Last week I was listening to The News Quiz and wondering why I hadn’t heard Jeremy Hardy for a while and wondering if he had been politically corrected out. Yesterday came the news of his passing.
I try to only write obituaries for people who are especially important to me and occupy a fair bit of space on my iPod. Jeremy Hardy qualifies on both counts. I started listening to I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue in the early 80s, but it gained a fresh lease of life when a new generation of panelists joined following Willie Rushton’s death. Jeremy was the one who established himself as the nearest thing to a regular, the dreadful singing was what he came to be known for, but his contribution was much wider than that and he very rarely brought his politics to the show, making the occasion of his appearance on Just a Minute using the Royal Family for the subject “parasites” clearly a deliberate grenade, as he always respected the format of ISIHAC and didn’t use it as a platform. Unlike the News Quiz where his “rants” were often aimed at topics inspired by his views. They were however always funny whether you shared his views or not. The “Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation” series on Radio 4 could be variable in quality but the best are magical. I saw him perform stand up at Edinburgh some years ago and as part of the ISIHAC live show in Bristol more recently.
To focus on his politics is to miss the point of his humour, the dry self deprecating wit which acknowledged his background, and looked to highlight the absurdities of our lives. He was of his generation, only 2 years older than me, and the shared “growing up” space is what speaks to me at least. The fact that his passing has drawn such genuine mourning from his own profession, visit Mark Steel’s Twitter for a flavour, says all there is to be said about his qualities as a man. Even the Daily Mail has reported his loss as straight news, which I’m sure would have amused him.
Mark Steel’s obituary in The Independent is HERE
His interview with another friend Jack Dee on Radio 4’s Chain Reaction is HERE.
