Don't Cryer For Me...

[Gangster Octopus]

The great Barry Cryer's died.

[tee rex]

Newsflash ...

(ancient Hello Cheeky gag)

RIP.

[Eggchaser]

He won't be having his tea, then.

The classic I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue crew are nearly all gone now.

The list of people he wrote for is staggering.

[Paul S]

I'm not sure there's anyone left of the Sorry I Haven't a Clue gang. Comedy legend who I saw in Colchester along with Colin Sell !!

[Kevin S]

I'm not sure there's anyone left of the Sorry I Haven't a Clue gang. Comedy legend who I saw in Colchester along with Colin Sell !!

Graeme Garden is still alive.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Huge RIP from me. His smiling, witty existence has been part of my life since I was a kid. I was shocked to see that he was only in his 80s though, as he looked "old" to me 50 years ago.

[nmrfox]

Huge RIP from me. His smiling, witty existence has been part of my life since I was a kid. I was shocked to see that he was only in his 80s though, as he looked "old" to me 50 years ago.

Very much this.

[Gangster Octopus]

The worst thing about it for me is no longer being able to spot him in the pub in Hatch End or at any of the comedy gigs in the nearby Harrow Arts Centre.

[longeared]

I sat next to him on the Tube once, he got off at Harrow-on-the-Hill which was the next stop. He thanked us for moving to let him out.

[delicatemoth]

Damn.

https://twitter.com/JeffCarnage/status/1486646043420901380

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

"It will be of no surprise that he was telling an Archbishop of Canterbury joke to a nurse not long before he died".

I can certainly picture that.

[Snake Plissken]

Oh, one of the absolute greats. RIP, sir.

[Jah Womble]

RIP, indeed, to a comedy colossus.

(He liked a couple of my gags back in the day, so clearly a man of impeccable judgement.)

[Ray de Galles]

I sat next to him on the Tube once, he got off at Harrow-on-the-Hill which was the next stop. He thanked us for moving to let him out.

How strong was the urge to ask him if he was going to Mornington Crescent?

Actually Mournington Crescent would be an alternate thread title.

Very sad news, I was only thinking about Cryer last night as I was in Wimbledon Theatre where I saw him in the ISIHAC live show a few times.

As the tweet below points out (edit : and I now see Eggchaser has already highlighted), he had a CV unmatched in British comedy and the love for him from fans & comedians generations younger is a measure of his talent and appeal

https://twitter.com/elisjames/status/1486669885862301702?s=20

[RobW]

Ah, that's a shame. Brilliant comedy writer. I remember watching Cryer's Crackers on YTV in the mid 90s, before I came to know him for his comedy writing.

[Nocturnal Submission]

BBC obit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34041501

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

I only ever saw him as an occasional guest on QI, and you didn't need much exposure to him to know he was just brilliant. (though I must have heard him on radio 4 countless times)

[Tony C]

Absolutely loved this bloke. Genuinely warm, witty and funny and with a much more enlightened sensibility that many of his age group. A gem. RIP.

[Levin]

I've come very close to starting a thread about the modern incarnation of ISIHAC a few times recently. They've really missed him the last couple of series. And now permanently.

[sw2borshch]

In the latest of an occasional series from me I have only just discovered he was Jewish.

As other people have said, Barry Cryer was involved in so many things that made me laugh. A proper titan.

[Sean of the Shed]

Most people have laughed at Barry Cryer more than any other person in their life and never even realised it.

[Various Artist]

In the latest of an occasional series from me I have only just discovered he was Jewish.

No he wasn't, surely. Did you come across/misinterpet the same tweet I read earlier from a Jewish organisation (I forget what) in London, for whom he stepped in as an eleventh-hour substitute speaker at some bash/ceremony the other year and subsequently enjoyed the event, food and craic so much he refused to take a fee and instead insisted it be donated to their charitable efforts? Because I certainly did a brief "I didn't know he was Jewish" double-take, until reading down the short thread they'd tweeted and found they captioned a photo of him there deep in chat as "The most Jewish non-Jewish man ever!" or words to that effect.

[Various Artist]

Anyway, a huge and deserved RIP to Mr Cryer. I involuntary exclaimed "Oh, nooo" out loud when I heard, as did both my parents when I told them not long afterwards. Truly the Godfather of Comedy in this country, no question. The roll-call of names in his list of clients for gags is indeed right off the charts. Some wag observed on Twitter this morning that there hadn't (then) been a BBC report yet, probably for the reason that the BBC were waiting for the thing they always get on the occasions when any comedy great of the last 60 years dies, i.e. a tribute from Barry Cryer. And that felt pretty much spot on, to be honest.

I think I assumed he was basically immortal – as others have noted already, he'd looked 'old' forever yet basically never looked any different in about 40 years. I grew up with I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue on Radio 4 every Sunday from almost as far back as I can remember, certainly the late '80s I should think, and it was always (and still is, even without Willie, Humph and TBT) such a joy: the particularly great joy of hearing this gaggle of jolly, funny, witty men acting like overgrown schoolboys. As plenty of comedians and others have said today, Barry's regular outbreaks of distinctive filthy guffaws at others' jokes were always great indicators of not only the show's overall humour level but also his own great generosity of spirit towards other comics. There's a million and one stories going around out there about how he'd been a constant source of enthusiasm, support and encouragement to legions of standups and comedy writers from succeeding generations, never once seeking to 'pull up the ladder' but always instead to offer a helping hand. And, more often than not, write down their birthday then call them up on it each year to tell them awful old jokes that only he could possibly make funny. What a man.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Loving this thread. And the tributes in the media. RIP.

[Nocturnal Submission]

When I'd watch BC in recent years I'd feel slightly discombobulated, because not only did he look the same as he had done for decades but he sounded the damn same. Unlike, well virtually everyone, his voice didn't become weedy and uncertain as he made serious inroads into old age, which would make me wonder whether I was confusing the man on the screen with someone other than the one I'd watch when I was still at school.

Anyway, here he is a few years ago on WILTY: