Tony Hancock Live at The Royal Festival Hall

[No1RebelRebel]

Tony Hancock was a legend. Drunk or not he was still a legend. He's far better than the people we have these days, like Ricky Gervais.

[peterdcarter1]

Tony looks like Bill Wyman with that wig on.

[indeedydeed]

Watching the whole show is utterly depressing. It's a disastrous pathetic performance where he simply relied upon an audience willing him to succeed but floundering. Fact was, he had an entire script written for this gig but he couldn't be bothered to learn past the first page so resorted to all his ancient routines. A BBC head wanted to scrap the transmission since he thought it was awful but Hancock got his way so we have this sad document of a the man in terminal decline.

[jackbrazzo]

@TheDiddlysquat - He's better than a hell of a lot of 'comics' today - I am 33 by the way. His delivery is dry and witty - this wasnt great and he was on the decline - to call him a washed up drunk is a little harsh.

[withnail555]

@jackbrazzo Being better than a lot of comics today isn't really a glowing recommendation though. Being fisted by Mr T is funnier than Russell Howard.

[withnail555]

The truth is, he was never any good. Not only that but by all accounts, he was a self obsessed pain in the arsehole too.

[jackbrazzo]

@withnail555 have you actually listened to The Bowmans?

[withnail555]

@jackbrazzo Yes, written by the peerless Galton and Simpson and nearly ruined by the baggy faced arseflume. Kenneth Williams knew he was a cunt and he knew him far better than you or I.

[jackbrazzo]

@withnail555 Nice.

[withnail555]

@jackbrazzo I'm not going to flower up the truth because of a misguided sense on nostalgia over someone who, ultimately, wasn't very good.

[midguardz]

just goes to show great people can become slobs just like damaged goods from suppressive parents can be mended later in life. As far as Hancock's decline alcohol was the excuse for the real anxiety of perfectionism & unable to be himself. Look at him now hes as bad as a current gangster rap hip hop group today. Tragic. His legs are like spindles, his teeth are all jagged, his face has bruising & pock marks & waxed over& his shoulders are hunched over his bent back exuding apathy & trying to hide

[langley2205]

I'd never seen this before. To think this was only five years after the triumph of The Blood Donor and The Radio Ham. Tragic.

[bobbystormont]

Anyone got some of the fairly good stuff from the 1963 ATV series, which we see so rarely??

[stevee989]

ive got 6 episodes from ATV 1963 , but i dont know how to upload them

[siarung]

what a sad decline...tragic really

"too many things go wrong too many times"

[simontimelord]

I will try and put some his earlier stuff on from happier times.

[BlueGeneMagic]

It's kinda sad watching this..

He's trying so hard!

Thanks for posting.