Have a drink, for Pete's sake
Fans to mark Cook's 70th birthday
Fans of Peter Cook are to celebrate his birthday with ‘an unconventional drinking orgy’ at the venue where his groundbreaking Establishment Club once stood.For one of the tributes being held at Saturday’s bash, two genuine toilet attendants will attempt to reenact the Derek & Clive sessions Cook originally recorded with Dudley Moore.
Organisers of the private party also promise sketches by some ‘very respected’ comedians, a performance of the Edinburgh Fringe Play Goodbye: The Afterlife of Cook and Moore, as well as a Derek & Clive’eraoke in which fans act out other bits of Pete and Dud dialogue.
Cook would have been 70 on Saturday, had he not died in 1995 from internal haemorrhaging, linked to his heavy drinking.
Fans are also organising a petition to have a blue plaque put up on The Establishment Club, which is now The Boardwalk bar, in honour of Cook and other comics who played there.
Cook opened the venue in Greek Street, Soho, in 1961, and it played host to the likes of Lenny Bruce, Barry Humphries and Frankie Howerd in its short history.
The event is free, but only to 150 fans who confirm their attendance via a Facebook group.
Watch Peter Cook discuss The Establishment Club with Clive James:
Published: 13 Nov 2007
