there is no one in particular he would want to write for, although he names Ross Noble among his stand-out comedians.
Barry was awarded the OBE in 2001. When asked whether he has transformed these letters into an acronym of a self description – just as Brian Clough did with “Old Big ’Ead“ Barry says: “No I haven’t. But I was in a show with Willie Rushton called Two Old Farts in the Night.
“I think that would just about sum it up.“ Still Alive is at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch on Wednesday, May 12. Tickets: 01708 443333, www.queens-theatre.co.uk
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