Laurel and Hardy were once
described as one stupid man and another stupid man who thought he was clever, which
is exactly the dynamic on show when you watch the antics of Paul and Barry; The
Chuckle Brothers. In fact, while I’m on the subject I would go so far as to say
that The Chuckle Brothers are the nearest thing the world of comedy has ever
produced that comes anywhere close to Stan and Ollie. Watch any old Laurel and
Hardy film followed by an episode of Chucklevision
and you’ll see what I mean.
As someone who only previously
knew of the BBC series Chucklevision,
the first surprise is right there in the title of this autobiography – Fifty Years of TO ME…TO YOU. Half a century of jokes from
Paul and Barry all squeezed into one book. The book is written by Paul (the
taller one) and follows the lives of the brothers born into something of a
showbiz family, dad Gene Patton was a comedian once banned by the BBC for using
the filthily obscene line “as smooth as a baby’s bottom”, with disgusting
language like that it’s a wonder that his sons managed to carve out a
successful career as a much loved staple of children’s television.
For fans of comedy history
this provides a fascinating glimpse into an almost forgotten world. The slog of
the working men’s’ clubs, summer seasons and pantomimes is all here along with
the questionable boarding houses and long drives through the night to get home.
The early taste of fame came via Opportunity Knocks,
but opportunity didn’t knock again until Chucklehounds,
a long forgotten predecessor to the classic Chucklevision. The
television show that made them famous only gets one chapter, which seems odd at
first but makes up a surprisingly small part of their story.
Although a fine comedian, Paul
Elliott isn’t a great writer overall, the book is clumsy in places with too
many attempts at a comic aside. Having said that he writes with a passion for
the subject of family entertainment and this is a warm and enthusiastic look at
the life of a much loved comedy act.
Fifty Years of TO ME…TO YOU is
available from World’s Fair
Listen to The Sunday
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