Tommy Cooper

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Tommy Cooper was one of the first television magicians and he even began appearing on the small screen as early as the late 1940's. At that time there were few television sets in the United States and virtually none in Great Britain from whence Tommy hailed. He was also one of the first magician comedians whose tricks often and deliberately went awry. Of course, he sometimes did a trick that the audience was sure had gone south but in the end it had worked out perfectly.

Tommy's performance style can accurately be described as maniacal. Although he played largely to British audiences, Americans did get to see him even though his rapid fire Devonshire patter sometimes threw the viewers across the pond. He was on The Ed Sullivan Show five times from 1963 to 1967, and in addition to appearing on Ed's really big shew and other variety programs, Tommy had his own series from 1973 to 1975.

Tommy's most noticeable prop wasn't part of a magic trick. Instead it was his distinctive red fez. However on the popular British panel show Qi, when comedian Phill Jupitus identified Tommy's headgear as a fez, this set off the klaxons and flashing signs that marked an obvious but incorrect answer.

The host Sandi Toksvig then pointed out that Tommy's hat was not a fez but a tarboosh. The fez is from Turkey and the tarboosh from Egypt. The two chapeaux, she said, are distinguished by subtleties in shape and size with the fez being a bit shorter than the tarboosh and wider at the base.

However, other references say the difference is simply one of the linguistics. Instead "fez" is the word in Turkish - written originally as فس or in the modern "Romanized" spelling fes - while Tarboosh is the word in Arabic and is spelled طربوش (Arabic script is written right to left). Instead any differences between the two are due to the preferences of the individual craftsman or the regional style.

Sandi also told how Tommy came to adopt such a distinctive tile. When he first began entertaining he was in the army and came on stage in a helmet. But one time in Cairo he left his headgear in his room. So he grabbed a tarboosh from one of the waiters. The hat seemed more d'accord with the idea of a magician from the mystical Orient and for some reason it just suited Tommy.

In 2005, Tommy was voted the #6 Best Comedian of all time by his fellow comedians following only comedic titans Peter Cook, John Cleese, Woody Allen, Eric Morecambe, and Groucho Marx. But in a poll of over 4000 fans - yes, fans, the paying public - Tommy ranked #1.

Tommy was appearing on a television special, Live From Her Majesty's, on April 17, 1984. At the start of the show, he came on stage and his assistant helped him on with his long ornate robe. Tommy then slowly settled to the floor in a sitting position. The audience laughed and Tommy then gradually rolled back onto his back against the curtain until all you could see was Tommy's feet sticking out from the robe. The audience continued to laugh.

It was no joke. Tommy had suffered a heart attack. After a while people realized something was wrong and he was rushed to the hospital. But Tommy was dead.

A similar fate befell comedian Redd Fox. He had a heart attack on October 11, 1991. Although he was not on stage, the people standing around thought he was just performing his famous routine where he would put his hand on his chest and call, "Elizabeth! This is the big one! I'm coming to join you!" which had been a staple on his television series Sanford and Son.

Comedian Dick Shawn - known for his performance in The Producers and for the role of the apprentice genie in The Wizard of Baghdad - was also on stage when he fell to the floor from a heart attack. Everyone thought it was part of the act and even after a stage attendant asked for a doctor, the audience kept laughing.

Then there was the last performance of the sui generis singer Herbert Khuary. Best known by his professional name Tiny Tim, he had been one of the biggest celebrities in the Swinging Sixties when his novelty rendition of the 1920's tune "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" - accompanied by Tim's ukulele and sung in falsetto with his signature quavering vibrato - reached #17 on the Billboard Charts.

On November 30, 1996, Tim was scheduled to appear at a benefit for a women's club in Minneapolis. Although feeling unwell, he nevertheless felt the show had to go on. But during the performance he collapsed and soon lapsed into unconsciousness. He was taken to a hospital and died a few hours later.

And yes, he had been singing "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".

References and Further Reading

Tommy Cooper: Always Leave Them Laughing, John Fisher, 2006

"Cook Voted 'Comedians' Comedian'", BBC Entertainment, January 2, 2005.

The Tommy Cooper Hour, Thames Television, 1973-1975.

"Non-Sequiturs", Sandi Toksvig (host and presenter), Alan Davies (panelist), Phill Jupitus (guest panelist), Miles Jupp (guest panelist), and Deirdre O'Kane (guest panelist), Qi, BBC, Season 14 (N), Episode 8, December 16, 2016.