Book Review Butterfly Brain by Barry Cryer
We know Barry Cryer is good at writing jokes and appearing on stage as a comedian because he tells us throughout his autobiography Butterfly Brain. Self-praise aside the 199 pages are good value for one liners, jokes, anecdotes and funny stories with more than one a page. We also learn some of the less funnier side of the laughter business such as Tommy Cooper’s sulks and sadistic enjoyment of humiliating fans, of Peter Sellers rejecting scripts only to accept the first he’d said no to on the advice of his astrologer and of Peter Cook’s jealousy of Dudley Moore due to Dud’s success in movies. And Barry also admits to a time when he couldn’t take a joke at his local pub when he railed against pub bores who criticised his TV work.
But the book is not just a who’s who of the comedy world but a volume packed with some excellent stories. There are some thoughtful and insightful tributes to the likes of Linda Smith, Kenny Everett, Eric Morecambe, Willie Rushton and Bill Cotton. And he pays tribute to his wife ‘Terry’ (the singer and dancer Theresa Donovan) and is open about his dislike of Jeffrey Archer who refused to admit he knew Barry despite having pinched some of his gags for an after dinner speech. He was born in Leeds and after school studied English Literature at university but after a year dropped out and managed to get work as a stand-up in London before eventually being spotted by David Frost. The rest is history as he made the most of the early career break going on to write for all the greats of TV comedy in the 1960s and 1970s before returning to stand-up as an after-dinner speaker.
Butterfly Brain is a highly entertaining read as every page has some revelation, or gossip or a joke – usually told by one of Barry’s friends – he appeared to be friends with everyone in show business. From Andrew Sachs to Humphrey Littleton and from Ronnie Corbett to Alexie Sayle – who once remarked about Bernard Manning, ‘He’s a good comic with a lamentable act.’
For his own performance over the years Barry said he started as a stand-up, became a writer and ended up as a stand-up. Not a bad career for student drop-out in the 1950s.
Harry Mottram
Barry Cryer was born in Leeds in 1935 and died in 2022 at the age of 86 and for many like me is best known for appearing on BBC Radio 4’s I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue. Butterfly Brain was published in 2009 and is available from all good book shops and online.