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Chic Murray's Funnyosities
Chic Murray is a cult figure of alternative humour, a comedic pioneer ranked in the highest echelons of his art in the last century and admired around the world. Chic Murray's Funnyosities features a huge number of Chic's funniest one-liners – some well known and others taken from material newly found by the great man's family. This collection is the perfect distillation of Chic's gloriously off-beat humour.
160 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2009
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About the author
Chic Murray
3 booksCharles Thomas McKinnon "Chic" Murray, was a Scottish comedian and actor. He appeared in various roles on British television and film, most notably in the 1967 version of Casino Royale, and portrayed Liverpool Football Club manager Bill Shankly in a musical. In 2005, he was named The Comedian's Comedian.
Murray was born in Greenock, Inverclyde. He began his career as a musician in amateur groups such as "The Whinhillbillies" and "Chic and His Chicks" while an apprentice at the Kincaid shipyard, Inverclyde, in 1934. Maidie Dickson (1922 - 2010) was already a seasoned star in her own right (having worked since she was 3 with many of the great stars of the time), when she was playing the Greenock Empire. Chic's mother was the welfare officer and put Maidie up in her home. Subsequently, Maidie gave Chic parts within her own act and he formed a double-act with her. Billed as "The Tall Droll with the Small Doll" (he was 6'3" tall, she was 4'11") and also as "Maidie and Murray", their combination of jokes and songs made them popular on television and in theatres throughout the country. Their success peaked in 1956 when they were selected to appear in the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, but, due to the Suez Crisis, the show was cancelled. Maidie and Chic had had much success at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London.
Later, working as a solo act, with a forbidding expression and omnipresent bunnet, Murray offered a comic vision of the world that was absurd and surreal. One example was his early-1970s BBC Scotland series Chic's Chat, where his version of acting as DJ for the (occasional) records he played was unique. The show also featured surreal dialogues with a "man at the window" of his studio, played by Willie Joss, who invariably referred to Murray by the name of "Chips". Another was his eccentrically decorated hotel in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, which did not outlive the 1980s.
Murray was born in Greenock, Inverclyde. He began his career as a musician in amateur groups such as "The Whinhillbillies" and "Chic and His Chicks" while an apprentice at the Kincaid shipyard, Inverclyde, in 1934. Maidie Dickson (1922 - 2010) was already a seasoned star in her own right (having worked since she was 3 with many of the great stars of the time), when she was playing the Greenock Empire. Chic's mother was the welfare officer and put Maidie up in her home. Subsequently, Maidie gave Chic parts within her own act and he formed a double-act with her. Billed as "The Tall Droll with the Small Doll" (he was 6'3" tall, she was 4'11") and also as "Maidie and Murray", their combination of jokes and songs made them popular on television and in theatres throughout the country. Their success peaked in 1956 when they were selected to appear in the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, but, due to the Suez Crisis, the show was cancelled. Maidie and Chic had had much success at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London.
Later, working as a solo act, with a forbidding expression and omnipresent bunnet, Murray offered a comic vision of the world that was absurd and surreal. One example was his early-1970s BBC Scotland series Chic's Chat, where his version of acting as DJ for the (occasional) records he played was unique. The show also featured surreal dialogues with a "man at the window" of his studio, played by Willie Joss, who invariably referred to Murray by the name of "Chips". Another was his eccentrically decorated hotel in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, which did not outlive the 1980s.
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October 23, 2020
The. Man was a genius!
The Scottish Men Dodd, shares my West of Scotland dry humour! No wonder he was a friend of The Big Yin who has a Clydesiders wit. Dry v Manic!
The Scottish Men Dodd, shares my West of Scotland dry humour! No wonder he was a friend of The Big Yin who has a Clydesiders wit. Dry v Manic!
Displaying 1 of 1 review