I feel the loss of Bernard Manning. In a way I knew him. Not personally, but you could not grow up as I did in Ardwick, Manchester, with any awareness of the life and humour and guts of the place, without being acquainted with many of Bernard's kindred spirits.
We were more a Ken Dodd household ourselves, though not at all because we were squeamish. My father would have shared the values and politics of the Embassy Club without himself being a member. He worked too hard to have much of a social life but I dare say he recycled a few of Bernard's jokes. Both of these men made me laugh.
There's a fitting tribute at Harry's Place which includes this reminder.
"Those who defend Manning often mention his tireless charity work. Unlike some other celebrities who earned regular plaudits for giving their time free of charge – sacrifices invariably accompanied by fat expense claims for hotels and travel - Manning never took a penny for his efforts. Indeed, he was better known for marking his pro bono appearances with sizable, personal donations of his own. No fanfare, no kudos. There are countless stories of audience members at one of his gigs receiving lifts home in his limo and his bankrolling of numerous community projects - youth clubs, local football teams, etc. – is common knowledge around the north west."
1 comment:
There is no substantial difference between Bernard Manning, the late Bill Hicks, Chris Rock, Lenny Henry etc etc and myself. One of the main jobs of a humourist is to show people how silly the world is, which, if done well, always gets a laugh. If a humourist self-censors when attempting this he or she is buying in to the silliness. Bernard Manning was no saint (a saintly commedian would be a paradox the universe couldn't contain) but he understood working people, stayed with them and always treated their views on life as valid. He did not patronise them. Anybody, for example, social workers, policeman and priests, who wants to work with working people, must do the same. Otherwise, you just get the piss taken out of you - and not in a funny way.
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