The Last Laugh

Book excerpt: Steve Walker was a professional comedy magician and MC. He was born in Yorkshire but lived most of his adult life in Sydney, Australia. After Steve's death, his fellow magicians helped to sell his estate and discovered a small note book. From 1953 until 1963, a young Steve had written down over 700 jokes, gags, one liners and wise cracks from TV and radio. What we have here then is not only a valuable source of funnies, but a unique peep into British Variety in the 1950s. Steve's friend and colleague Sean Taylor has not only deciphered the jokes, but adds his own impressions of Steve, some funny stories and even a complete transcript of his 45 minute magic act. Remarkably, the jokes were old when Steve heard them and yet, 70 years on, they are still remarkably fresh and familiar. So whether you are a magician, ventriloquist, Variety enthusiast or MC, or you just want to spice up a speech or presentation, this might just be the book for you.