Today marks the eightieth birthday of that lovely, comedy hero Barry Cryer O.B.E. Baz has been an influence, a support, and a dear chum to me for many years; a gentleman fuelled by booze, fags, laughter, and loyalty. He also remains a champion of great comedy, past, present, and future. One of these days, our pet project of the Forgotten Heroes of Comedy, will emerge. In the meantime, those splendid chaps at the Slapstick Festival and Aardman Animation, decreed Baz a Comedy Legend at a special celebration at the Bristol Old Vic last Friday. Quite right too! Graeme Garden proceeded over the event. Alas, I couldn’t attend but, along with other friends such as Jack Dee and Jeremy Hardy, I contributed an especially filmed tribute. Here’s to you, Baz. A God amongst men!

Sad to hear that Shaw Taylor died at his home of the Isle of Wight today. He was 90. I was fortunate enough to spent some time with him when he starred opposite Jack Douglas in a Shanklin Theatre production of the Brian Clemens and Dennis Spooner comedy thriller ‘A Sting in the Tail’. An actor before, during, and after ‘Police 5’, Shaw Taylor left a mark in comedy with a cameo as himself in the 1977 film ‘Adventures of a Private Eye’. He also hosted the 1973 television programme ‘What A Carry On!’, which showcased the opening night of the West End revue ‘Carry On London!’. He was a thoroughly charming chap.

It was off to Jongluers Camden last night for the Chortle Awards. The laughs and wine flowed, with such diverse talents as Richard Herring, Su Pollard, Matt Berry, Nancy Dell’Olio, Christopher Biggins, Norman Lovett, and Hattie Hayridge dishing out the prizes. I was delighted to see Reece Shearsmith pick up the TV award for ‘Inside No. 9’, while other notable winners included Stewart Lee for Best DVD, ‘No Such Thing As A Fish’ for the Internet award, and Katherine Ryan for Club Comic. The final accolade went to the Monty Python team, their O2 reunion shows being named Event of the Year. Terry Jones was on hand to accept the award.

This month’s ‘Robert Ross Requests the Pleasure…’ at the Museum of Comedy in Bloomsbury is on Sunday the 29th March from 4pm. It promises to be an epic occasion as my very special guests are Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Through conversation ranging from their first meeting at Oxford University, to the O2 Monty Python reunion shows of last year, this will be a gallop through 50 years of classic comedy you simply can’t afford to miss.

A reflective day of celebration on what *should* have been the 57th birthday of Dr. The Rik Mayall. It still seems utterly, utterly wrong for me to write of Rik in the past tense. In London, The Rik Mayall Marathon Convention saw fans, friends and colleagues foregather in his name, while across the nation and beyond, social media was awash with his devilish grin, poignant words, and affectionate two-finger salute. Quite right too.

It seems impossible to believe that it is twenty, long years since we lost the unique Vivian Stanshall: singer-songwriter, poet, communicator extraordinaire, multi-instrumentalist, mentalist, professional eccentric, and purveyor of inspired, therapeutic lunacy. A glass or two was raised in his honour. It’s what he would have wanted…