Malcolm Hardee
Encyclopedia
Malcolm Hardee was an English
comedian
, author
, comedy club
proprietor, compère
, agent
, manager
and "amateur
sensationalist".
His high reputation among his peers rests on his outrageous publicity stunt
s and on the help and advice he gave to successful British alternative comedians
early in their careers as "godfather to a generation
of comic talent in the 1980s". Fellow comic Rob Newman called him "a hilarious, anarchic
, living legend; a millennial Falstaff
", while Stewart Lee
wrote that "Malcolm Hardee is a natural clown who in any decent country would be a national institution" and Arthur Smith
described him as "a South London
Rabelais" and claimed that "everything about Malcolm, apart from his stand-up
act, was original".
Though an accomplished comic, Hardee was arguably more highly regarded as a "character", a compere and talent-spotting booker at his own clubs, particularly The Tunnel Club in Greenwich, South East London
, which gave vital and early exposure to up-and-coming comedians during the early years of British alternative comedy. In its obituary
, The Times
opined that "throughout his life he maintained a fearlessness and an indifference to consequences" and one journalist
claimed: "To say that he has no shame is to drastically exaggerate the amount of shame that he has". In a publicity quote printed in Hardee's autobiography I Stole Freddie Mercury
's Birthday Cake, Arthur Smith wrote that Hardee had "led his life as though for the perfect autobiography and now he has paid himself the compliment of writing it."
Hardee was born in Lewisham, South East London, near the River Thames
and came from a long line of lightermen
- who earned their living on tugs
pulling barges on the river. He was the eldest son of Frank and Joan Hardee, spent his first two years in an orphanage
while his mother was in hospital
with tuberculosis
and was educated at three South East London schools - St Stephen's Church of England
primary, Colfe's School
, and Sedgehill
comprehensive
.
Expelled
from all three, he drifted into petty crime - stealing Coke
from a local bottling plant, burgling
a pawnbrokers and setting fire to a Sunday school
piano
because he wanted to see 'holy smoke'. He served prison
sentences for cheque fraud, burglary and escaping custody; in 1967, he escaped from Gaynes Hall
Borstal
dressed as a monk
. He also had convictions for arson
and once infamously stole a Rolls Royce
which he believed belonged to British Cabinet Minister Peter Walker
. (Walker later wrote to Hardee after reading about this widely-reported story and denied it had been his car.)
He decided to turn to showbusiness as a way of staying out of trouble, saying: "There are only two things you can do when you come out of prison and you want immediate employment. You can either be a minicab driver or you can go into showbusiness" and "Prison is like mime
or juggling
- a tragic waste of time".
act. Revamped as a surreal sketch
group, The Greatest Show on Legs became a regular at the Tramshed venue in Woolwich
, alongside the likes of Rik Mayall
and Ade Edmondson. Soon afterwards, in 1979, The Comedy Store
opened in Soho
and The Greatest Show on Legs became regulars there, too. Their breakthrough came in 1982, when they performed their naked balloon dance on Chris Tarrant
's anarchic late-night TV show O.T.T.
.
In 1987, as one of his many publicity stunts, Hardee stood for Parliament
in the famous Greenwich by-election, 1987
, as the "Rainbow Dream Ticket, Beer, Fags & Party" candidate, polling 174 votes. He then stood again in the 1992 election
in order to publicise his comedy club because the election rules allowed him a free mail shot to all registered voters in the constituency.
Hardee regularly appeared in his own shows at the Edinburgh Fringe
and arguably his most infamous confirmed stunt there was in 1983 when, performing at The Circuit venue - a series of three adjoining tents in a construction site with a different show in each tent - he became annoyed by what he regarded as excessive noise emanating nightly from Eric Bogosian
's neighbouring performance tent. Hardee obtained a nearby tractor
and, entirely naked, drove it across Bogosian's stage during his performance. Rivalling this stunt in Fringe infamy, in 1989, Hardee and Arthur Smith wrote a rave 5-star review of Hardee's own Fringe show and successfully managed to get it printed in The Scotsman
under the byline
of the influential newspaper's comedy critic
. At the Fringe in 1996, The Independent
reported that he attempted to sabotage American ventriloquist David Strassman
's Edinburgh show by abducting
the act's hi-tech dummy, holding it to ransom
and sending it back to Strassman piece by piece in return for hard cash. The plan failed.
Perhaps the most-quoted anecdote concerning Hardee was that, on 9 October 1986 his house was searched by the police - who were looking for crumbs - two days after he and others stole Freddie Mercury
's £4,000 40th birthday cake. No crumbs were found at the house as he had already by then donated the cake to a local nursing home
. He used this incident as the title of his 1996 autobiography
I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake which he wrote with John Fleming. In 2003, also with Fleming, he co-edited an anthology
of mostly non-comic writing by 19 stand-up comedians, called Sit-Down Comedy. He also wrote columns
in comedy magazines in which he gave tips and told anecdotes about life as a comic.
John Fleming said of him:
"I knew him for 20 years and wrote his autobiography for him. We are talking here about a man who... was detained and questioned by British Special Branch (police) when he was found in the middle of the night on a hotel balcony outside prominent government minister Michael Heseltine's room, wearing nothing but a pair of socks and a leather coat containing £5,200 in cash and a pack of very pornographic playing cards. (He thought it was a friend's room.) I have spoken to people who were present at both incidents. At home, he occasionally put a live goldfish in his mouth to get attention. It was often said of Malcolm, with a lot of justification, that he never had a stage act - his life was his act."
In his autobiography
, Hardee claimed he was the first to attempt the 'banger
-up-the-bum
' routine, later perfected and performed by Greatest Show on Legs co-star Chris Lynam, in which a firework (occasionally a three-stage Roman Candle) was clenched between the buttocks and lit to a recording of Ethel Merman
singing "There's No Business Like Show Business".
The alleged fact for which Hardee was arguably best known throughout his performing life was that he was said to have "the biggest bollocks in show business" and he became renowned for a rarely performed but vividly unforgettable act in which he would use his own spectacles
atop his genitals to create a unique visual impression
of French President Charles de Gaulle
with his testicles representing the politician's cheeks; this act pre-dated the Australian show Puppetry of the Penis
by several years.
Hardee rarely appeared on television, though he did play minor roles in six Comic Strip
TV films and one episode in the first series of Blackadder
.
Hardee was also renowned as a talent spotter and owner of clubs which gave vital early exposure to up-and-coming comedians including Charlie Chuck
, Alan Davies
, Harry Enfield
, Harry Hill
, Paul Merton
, Vic Reeves
, Frank Skinner
, Johnny Vegas
and Jo Brand
, with whom he had a two-year affair and whom he persuaded to become a comedian. He also worked for a time as the manager of Jerry Sadowitz
and was an occasional promoter and tour manager
for his friend and neighbour, Jools Holland
.
His most infamous venue was The Tunnel Club which he opened in 1984 next to the southern exit from the Blackwall Tunnel
in Greenwich, South East London. He would sometimes introduce inexperienced stand-ups to audiences with the nerve-jangling line: "This next act's probably a bit shit" but, once their performance was finished, he would often comfort those he thought showed promise with backstage words of encouragement and urge them to try again. His advice to comics who were concerned that a joke might be offensive to an audience was: “If you think it’s funny, then fuck ’em.”
At his weekly Sunday Night at the Tunnel Palladium shows, sometimes even experienced and accomplished comedians failed to complete a whole set against the unforgiving crowd and razor-sharp heckling. It was at the Tunnel Club that comedian Jim Tavare
once began his act with the unwise opener, "Hello, I'm a schizophrenic" - to be met with the lightning rejoinder from a heckler in that night's audience, "Well, you can both fuck off then!"
The Tunnel closed in 1988 and, in 1991, Hardee opened Up The Creek comedy club in Creek Road, Greenwich. In an upstairs bar at the club was a mural
commissioned by Hardee as a parody
of Leonardo da Vinci
's The Last Supper
. It showed Hardee as Christ
with Jo Brand, Julian Clary
and other famous British comedians as the Disciples including Ben Elton
as Judas Iscariot
.
In 2001, after he sold his percentage in Up The Creek, Hardee opened his own floating pub The Wibbley Wobbley on a converted barge
in Greenland Dock
, Rotherhithe
, by the River Thames.
On 2 February 2005, Hardee's body was recovered from Greenland Dock, after he was reported missing from The Wibbley Wobbley on 31 January; he had been last seen late-night on 30 January. A post-mortem soon confirmed he had drowned. In an inquest
at Southwark
Coroners' Court on 20 July, Coroner John Sampson recorded a verdict of accidental death. It had been assumed in several reports of his death that, while trying to make his way home by dinghy
from The Wibbley Wobbley to his houseboat
The Sea Sovereign just fifteen yards away across Greenland Dock, Hardee had lost his balance and drowned while drunk. But the Coroner found that, whilst attempting to access The Sea Sovereign from the quayside, Hardee had fallen into the dock while drunk.
Police Constable Martin Spirito told the court that, on 2 February: "The search commenced at 10.00am. At 10.24am one of the officers came up and said he had found a lifeless body. I followed the officer's line down. Six metres down I saw a white male. The male had a bottle of beer clenched in his right hand." Police Sergeant Roy Dawson, in charge of overseeing the dive, told the court: "The bottle was held in his right hand. It fell from his hand on the ascent."
Hardee's date of death is usually said to be January 31, although Coroner John Sampson said, "He was last seen on the quayside outside the Wibbly Wobbly public house at about 6am on Sunday January 30".
About 700 people attended his funeral
at St Alfege's Church
in Greenwich - and, perhaps fittingly, it was one of the few funerals ever to get rave reviews the following day in both The Daily Telegraph
and The Sun
newspapers. Jo Brand, Arthur Smith, Stewart Lee and his son Frank Hardee all delivered eulogies, and the musician Jools Holland
played the piano. He was cremated at Hither Green
in South East London.
In June 2005, there were two tribute shows at the Glastonbury Festival
; in July, a BBC Radio 4
documentary tribute; and, in August, two tribute shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. There were five-hour tribute shows at the Hackney Empire
theatre in London on 5 February 2006 and 28 January 2007 to commemorate the anniversary
of his death.
2005 - Reggie Watts
2006 - no award presented
2007 - Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds
2008 - Edward Aczel (nominees: Edward Aczel, Aindreas de Staic, The Fringe Box Office, Peter Buckley Hill
, Otto Kuhnle)
2009 - Otto Kuhnle (nominees: Three Gaga Heads, Tim Key
, Otto Kuhnle, Joey Page, George Ryegold)
2010 - Robert White (nominees: Dr Brown, Bo Burnham
, Lewis Schaffer
, Bob Slayer, Robert White)
2011 - Johnny Sorrow (nominees: Dr Brown, James Hamilton, Bob Slayer, Johnny Sorrow)
The Malcolm Hardee Cunning Stunt Award is given for the best Fringe publicity stunt of the year. Winners so far have been:
2008 - Gill Smith
2009 - Lewis Schaffer
(nominees: Lewis Schaffer, Shed Simove, Jennifer Warren
and Charlotte Jo Hanbury)
2010 - Stewart Lee
(nominees: Stewart Lee, Manos The Greek, Arthur Smith
)
2011 - Kunt and the Gang
+ Bob Slayer (nominees: Tim FitzHigham
, Kunt and the Gang, Sanderson Jones)
The Malcolm Hardee 'Act Most Likely to Win a Million Quid' Award was started in 2010
2010 - Bo Burnham
(nominees: Bo Burnham, Greg Davies
)
2011 - Benet Brandreth (nominees: Benet Brandreth, Josh Widdicombe
)
3 February 2005
4 February 2005
5 February 2005
7 February 2005
8 February 2005
3 March 2005
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, comedy club
Comedy club
A comedy club is a venue, typically a nightclub, bar, or restaurant where people watch or listen to performances, including stand-up comedians, improvisational comedians, impersonators, magicians, ventriloquists and other comedy acts...
proprietor, compère
Master of Ceremonies
A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....
, agent
Talent agent
A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, film directors, musicians, models, producers, professional athletes, writers and other people in various entertainment businesses. Having an agent is not required, but does help the artist in getting jobs...
, manager
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
and "amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
sensationalist".
His high reputation among his peers rests on his outrageous publicity stunt
Publicity stunt
A publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized or set up by amateurs...
s and on the help and advice he gave to successful British alternative comedians
Alternative comedy
Alternative comedy is a term that originated in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era, and typically avoids relying on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt defines it as "comedy where the...
early in their careers as "godfather to a generation
Generation
Generation , also known as procreation in biological sciences, is the act of producing offspring....
of comic talent in the 1980s". Fellow comic Rob Newman called him "a hilarious, anarchic
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, living legend; a millennial Falstaff
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is...
", while Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
wrote that "Malcolm Hardee is a natural clown who in any decent country would be a national institution" and Arthur Smith
Arthur Smith (comedian)
Brian Arthur John Smith is an English alternative comedian and writer. He was born in Bermondsey, South London, brother to Richard Smith...
described him as "a South London
South London
South London is the southern part of London, England, United Kingdom.According to the 2011 official Boundary Commission for England definition, South London includes the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Southwark, Sutton and...
Rabelais" and claimed that "everything about Malcolm, apart from his stand-up
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
act, was original".
Though an accomplished comic, Hardee was arguably more highly regarded as a "character", a compere and talent-spotting booker at his own clubs, particularly The Tunnel Club in Greenwich, South East London
South East (London sub region)
The South East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark. The sub region was established in 2008. The south east has a population of 1,300,000 and is the location of 500,000 jobs...
, which gave vital and early exposure to up-and-coming comedians during the early years of British alternative comedy. In its obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
, The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
opined that "throughout his life he maintained a fearlessness and an indifference to consequences" and one journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
claimed: "To say that he has no shame is to drastically exaggerate the amount of shame that he has". In a publicity quote printed in Hardee's autobiography I Stole Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
's Birthday Cake, Arthur Smith wrote that Hardee had "led his life as though for the perfect autobiography and now he has paid himself the compliment of writing it."
Early life
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and came from a long line of lightermen
Lightermen
Lightermen were workers who transferred goods between ships and quays, aboard flat-bottomed barges called lighters in the Port of London.-History:...
- who earned their living on tugs
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
pulling barges on the river. He was the eldest son of Frank and Joan Hardee, spent his first two years in an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
while his mother was in hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and was educated at three South East London schools - St Stephen's Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
primary, Colfe's School
Colfe's School
Colfe's is a co-educational independent day school in Horn Park in the London Borough of Greenwich. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The official Visitor to the school is HRH Prince Michael of Kent.-History:...
, and Sedgehill
Sedgehill
Sedgehill Secondary School is a coeducational school in south-east London, England. In 2008, the School had just over 1,800 pupils with over half from ethnic minorities.Has been a Specialist School for the Performing Arts for since 2003....
comprehensive
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
.
Expelled
Expulsion (academia)
Expulsion or exclusion refers to the permanent removal of a student from a school system or university for violating that institution's rules. Laws and procedures regarding expulsion vary between countries and states.-State sector:...
from all three, he drifted into petty crime - stealing Coke
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
from a local bottling plant, burgling
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
a pawnbrokers and setting fire to a Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
because he wanted to see 'holy smoke'. He served prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
sentences for cheque fraud, burglary and escaping custody; in 1967, he escaped from Gaynes Hall
Gaynes Hall
Gaynes Hall is a Grade II* listed Georgian mansion set in of parkland in the heart of the Cambridgeshire countryside. Located in the village of Perry, Huntingdon the building was requisitioned during the Second World War and was also residence of Sir Oliver Cromwell for 21 years.Currently it is...
Borstal
Borstal
A borstal was a type of youth prison in the United Kingdom, run by the Prison Service and intended to reform seriously delinquent young people. The word is sometimes used loosely to apply to other kinds of youth institution or reformatory, such as Approved Schools and Detention Centres. The court...
dressed as a monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
. He also had convictions for arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
and once infamously stole a Rolls Royce
Rolls-Royce (car)
This a list of Rolls-Royce motor cars and includes vehicles produced by:*Rolls-Royce Limited *Rolls-Royce Motors , which was owned by Vickers between 1980 and 1998, and after that by Volkswagen...
which he believed belonged to British Cabinet Minister Peter Walker
Peter Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester
Peter Edward Walker, Baron Walker of Worcester, MBE, PC , was British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet as the Environment Secretary , Trade and Industry Secretary , Agriculture Minister , Energy Secretary and Welsh Secretary...
. (Walker later wrote to Hardee after reading about this widely-reported story and denied it had been his car.)
He decided to turn to showbusiness as a way of staying out of trouble, saying: "There are only two things you can do when you come out of prison and you want immediate employment. You can either be a minicab driver or you can go into showbusiness" and "Prison is like mime
Mime
The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...
or juggling
Juggling
Juggling is a skill involving moving objects for entertainment or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling, in which the juggler throws objects up to catch and toss up again. This may be one object or many objects, at the same time with one or many hands. Jugglers often refer...
- a tragic waste of time".
Acts and stunts
After coming out of prison in 1977 or 1978 (sources vary), Hardee joined Martin Soan's Greatest Show On Legs - at the time, a one-man adult Punch and JudyPunch and Judy
Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular puppet show featuring the characters of Mr. Punch and his wife, Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character...
act. Revamped as a surreal sketch
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
group, The Greatest Show on Legs became a regular at the Tramshed venue in Woolwich
Woolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
, alongside the likes of Rik Mayall
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
and Ade Edmondson. Soon afterwards, in 1979, The Comedy Store
The Comedy Store, London
The Comedy Store is a comedy club located in Soho, London, England, opened in 1979 by Don Ward and Peter Rosengard.It was named after The Comedy Store club in the United States, which Rosengard had visited the previous year...
opened in Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
and The Greatest Show on Legs became regulars there, too. Their breakthrough came in 1982, when they performed their naked balloon dance on Chris Tarrant
Chris Tarrant
Christopher John "Chris" Tarrant, OBE is an English radio and television broadcaster, now best known for hosting the first version of the television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in the United Kingdom and later Ireland, as the two national versions of the show merged in 2002.Chris...
's anarchic late-night TV show O.T.T.
O.T.T.
O.T.T. was a late-night adult version of the anarchic ATV children's show Tiswas, but made by its ITV franchise successor Central Television. It was broadcast at 11.00pm on Saturday nights for one series in 1982. O.T.T. was created and presented by Chris Tarrant, and also starred ex-Tiswasians John...
.
In 1987, as one of his many publicity stunts, Hardee stood for Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in the famous Greenwich by-election, 1987
Greenwich by-election, 1987
The Greenwich by-election of 1987 was a closely fought by-election often credited with boosting the SDP-Liberal Alliance shortly before the 1987 general election...
, as the "Rainbow Dream Ticket, Beer, Fags & Party" candidate, polling 174 votes. He then stood again in the 1992 election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
in order to publicise his comedy club because the election rules allowed him a free mail shot to all registered voters in the constituency.
Hardee regularly appeared in his own shows at the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...
and arguably his most infamous confirmed stunt there was in 1983 when, performing at The Circuit venue - a series of three adjoining tents in a construction site with a different show in each tent - he became annoyed by what he regarded as excessive noise emanating nightly from Eric Bogosian
Eric Bogosian
Eric Bogosian is an American actor, playwright, monologist, and novelist of Armenian descent.-Personal life:Bogosian, an Armenian-American, was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, the son of Edwina, a hairdresser and instructor, and Henry Bogosian, an accountant. After graduating from Oberlin College,...
's neighbouring performance tent. Hardee obtained a nearby tractor
Tractor
A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
and, entirely naked, drove it across Bogosian's stage during his performance. Rivalling this stunt in Fringe infamy, in 1989, Hardee and Arthur Smith wrote a rave 5-star review of Hardee's own Fringe show and successfully managed to get it printed in The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
under the byline
Byline
The byline on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name, and often the position, of the writer of the article. Bylines are traditionally placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines place bylines at the bottom of the page, to leave more room for graphical...
of the influential newspaper's comedy critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
. At the Fringe in 1996, The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
reported that he attempted to sabotage American ventriloquist David Strassman
David Strassman
David Strassman, is an American ventriloquist who is best known for his ventriloquism act with the characters Ted E. Bare and Chuck Wood. He began performing magic at the age of twelve after a visit to the Magic Castle in Hollywood.-Biography:David Strassman is the second of four children. His...
's Edinburgh show by abducting
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
the act's hi-tech dummy, holding it to ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
and sending it back to Strassman piece by piece in return for hard cash. The plan failed.
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
's £4,000 40th birthday cake. No crumbs were found at the house as he had already by then donated the cake to a local nursing home
Nursing home
A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...
. He used this incident as the title of his 1996 autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake which he wrote with John Fleming. In 2003, also with Fleming, he co-edited an anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
of mostly non-comic writing by 19 stand-up comedians, called Sit-Down Comedy. He also wrote columns
Column (newspaper)
A column is a recurring piece or article in a newspaper, magazine or other publication. Columns are written by columnists.What differentiates a column from other forms of journalism is that it meets each of the following criteria:...
in comedy magazines in which he gave tips and told anecdotes about life as a comic.
John Fleming said of him:
"I knew him for 20 years and wrote his autobiography for him. We are talking here about a man who... was detained and questioned by British Special Branch (police) when he was found in the middle of the night on a hotel balcony outside prominent government minister Michael Heseltine's room, wearing nothing but a pair of socks and a leather coat containing £5,200 in cash and a pack of very pornographic playing cards. (He thought it was a friend's room.) I have spoken to people who were present at both incidents. At home, he occasionally put a live goldfish in his mouth to get attention. It was often said of Malcolm, with a lot of justification, that he never had a stage act - his life was his act."
In his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Hardee claimed he was the first to attempt the 'banger
Firecracker
A firecracker is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang; any visual effect is incidental to this goal. They have fuses, and are wrapped in a heavy paper casing to contain the explosive compound...
-up-the-bum
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
' routine, later perfected and performed by Greatest Show on Legs co-star Chris Lynam, in which a firework (occasionally a three-stage Roman Candle) was clenched between the buttocks and lit to a recording of Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...
singing "There's No Business Like Show Business".
The alleged fact for which Hardee was arguably best known throughout his performing life was that he was said to have "the biggest bollocks in show business" and he became renowned for a rarely performed but vividly unforgettable act in which he would use his own spectacles
Glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
atop his genitals to create a unique visual impression
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
of French President Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
with his testicles representing the politician's cheeks; this act pre-dated the Australian show Puppetry of the Penis
Puppetry of the Penis
Puppetry of the Penis is a performance show. The show was initially conceived by Australian Simon Morley as the title of an art calendar, showcasing 12 of his favourite penis installations...
by several years.
Hardee rarely appeared on television, though he did play minor roles in six Comic Strip
The Comic Strip
The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents.... The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with frequent appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and...
TV films and one episode in the first series of Blackadder
The Black Adder
The Black Adder is the first series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, directed by Martin Shardlow and produced by John Lloyd...
.
Clubs
Charlie Chuck
Charlie Chuck is the stage name of British comedian David Kear.-Biography:Kear began his career as a drummer with various bands in the late-1970s and early-1980s, including a stint with the Small Faces and the Amazing Bavarian Stompers with whom he performed on an edition of the children's TV...
, Alan Davies
Alan Davies
Alan Davies is an English comedian, writer and actor best known for starring in the TV mystery series Jonathan Creek and as the permanent panellist on the TV panel show QI.- Early life :...
, Harry Enfield
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard "Harry" Enfield is a BAFTA-winning English comedian, actor, writer and director.-Early life:...
, Harry Hill
Harry Hill
Harry Hill , is a Perrier Award–winning English comedian, author and television presenter. A former medical doctor , Hill began his career in comedy with the popular radio show Harry Hill's Fruit Corner.-Personal life:Hill was born in Woking,...
, Paul Merton
Paul Merton
Paul Merton is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy...
, Vic Reeves
Vic Reeves
James Roderick Moir , better known by the stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer . He is known for his surreal and non sequitur sense of humour....
, Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner is a British writer, comedian and actor. He is best known for his television presenting, often alongside David Baddiel, with whom he also collaborated for the football song "Three Lions."He is a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio.-Youth and early career...
, Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
and Jo Brand
Jo Brand
Josephine Grace "Jo" Brand is a BAFTA winning British comedian, writer, and actor.- Early life :Jo Brand was born 23 July 1957 in Wandsworth, London. Her mother was a social worker. Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers...
, with whom he had a two-year affair and whom he persuaded to become a comedian. He also worked for a time as the manager of Jerry Sadowitz
Jerry Sadowitz
Jerry Sadowitz is an American-born Scottish stand-up comic and card magician, known for his frequently controversial "sick humour". An accomplished practitioner of sleight of hand, he has written several books on magic and invented many conjuring innovations. He is widely acclaimed as one of the...
and was an occasional promoter and tour manager
Tour Manager
A tour manager is the person who helps to organize the administration for a schedule of appearances of a musical group or artist at a sequence of venues .-Background:...
for his friend and neighbour, Jools Holland
Jools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
.
His most infamous venue was The Tunnel Club which he opened in 1984 next to the southern exit from the Blackwall Tunnel
Blackwall Tunnel
The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the London Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south of the East India Dock Road in Blackwall; the southern...
in Greenwich, South East London. He would sometimes introduce inexperienced stand-ups to audiences with the nerve-jangling line: "This next act's probably a bit shit" but, once their performance was finished, he would often comfort those he thought showed promise with backstage words of encouragement and urge them to try again. His advice to comics who were concerned that a joke might be offensive to an audience was: “If you think it’s funny, then fuck ’em.”
Jim Tavare
Jim Tavaré is an English stand-up comedian, actor and musician. He is best known for his work on The Sketch Show on ITV which won a BAFTA award and also plays the role of Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.-Life and career:Tavaré was born in Essex,...
once began his act with the unwise opener, "Hello, I'm a schizophrenic" - to be met with the lightning rejoinder from a heckler in that night's audience, "Well, you can both fuck off then!"
The Tunnel closed in 1988 and, in 1991, Hardee opened Up The Creek comedy club in Creek Road, Greenwich. In an upstairs bar at the club was a mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
commissioned by Hardee as a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
's The Last Supper
The Last Supper (Leonardo)
The Last Supper is a 15th century mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice d'Este...
. It showed Hardee as Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
with Jo Brand, Julian Clary
Julian Clary
Julian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian and novelist, known for his deliberately stereotypical camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre.-Early life and education:...
and other famous British comedians as the Disciples including Ben Elton
Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles "Ben" Elton is an English comedian, author, playwright and director. He was a leading figure in the British alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, as a writer on such cult series as The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as also a successful stand-up comedian on stage and TV....
as Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
.
In 2001, after he sold his percentage in Up The Creek, Hardee opened his own floating pub The Wibbley Wobbley on a converted barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
in Greenland Dock
Greenland Dock
Greenland Dock is the oldest of London's riverside wet docks, located in Rotherhithe in the area of the city now known as Docklands. It used to be part of the Surrey Commercial Docks, most of which have by now been filled in...
, Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe is a residential district in inner southeast London, England and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is located on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping and the Isle of Dogs on the north bank, and is a part of the Docklands area...
, by the River Thames.
Death and legacy
Inquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
at Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
Coroners' Court on 20 July, Coroner John Sampson recorded a verdict of accidental death. It had been assumed in several reports of his death that, while trying to make his way home by dinghy
Dinghy
A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...
from The Wibbley Wobbley to his houseboat
Houseboat
A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a human dwelling. Some houseboats are not motorized, because they are usually moored, kept stationary at a fixed point and often tethered to land to provide utilities...
The Sea Sovereign just fifteen yards away across Greenland Dock, Hardee had lost his balance and drowned while drunk. But the Coroner found that, whilst attempting to access The Sea Sovereign from the quayside, Hardee had fallen into the dock while drunk.
Hardee's date of death is usually said to be January 31, although Coroner John Sampson said, "He was last seen on the quayside outside the Wibbly Wobbly public house at about 6am on Sunday January 30".
About 700 people attended his funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
at St Alfege's Church
St Alfege's Church, Greenwich
St Alfege Church is a Church of England place of worship in the town centre of Greenwich in the eponymous London Borough.-History:The church is dedicated to, and reputedly marks the place where Alfege , Archbishop of Canterbury, was killed by Viking raiders on 19 April 1012.The second church built...
in Greenwich - and, perhaps fittingly, it was one of the few funerals ever to get rave reviews the following day in both The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
newspapers. Jo Brand, Arthur Smith, Stewart Lee and his son Frank Hardee all delivered eulogies, and the musician Jools Holland
Jools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
played the piano. He was cremated at Hither Green
Hither Green
Hither Green is a district in south east London, England, located in the London Borough of Lewisham. It is situated 6.6 miles south east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian....
in South East London.
In June 2005, there were two tribute shows at the Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
; in July, a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
documentary tribute; and, in August, two tribute shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. There were five-hour tribute shows at the Hackney Empire
Hackney Empire
The Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney, built in 1901 as a music hall.-History:Hackney Empire is a grade II* listed building...
theatre in London on 5 February 2006 and 28 January 2007 to commemorate the anniversary
Anniversary
An anniversary is a day that commemorates or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event. For example, the first event is the initial occurrence or, if planned, the inaugural of the event. One year later would be the first anniversary of that event...
of his death.
The Annual Malcolm Hardee Awards
The Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality is given annually at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival "for comic originality of thought or performance". It is said that it will be presented until 2017 . Winners so far have been:2005 - Reggie Watts
Reggie Watts
Reggie Watts is a Seattle-based comedian and musician. His shows are mostly improvised and consist of stream of consciousness stand-up in various shifting personae, mixed with loop pedal-based a cappella compositions. He also performs regularly on television, radio, and in live theater...
2006 - no award presented
2007 - Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds
2008 - Edward Aczel (nominees: Edward Aczel, Aindreas de Staic, The Fringe Box Office, Peter Buckley Hill
Peter Buckley Hill
Peter Buckley Hill is a musical comedian and head of the Free Fringe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, for which he was, in 2009, awarded the Panellists' Edinburgh Comedy Award...
, Otto Kuhnle)
2009 - Otto Kuhnle (nominees: Three Gaga Heads, Tim Key
Tim Key
Tim Key is an English actor, comedy writer, and performance poet. In 2009, he was the winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award and was also nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality.-Edinburgh Fringe:...
, Otto Kuhnle, Joey Page, George Ryegold)
2010 - Robert White (nominees: Dr Brown, Bo Burnham
Bo Burnham
Robert "Bo" Burnham is an American comedian, singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and Internet celebrity. Writing comedic and satirical songs with a politically incorrect slant, he achieved fame when his YouTube videos took off; they have received more than 70 million views...
, Lewis Schaffer
Lewis Schaffer
Lewis Schaffer is an American comedian. He is now based in London where he moved in 2000. He currently hosts his own weekly radio show on Resonance FM 104.4FM in London entitled "Voice of Americans with Lewis Schaffer of Nunhead" and has his own so stand-up comedy show in London entitled "Lewis...
, Bob Slayer, Robert White)
2011 - Johnny Sorrow (nominees: Dr Brown, James Hamilton, Bob Slayer, Johnny Sorrow)
The Malcolm Hardee Cunning Stunt Award is given for the best Fringe publicity stunt of the year. Winners so far have been:
2008 - Gill Smith
2009 - Lewis Schaffer
Lewis Schaffer
Lewis Schaffer is an American comedian. He is now based in London where he moved in 2000. He currently hosts his own weekly radio show on Resonance FM 104.4FM in London entitled "Voice of Americans with Lewis Schaffer of Nunhead" and has his own so stand-up comedy show in London entitled "Lewis...
(nominees: Lewis Schaffer, Shed Simove, Jennifer Warren
Jennifer Warren
Jennifer Warren is an American actress and film director.Warren was born in the Greenwich Village section of New York City, the daughter of Paula Bauersmith, an actress, and Barnet M. Warren, a dentist. Her uncle was Yiddish theatre actor and director Jacob Ben-Ami. Warren graduated from Elisabeth...
and Charlotte Jo Hanbury)
2010 - Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
(nominees: Stewart Lee, Manos The Greek, Arthur Smith
Arthur Smith (comedian)
Brian Arthur John Smith is an English alternative comedian and writer. He was born in Bermondsey, South London, brother to Richard Smith...
)
2011 - Kunt and the Gang
Kunt and the Gang
Kunt and the Gang are a musical comedy act based in Basildon, Essex, following in the tradition of 80s Basildon-based electronic pop acts Depeche Mode and Yazoo....
+ Bob Slayer (nominees: Tim FitzHigham
Tim FitzHigham
Tim FitzHigham FRSA FRGS is an award winning British comedian, author, and world record holder. The feats he has performed include paddling a paper boat down 160 miles of the River Thames, rowing a bathtub across the English Channel, and inflating the world's largest balloon.-Career:FitzHigham...
, Kunt and the Gang, Sanderson Jones)
The Malcolm Hardee 'Act Most Likely to Win a Million Quid' Award was started in 2010
2010 - Bo Burnham
Bo Burnham
Robert "Bo" Burnham is an American comedian, singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and Internet celebrity. Writing comedic and satirical songs with a politically incorrect slant, he achieved fame when his YouTube videos took off; they have received more than 70 million views...
(nominees: Bo Burnham, Greg Davies
Greg Davies
Greg Davies is a British stand-up comedian, actor, and former teacher, best known for his roles as Greg in We Are Klang and Mr. Gilbert in The Inbetweeners. He has performed on the BBC's Live at the Apollo series....
)
2011 - Benet Brandreth (nominees: Benet Brandreth, Josh Widdicombe
Josh Widdicombe
-Career:Widdicombe began performing live in 2008, and made it to the final of 'So You Think You're Funny' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival during the same year. Widdicombe has performed at the Fringe Festival every year since, co-writing and performing in the sketch show Superclump in 2009. He also...
)
Books
- I Stole Freddie Mercury's Birthday Cake (autobiography; co-writer John Fleming) Fourth Estate, 1996. ISBN 1-85702-385-4.
- Sit-Down Comedy (anthology, ed Malcolm Hardee & John Fleming) Ebury Press/Random House, 2003. ISBN 0-09-188924-3.
External links
Obituaries and reports of his death
2 February 20053 February 2005
4 February 2005
- Daily Telegraph
- Daily Telegraph, reprinted in the New York Sun on 7th February
- Guardian
- The Herald, Glasgow
5 February 2005
7 February 2005
8 February 2005
3 March 2005