Knowra Tommy Cooper Tommy Cooper Tommy Cooper (1921–1984) was a Welsh comedian and magician whose red fez, imposing physical presence, and deliberately bungled magic tricks became his signature.
Comedy magic : A performance style that combines magic tricks with jokes, comic characters, or deliberate mishaps. Cooper built his act around tricks that appeared to fail for comic effect.
Caerphilly : A town in South Wales, known for its medieval castle and its traditional cheese. Cooper was born there in 1921.
Eric Sykes : An English comedian, actor, and writer known for television and radio comedy. Sykes was among the British comedy peers who shared Cooper's television era.
The Tommy Cooper Hour : A British television comedy-variety series starring Tommy Cooper. The series put his solo mixture of jokes and bungled tricks at the center of a program.
British comedy : Comedy produced in Britain, spanning stage, broadcast, film, and literary traditions. Cooper became one of the best-known figures in postwar British comedy.
Magic trick : A performance that creates an illusion of impossible events through technique, apparatus, or misdirection. His apparent blunders worked because they imitated the structure of genuine tricks.
British Army : The land warfare force of the United Kingdom. Cooper served in the British Army during the Second World War.
Morecambe and Wise : A British comedy duo formed by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. Their variety-show success provides a close contemporary comparison for Cooper's television fame.
The Royal Variety Performance : An annual British variety show performed in aid of the Royal Variety Charity and attended by members of the royal family. Cooper's appearances placed his act within a major showcase for British variety performers.
British television : Television broadcasting and production in the United Kingdom. Television made Cooper's stage persona familiar to a national audience.
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