For the Observer Magazine of 9 September 1973, the legendary theatre critic Kenneth Tynan turned his attention to the comic genius of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise as they celebrated their 30th anniversary as a double act.
Tynan argued that they were at the point where ‘sheer professional skill, raised to the highest degree by the refining drudgery of constant practice, evolves into something different in kind, conferring on its possessors an assurance that enables them to take off, to ignore, to achieve outrageous feats of timing and audience control.’
But it was Morecambe’s mastery he focused on: ‘Eric in particular has burgeoned into one of the most richly quirkish and hypnotic performers in the history of the box.’ And – referring to the famous sketch in which Morecambe says he’s playing the right notes ‘but not necessarily in the right order’ – ‘He can even bully André Previn and the London Philharmonic.’
He marvelled at Morecambe’s reflexes, which were ‘among the wonders of the profession. He can modulate through a series like alarm/aggression/collapse/recovery/snide insinuation in about four seconds.’
‘Ernie is the classic stooge, dapper and aggressive… Eric is the comic off whose foolishness Ernie scores,’ he wrote. ‘Huge black horn rims are a vital part of his persona. They highlight… the look of suddenly dawning enlightenment, the blank stare aimed straight at the camera, the smug oeillade that accompanies asides like: “This boy is a fool.”’
Tynan argued that they ‘actually improved on the way from the variety stage to the small screen’ and noted how they had become ‘two egotists in… equal competition’ rather than simply comic and stooge. ‘Ernie today is the comic who is not funny. And Eric… is the straight man who is funny. The combination is brilliant, wholly original and irresistible.’
