BUCK KINGSLEY. Comedian extraordinaire.
Life had never been easy for Buck, and as far as he could estimate, it wouldn’t be getting better any time soon.
Born the eldest of five children he was always the first in line whenever any trouble had to be made accountable for.
His two younger brothers and sisters were always more than happy for him to shoulder the blame for their misdemeanour’s.
His Father Bill was a hard working, feeble man, ever downtrodden by his overbearing wife Sarah.
Whenever he had an idea or suggestion it was almost certain to be considered to be wrong or stupid, so,he satisfied himself in sitting by the fireside in his easy-chair, and listening to his children’s banter.
They were, all of them, his pride and joy, but he knew that Sarah had a soft spot for Buck alone.
Buck was so unlike his Father. Where his Father was small and pale, Buck was tall and gypsy-like in his colouring.
Broad of face, with clear blue eyes and wonderfully perfect teeth, he was more like a child of another man, but this was never inferred or hinted at in the family circle.
The two other brothers, Ted and John, were both lazy and selfish, forever squabbling at the meal-table for more than their fair share of the food.
Not that there was ever that much to squabble over.
The two girls, Clara and Lizzie, were inseparable, and spent their time in planning ways to get the boys into trouble with Sarah, who was very heavy-handed with them, and slaps were delivered with force on every occasion.
Buck however usually managed to get away with a verbal warning.
The family lived in a very old, dilapidated house, whose owner was a very tight-fisted old lady, and she was loath to spend one penny on the house’s upkeep, but was very punctual regarding the collection of the weekly rent.
So this is where Buck finds himself; approaching nineteen years of age, with no regular job or income, and no inherent skills apart from his quick wit and ever-ready smile.
His friends were many, for he was a very likeable lad, and he always found some way of earning a few shillings every day to replenish his ever-dwindling supply of cigarettes.
He had started smoking at a very early age, as all of his peers appeared more grown-up and worldly-wise than the non smokers in the group.
His closest friend was Davie, a small talkative man, full of energy and wit.
Davie had aspirations of becoming the next Fred Astaire, and would spend hours rehearsing the steps that he had seen performed by Astaire in the local cinema.
He was quite talented, but would never prove to have the necessary agility and looks to find a place in show business, let alone the silver screen.
The passage of time would prove to be his eventual downfall, with emphysema and eventual heart problems finally lowering the curtain on his dreams of fame.
Another close friend was “Cornie.” He was a fantastic singer, and he used to go around the pubs and working men’s clubs in the evening.
He sang for drinks and a few shillings from the management of the establishment. One evening Cornie was performing in a club, and in the interval, seeing Buck sitting there in the background, he asked him if he would come on stage and tell a few jokes. Buck said he wouldn’t, but Cornie was determined to get his friend onto the stage. After singing a few numbers he called for silence, and to a roll of drums he announced that “Buck Kingsley” would now continue the entertainment.
Buck took the stage to a smattering of applause and started to tell the range of jokes that he knew well.
He told these jokes very well and he soon had the audience roaring with laughter.
This was a North-East England working-men’s club, and it was always a difficult audience to entertain, but Buck had them eating out of the palm of his hand.
He was warming to his being on-stage when he realised that his list of jokes was running out.
Undeterred he started to improvise and started to talk about local celebrities and others.
He even started to make comments about people in the audience, but always in such a manner that he didn’t embarrass the “victims” too much.
He was well acquainted with most of the audience so it wasn’t too difficult for him to drag up stories about these peoples pasts. He was the FIRST comedian in England to adopt this routine, for routine it was to become.
Buck had found his place in society! He was a natural-born comedian.
Kitos.