Eric Sykes

“Some people walk on stage and the audience warms to them. You can’t explain it, and you shouldn’t try. It's an arrogant assumption to say you ‘decide’ to become a comedian. The audience decides for you.” - Eric Sykes

Earlier today, the world lost a true icon of comedy.  An actual legend.

Eric Sykes passed away aged 89.

This is another nail in the coffin of my childhood.  Along with other comedians like Les Dawson, Morecambe and Wise, Tommy Cooper, Spike Milligan, Bob Monkhouse, and so on.  These were the people that I grew up laughing at.  Laughing with.

Eric was the last one.

I still treasure the memories of my Dad videoing 'The Plank' just so we could sit down and watch it together, knowing that we had a similar sense of humour.

All of Eric's comedy shows were favourites in our house, and Dad in particular could be found howling at the telly, whenever he was on.

The last thing I personally saw him in was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which (although brief) showed that he could do dramatic roles aswell (his turn as the creepy gardener in the film 'The Others' proved this too.)

But he will be forever remembered as a comedic genius.  And rightly so.

Rest in peace, Eric. The world has lost a great man, and wonderful comedian.

Thank you for the laughter.