Brilliant article, and probably more in line, with hoow Paul himself would wish to be remembered, no over the top gushing or "obligatory sowbiz tributes" complete with - ahem, cough cough cough - "witty adlibs and comin]c asides." Remember, back in the very early days when Lilly was hitting the mainstream Scene, saw a few videos of her stage shows. First few minutes I thought "hmm, so far nothing special, a drag act brought a bit more up to date, and allowed a bit more license over the topics" but what was a bit more unique was that Lilly was a Scouser, and before too long the acerbic scouse wit soon started coming to the fore, the observation of the women "in action" at the bingo, marking something like 5 cards at once, then at the interval. how they'd all get a weed on if one was hogging the fruit machine for more "turns" than were allowed. about a year or so later my wife & myself saw her on the Empire, (and took both mums, who mostly enjoyed it, apart from one or two jokes, which were like 6ft of water, (totally over their heads). Like a lot of lads, seen a few drag acts during the odd Sunday "Stag afternoons" which almost inevitably consisted of a Drag act, a comedian, then the stripper, then once or twice as sort of "Different/novelty" Cabaret acts. But Lilly was - as they say - something else entirley.
As for Paul himself, a man who despite all the deserved adulation, was never really taken with any of it, and no matter what he was doing, on stage, on tv, or on radio, the Real Paul O'Grady was never too far away.
A lovely tribute for a lovely funny and compassionate man.
Thank you Carolyn x
A quality of writing commensurate with it’s subject.
Thank you Mike! xxx
A lovely tribute to a lovely man.
Thank you Stevo x
O’Grady’s best eulogy . Thank you.
Thank you Judith x
A wonderful article and tribute to a great man. Articles like this make subscribing worth every single penny. Thank you
Brilliant article, and probably more in line, with hoow Paul himself would wish to be remembered, no over the top gushing or "obligatory sowbiz tributes" complete with - ahem, cough cough cough - "witty adlibs and comin]c asides." Remember, back in the very early days when Lilly was hitting the mainstream Scene, saw a few videos of her stage shows. First few minutes I thought "hmm, so far nothing special, a drag act brought a bit more up to date, and allowed a bit more license over the topics" but what was a bit more unique was that Lilly was a Scouser, and before too long the acerbic scouse wit soon started coming to the fore, the observation of the women "in action" at the bingo, marking something like 5 cards at once, then at the interval. how they'd all get a weed on if one was hogging the fruit machine for more "turns" than were allowed. about a year or so later my wife & myself saw her on the Empire, (and took both mums, who mostly enjoyed it, apart from one or two jokes, which were like 6ft of water, (totally over their heads). Like a lot of lads, seen a few drag acts during the odd Sunday "Stag afternoons" which almost inevitably consisted of a Drag act, a comedian, then the stripper, then once or twice as sort of "Different/novelty" Cabaret acts. But Lilly was - as they say - something else entirley.
As for Paul himself, a man who despite all the deserved adulation, was never really taken with any of it, and no matter what he was doing, on stage, on tv, or on radio, the Real Paul O'Grady was never too far away.
Deeply missed and gone way too soon
Lovely, thoughtful comments, Baz - thank you! And more fond memories too. Melissa x
Fantastic, moving and celebratory piece. Befitting of the great man himself.