Just Like That !!

[X-ray]

Well, a few weeks ago I bought a T-shirt at the Camden Market here in London. It is white with a fez in the middle and two hands reaching out underneath it. Written across the front in black is "...Just like that!"

Many of you will know that Tommy Cooper was a comic genius known for his fez and his trademark saying "Just like that." I recently bought one of the Best of Tommy Cooper DVDs and I have been enjoying that. He died in 1984, on stage, doing what he loved best.

Anyway, the reason I am bringing Tommy Coooper up, is because I got a bloke into some trouble today. At lunch time I went up to the local chippie (I think they are Turks, can't be sure) and the dude who was serving me was looking at the fez on my T-shirt. So I said "Just like that!" and did the move with the hands and said 'You know, Tommy Cooper" because I was sure he wouldn't know what that means.
Well, did he have a surprise for me! He put the chips down and did the Tommy Cooper impression almost perfectly. It turns out this guy had a restaurant in Chiswick in the 70s and Tommy Cooper was a regular patron there. Of course I couldn't stand to be out-done (especially since I have the T-shirt and the DVD dammit) so I let loose a few more "Just like thats" and he kept pace. It was mental, like a Monty Python scene and in the end I packed out laughing, couldn't help it. Meanwhile the dude's boss was on the phone to somebody and he looked quite tense and in the end he semaphored something to this guy because he couldn't hear himself talking on the phone. Well I left and thought nothing of it.
Okay, fast forward a few hours. I just went out again because I had a craving for ribs and that dude is in the dogbox with his boss. Apparently that call was very important. It was to do with contractual obligations and repairs to their fridges. The company won't pay or something to that effect. The boss spoke to me about this because I asked what was wrong and apparently that laughing intruded on the phone call. He doesn't blame me, because he says the customer is always right, but I know for a fact I was laughing the loudest. He blames the other guy for making me laugh.
So the other guy had a long face because he was in trouble.
I said "Sorry, man, you need to blame Tommy Cooper for this," and as I walked out with the ribs under my arm, I said to them all "Just like that!!"

 :-)

[Oliver]

Hmm, great anecdote.  Humour, irony, pathos, and nostalgia, all wrapped up in butchers' paper.

[Leifern]

Brilliant!  :lol: Never heard of the guy, but funny anyway! :crazy:

[GadgetMaster]

X-ray wrote:

He died in 1984, on stage, doing what he loved best.

I was watching that live on the telly when it happened :-o.

It was a Royal Variety Perfomance something or other..

He was doing some sort of spoof escapology stunt and was climbing into a sack when he collapsed. The tragic thing is that the crowd burst out laughing thinking that it was all part of his act  :-?. It even took the organisers a few seconds too long to realise that there was something wrong and that it wasn't just some improvisation. They quickly drew the stage curtains and the channel went to a commercial break or something. I still remember it vividly. After the break the news of the sad loss was brought to us :cry:  ...He was missed. A comic genius...

Oh! btw, I doubt it very that much he loved having heart attacks .... ;-)

And regarding that man in the chippy, if he loses his job ......at least he lost it doing what he loved best ....Just like that!!. :lol:


... I'll get my coat

[X-ray]

@ Gadgetmaster

Yep, Tommy Cooper is one of my all time favourite personalities. Another one is Sid James (best laugh I ever heard, the only laugh that I admit is dirtier than mine).

Oh that reminds me, we have the Allas, Smith and Jones DVD to look forward to in December. I remember laughing so hard at one of their sketches that I couldn't get up off the floor. That was back in 1990. I hope they have that sketch on the DVD (and I hope the BBC pulls its finger out and releases the thing, I've been waiting long now and it has already been delayed twice.)

[Karlos]

Yeah, I can remember that very distinctly too. I was only 9 at the time, I remember being totally heartbroken.