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RoyHolidayMagic New user New York 85 Posts |
I'm a big fan of British comedy, particularly Mr. Bean and Monty Python.
Anyway, I am also a fan of Silly Billy's work. He fares VERY well here in the states. In fact, he does so well that it got to the point where he was TURNING DOWN too many bookings. He hires other people to do his show dressed as Silly Billy. He is very successful here, and is consistently regarded as NY's #1 children's entertainer. I hold him in great respect, as do most other NY entertainers. What happened in Blackpool was an abnormal problem. Yes, his style is a little aggressive...but they like it. |
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kenscott Inner circle 1869 Posts |
Well, that is not all true. They are not dressed as Silly Billy - there is ony one Silly Billy. He does hire out other people that work for him, but they go out as different clowns.
Ken |
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Jimeuax Regular user 199 Posts |
Also--
"Are you being Served?" "Again" "Good Neighbors" "Keeping up appearances" "Coupling" "Men Behaving Badly" "Johnathon Creek" "To the Manor Born" "BlackAdder" The list goes on and on - BUT - I have never heard of Tommy Cooper except on this board. Maybe Silly Billy just started to tank in Blackpool - got nervous - and just kept digging himself in deeper trying to bail out. I have certainly done that before. Cheers! ---Jimeuax |
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Emazdad Inner circle Plymouth UK 1954 Posts |
Tommy Cooper was a legend. He was a comedian and magician, but although he was an accomplished magician and member of the magic circle, his act consisted of him bungling about the stage telling corny jokes (some of which you'll find here http://www.weirdity.com/oneliners/cooper1.shtml) and doing magic tricks, none of which ever worked.
He died on stage of a heart attack in the middle of a performance. There's lots more Tommy Cooper stuff on the web if anyones interested.
Yours Funfully
Clive "Emazdad" Hemsley www.emazdad.com "Magic is a secret, without the secret there is no magic" Remember there are only 3 types of people in the world, those that can count and those that can't. |
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RoyHolidayMagic New user New York 85 Posts |
I thought I read somewhere that at one point he had Silly Billy-like characters going around doing his show...heh...guess I was wrong. I know now he does the clown agent thing...
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p.b.jones Inner circle Milford Haven. Pembrokeshire wales U.K. 2642 Posts |
In fact, he does so well that it got to the point where he was TURNING DOWN too many bookings. He hires other people to do his show dressed as Silly Billy
Hi, I know that we have established that he does not do this. However am I the only one to think that this is not a good thing anyway? Not from a moral veiwpoint, but from a marketing one. See, if I was a booker I would think, "well if he can send someone else in his place (as him) then he cannot be that much better than the others, so why is he charging so much (assuming that he is expensive)." The client is paying for the exclusiveness, or that's what we all try to claim. If that is the case, how can you in good will send someone else??? Phillip |
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Brian Lehr Inner circle Edmonton, Canada 1605 Posts |
Quote:
On 2003-09-13 03:16, Emazdad wrote: Ahh, now I remember him. In fact, I have a video of one of his shows. I didn't recognize the name until I went to the website and read some "Cooperisms." Then I remembered where I heard some of those lines before. On the video I have, he was attempting to perform the world famous Indian Rope Trick. It was a running gag throughout the show, and quite hilarious! Brian |
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Jimeuax Regular user 199 Posts |
Concerning Silly Billy: He tried to franchise his name sending other magicians around as "Silly Billy"---people didn't like that so he began using names that were almost the same---a girl magi named "Silly Milly"---another guy named "Silly Willy".
Now I think he has dropped that idea and is just an agent for others with their own names. There was an article in "Magic" magazine a few years ago that went into it. I am going to check into Tommy Cooper--it sounds like a fun act. When I was in Blackpool, I took the train, North up to some little town and got out and wandered around in this little town--until I found the local bakery. I went in the bakery and the girl their said she thought I sounded like "Forrest Gump"--I said "Oh Yes--people always tell me I sound like Tom Hanks." I think I may have been insulted---lol. Cheers!----Jimeuax |
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Andy Wonder Special user Auckland, New Zealand 747 Posts |
Quote from MAGIC Magazine, September 1995, p 50
In 1992, Silly decided that making all his clowns interchangeable was not such a good idea. " I started thinking that it was confusing to children to see several Silly Billy-like people, and that as an artist I was diluting the value of the name Silly Billy, because there were so many Silly-whatevers. I needed to keep my identity more unique.' He gave the other clowns new costumes and he renamed them. He went through a Loony Phase - there is a Loony Lenny, Loony Louie, Loony Loony, Loony Goony, and Loony Lucy - and then he got more free-form. On his staff now, there is Melody the Clown, for instance, and someone named just plain Clarence.
Andy Wonder, Auckland, New Zealand
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Dennis Michael. Regular user Denver, CO 103 Posts |
I just met David Kaye at the Magic in the Rockies Convention last weekend. I enjoyed his lecture as well as his performance.
What I noticed was that though he was somewhat agressive in his public show to local school children, the children he had helping him on stage were laughing the whole time, even when he put a newspaper in their face to have them see that there was nothing inside...(when he removed the newspaper the child was laughing.) I am suprised by feedback reaction in the U.K.; I don't know the circumstances. I do know in meeting him that he was very supportive of me as a performer. He went out of his way to share information with me so far as to give me his e-mail address and that he would forward some materials to me if I couldn't find them from the source he recommended. We all have our shining moments... we all have our days we wish we had never set our feet on the floor.
I'm Back
Dennis Michael Denver Colorado |
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Trois Special user Myrtle Beach 594 Posts |
Just like that...R.I.P. Tommy Cooper
Not clever enough to come up with something orginal, or did I.
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Cabrera Special user Seattle 513 Posts |
I have almost come to the conclusion that many magicians who are billed as great or market themselves as lecturers etc. are usually not as great as their hype and press. I've seen this time and time again at seminars, lectures, and videos. I don't include all magicians in this category....but most.
Just my opinion as a working entertainer. Cabrera
"The quilt of life is woven with many different threads"
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