Review: Eric Morecambe Unseen The Lost Diaries, Jokes and Photographs

Following the wonderful performance by Bob Golding in 'Morecambe' I was inspired to read more about Eric Morecambe and this book leapt out at me from the library shelves. This book takes a look at the many chapters of Eric Morecambe' life briefly touching on all the major events in his life and the relationships, however the main attraction is the rare photos ranging from early pictures of his as Eric Bartholemew before his relationship with Ernie Wise to pictures of him at home with his family. Putting these photos alongside the text about his life gives a better insight into a man born to perform but dedicated to his family. All the stories you already know about Morecambe and Wise are here, there are some more personal stories interweaved though. The biographical part of this book is very well written and was an interesting look at the life of this comedy giant which I really enjoyed reading. The second half of the book looks at Eric's material from his unfinished stories to the diaries he kept from 67, 68 and 69. His diaries are a fascinating look at the end of the Variety Theatre circuit which was dying by the end of the 60s but still Morecambe and Wise toured them packing in crowds with their box office smashing act. My favourite section has to be the one liners however, Morecambe was a man of great wit and excellent delivery and even reading them written down you can imagine his mannerisms and how he would say it and they made me laugh out loud. Here are a few of those great one liners:

'My eyes are no good anymore - I've got my wife to prove it'

'They say bread cast upon the water comes back to you a hundred fold. Fine! But what am I going to do with a hundred wet loaves?'

'Out of bounds - a tired Kangaroo'

and my favourite ...

'Agent - A man who's annoyed because you get 90% of his salary'

This book is full of so much to make you smile and Eric Morecambes own smile is on nearly every page. A fitting book for those who grew up watching Morecambe and Wise and also perfect for anyone interested in why those two still capture the British publics imagination even today. I would reccomend this book to anyone. To purchase it please click here.