The Essential Dave Allen - Hardcover

'A wonderful anthology of Allen's very best material' -- Jack Dee on THE ESSENTIAL DAVE ALLEN 'He was the uncle to end all uncles, childlike yet oracular and possessed of a ravenous appetite for human folly. When he adjusted his waistcoat or shot his cuffs, dragons of unreason gasped and died at his feet.' -- Dylan Moran 'There was no one quite like him -- the stool, the smile, the cigarette, the hand gesture, the slow burn. He was a master storyteller.' -- Alan Yentob 'He was daring first and foremost, and you felt daring watching him on TV when your parents were out, and he was influential in a much more meaningful way than comics who are perhaps more name-checked, such as Bill Hicks. He belonged to that oral tradition, bringing a unique Irish storytelling sensibility to a huge television audience. It seems incredible to me now that he got away with what he did on prime-time TV. There is nothing remotely like it now.' -- Ardal O'Hanlon 'Like all the good comics, he was a perfectionist - he wouldn't settle for anything less. I watched him develop, from his days on The Val Doonican Show to becoming a storyteller, delivering his polemics. He was so serious and committed, but he proved you could be serious and funny -- he was our Bill Hicks.' -- Barry Cryer 'The first stand-up to elevate the telling of the story above the punchline.' -- Sean O'Hagan, Observer 'Dave Allen was an iconic figure of 1970s comedy. At its best the work displays a wry, Thurbereresque grasp of human fears and folly, a sense of the ridiculous to rival that of Flann O' Brien.' -- Metro

The spotlight picked him out: the cool, calm, darkly handsome man sitting up smart and straight in his black leather chair, with a glass of the good stuff by his side and mischief in his eyes. He welcomed you in, and then started sharing stories some of them short, many of them tall and one or two of them strange that made you laugh and made you think. He was Dave Allen, and "The Essential Dave Allen" is a celebration of his very special craft. The range of comic material in the collection covers every stage of life, from the cradle to the grave and beyond, as well as religion and politics, love and sex, food and drink, work and leisure and time and transience. All of Dave Allen's best-loved jokes, monologues and routines are reproduced just as the master storyteller told them. "The Essential Dave Allen" is a wonderful souvenir for those who grew up loving the man and his humour. For those who are new to him, it is an engaging introduction to a comedian who won the admiration of millions of fans in Ireland, Britain, Australia and beyond.