Arthur Haynes is a comedian I did not find easy to be able to take to. I did not hate him, nor did I even dislike him but this example of his work - 'The Arthur Haynes Show' - was too repetitive and one-dimensional to do much to endear itself to me.
Arthur played a variety of different characters all with the same personality - straight talking, conniving, common as muck. Like the later Stanley Baxter shows and, even to an extent, 'The Two Ronnies', the sketches were marred with being too overlong, meaning interest was long lost by the time the sketch reached its conclusion.
I did laugh out loud though with a sketch in which Arthur frantically approached a passer-by in the street asking if he has seen a policeman anywhere and when the passer by vehemently informs him he has not seen one, he holds the passer-by at gun point, demanding he hand over his wallet!
There were also a fair amount of musical performers on the show, one of which being Aileen Cochrane. This alas was another black mark against the show.
Another notable thing about the show was it launched to stardom the then unknown Nicholas Parsons, who acted as Haynes' sidekick throughout the show's run.
Haynes died in 1966, aged 52. He was popular, I cannot deny that but unfortunately he was not my cup of tea. However, six decades on his work is clearly still enjoyed by people so that is something I cannot take away from him.
Arthur played a variety of different characters all with the same personality - straight talking, conniving, common as muck. Like the later Stanley Baxter shows and, even to an extent, 'The Two Ronnies', the sketches were marred with being too overlong, meaning interest was long lost by the time the sketch reached its conclusion.
I did laugh out loud though with a sketch in which Arthur frantically approached a passer-by in the street asking if he has seen a policeman anywhere and when the passer by vehemently informs him he has not seen one, he holds the passer-by at gun point, demanding he hand over his wallet!
There were also a fair amount of musical performers on the show, one of which being Aileen Cochrane. This alas was another black mark against the show.
Another notable thing about the show was it launched to stardom the then unknown Nicholas Parsons, who acted as Haynes' sidekick throughout the show's run.
Haynes died in 1966, aged 52. He was popular, I cannot deny that but unfortunately he was not my cup of tea. However, six decades on his work is clearly still enjoyed by people so that is something I cannot take away from him.