Bob Monkhouse

[Scoobie]

He's not a Hibee, nor a football fan as I know, but he means a lot to me.

I'm not particularly sure how much you can write about someone who meant so much to an individual, but I entirely believe that Bob Monkhouse has done enough to warrant an inclusion to a Hibs fan's Bounce Angel.

As a kid in Ireland, I've grown up thinking that the likes of Bob Monkhouse, Bruce Forsyth, Dave Allen, Les Dawson, Morcombe and Wise, Chas and Dave, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, etc just epitomised the art of humour in it's truest form.

Don't get me wrong. I like the alternative artists just as I like the traditionalists, but there's something about the artform created by the old school that make humour humorous. And Mr Monkhouse was in the middle of that.

It's funny, I still think of Bob as still being alive and talking about him in the present-tense. I was inspired so much by his television programme tonight, it compelled me to put his introduction to Angels. It was obvious that he was fighting his battle against Prostate Cancer when he filmed this piece, and that showed me he was the true performer right to the end.

I'm pretty sure that no-one would have put Bob Monkhouse here, apart from me. I'm pretty sure that no-one would normally include famous people. But I believe that he has made an influence in my life just as much as a distant family member would, and boy Bob did it.

A believer in life in it's lightest form, who chats with everyone as his equal, a person who's modest when even talking about his successful career. He likes original cartoon artwork, traffic wardens, pets and people. Just like me!

Thank you Robert Monkhouse. Rest in peace.