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The names of Barry Cryer's shows tell you everything you need to know about his approach to growing older. His last run was titled the First Farewell Tour, and now comes Still Alive, which comes to Epsom Playhouse on the 13th.

Tongue-in-cheek, wit undimmed, the elder statesman of comedy is still one of the best performers around.

Still Alive is a semi-improvised show in which he delves into his unrivalled 50 years in comedy, which harbours enough anecdotes and gags to fuel a small country of comedians. Clearly his regular slot on Radio 4 comedy institution I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue has kept sharp his ability to riff on a theme.

Let's have a look at this career then. Cryer has been a writer (or "comedian's labourer", as he says) for Rory Bremner, Jasper Carrott, Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Kenny Everett, Bob Hope, Frankie Howerd, Richard Pryor, the Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise, among others. That's more material than the Bayeaux tapestry.

"Eric Morecombe had the quickest brain," says Cryer, "he was one step ahead of you all the time. Morecombe and Wise were not easy to write for, they knew exactly what they wanted, but if you got it right, they would do it better than you would ever imagine. It was a joy.

"Eric was the specifically the script expert and Ernie let him get on with it, and he would immediately know if it was right or not. There will never be another Morecombe and Wise, they had their own kingdom."

Another who stands out as a great in Cryer's mind is the relatively forgotten Kenny Everett.

"He was the only non comedian I wrote for," he says, "he was a personality, three-dimensional, not a comedian and he was a complete original.

"A good comeidan will look at a script and say "that's funny but it's not me", but he was up for anything. We would be in the studio all day long, recording, taping, just enjoying ourselves and all the crew would be laughing.

"Kenny's shows never get repeated because there is a snag up with the rights, I think if it wasn't for that, he would be a cult figure for a new generation."

Speaking of whom, Cryer is very praiseworthy of today's comedians. "There is no such thing as a golden era. You remember Frankie Howerd and Tommy Cooper etc, but there was a lot of rubbish about as well.

"The present generation is brilliant. People like Bill Bailey and Ross Noble, Eddie Izzard, they're fantastic comedians and it's great to be friends of them. I go up to the Edinburgh fringe every year and they call me Uncle Baz, the old man! One guy said that I'm clean', as in, I have no baggage, I'm not an old racist or sexist comic, I'm just a writer whose name they would see on the TV credits.

"If anthing I found the older breed more self-contained and overly competitive. Today they are very respectful, they are always quoting somebody else and working together, and it happens in your audiences too - you don't just get own generation enjoying it."

Barry Cryer - Still Alive; Epsom Playhouse, Ashley Avenue, Epsom, KT18 5TL; Wednesday, February 13, 7.45pm, £15.50/£12.40, call 01372 742555 / 742227 or visit epsomplayhouse.co.uk.

2:44pm Friday 25th January 2008

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