More botched magic, corny jokes and slapstick sketches were the name of the game in this short lived but amusing series broadcast by Thames Television in 1980.
I didn't care one bit for the dance and musical sequences ( as you will probably have gathered from my reviews on Stanley Baxter's comedy shows, music and dance acts are something I cannot abide! ) but Tommy's magical work coupled with his bad jokes ( which were that bad they were hilarious ) made for some fine comedy.
An example of his corny humour: ''My dog bit a big lump out of my knee once and my wife asked if I put anything on it, so I said ''No, he liked it as it was!''. An amusing sketch saw Tommy as a water diviner being led towards a source with a divining rod, only to be drenched by a woman tossing a pail of water out of her window!
Whilst Tommy based his act on being a terrible magician, in reality he was actually quite accomplished in that area ( in much the same way Les Dawson was a talented pianist, who based his act on not being able to play the piano ). One will also of course have noticed that in the midst of messing up a trick, Cooper actually ended up creating something brilliant.
'Cooper's Half Hour' was successful but unfortunately was finished after one series, just like that!
I didn't care one bit for the dance and musical sequences ( as you will probably have gathered from my reviews on Stanley Baxter's comedy shows, music and dance acts are something I cannot abide! ) but Tommy's magical work coupled with his bad jokes ( which were that bad they were hilarious ) made for some fine comedy.
An example of his corny humour: ''My dog bit a big lump out of my knee once and my wife asked if I put anything on it, so I said ''No, he liked it as it was!''. An amusing sketch saw Tommy as a water diviner being led towards a source with a divining rod, only to be drenched by a woman tossing a pail of water out of her window!
Whilst Tommy based his act on being a terrible magician, in reality he was actually quite accomplished in that area ( in much the same way Les Dawson was a talented pianist, who based his act on not being able to play the piano ). One will also of course have noticed that in the midst of messing up a trick, Cooper actually ended up creating something brilliant.
'Cooper's Half Hour' was successful but unfortunately was finished after one series, just like that!
