One half of The Chuckle Brothers
Born: December 24th 1944
Died: August 5th 2018.
Barry Chuckle, who has died aged 73, and his brother Paul established themselves amongst the most popular children’s’ entertainers on television. Their show Chuckle Vision ran for 292 episodes on BBCTV between 1987 and 2009.
Its zany, quirky humour appealed to the young at heart. There was never anything rude or smug about their shows – just good old fashioned crackpot comedy. The double act was full of banter and visual humour which never patronised their young audience.
Barry, who was the smaller of the two, was always the clown and came off the worse in putdowns and slapstick routines. “It’s simple humour everyone can laugh at,” he said. “Like if someone falls over in the street, you laugh, when perhaps you shouldn’t. Different humour comes in and out of fashion, but funny is funny as far as I’m concerned.”
They had a simple formula to which they kept throughout their long career in show business. They both had bushy moustaches and rubbery faces, invariably causing chaos when they had to do a domestic or household task. As things dissolved into farce they would burst into laughter and repeat their catchphrases: “To me, to you” and “Oh Dear. Oh Dear.”
They began their careers in Edinburgh. Barry was 18 (Paul was just 15) when the brothers made their stage debut, as the Harman Brothers, supporting Dorothy Squires at the Edinburgh Palladium in 1963. They were often seen in Scotland and last year they toured various clubs in the central belt.
Barry David Elliott was born in Rotherham into a music hall family – his father was a comic and his mother a dancer. The early years were not easy and despite taking their act as the Harman Brothers to summer shows and working men’s clubs, they decided to rethink it, “If no one over the age of eight likes us, then sod ’em, we’ll target the tots,” Elliott recalled.
They won the prestigious ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1967 followed by success on New Faces in 1974. In the dialogue-free The Chucklehounds (BBC, 1985-86) Barry and Paul set fresh standards for children’s entertainment. They appeared as dogs who do odd jobs. It captured a large audience so the BBC offered them Chuckle Vision which became one of the most popular early evening shows on television.
Into this wild cocktail of comedy the brothers introduced The McChuckles. From the first series they popped up dressed in weird tartan with incomprehensible accents. In one episode they attended the Loch Aye Highland Games. They always carried their bagpipes – but never attempted to play them.
After the run of Chuckle Vision finished the brothers did panto and guest appearances on various comedy shows. Their brand of humour returned to the spotlight when the Rev Ian Paisley, the DUP leader, and his arch- enemy, Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein were dubbed “the Chuckle Brothers”.
The brothers were also not forgotten in Dundee. On the day after his death a graffiti artist created a mural of Elliott at the Robertson Street Community Garden.
Barry Elliott once quipped they were just, “Two bumbling idiots who think they can do everything and can’t.”
Barry Chuckle is survived by his wife Ann and their two children.
Alasdair Steven
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