Bob Monkhouse was a giant of British comedy, a performer whose career as Britain's leading game show host perhaps masked what an outstanding stand up comedian he was. A 'human Google' with an unrivalled and encyclopaedic knowledge of comedy, Monkhouse's tentative teenage steps into show business saw him writing jokes for the legendary Max Miller. Before long Monkhouse had formed a writing partnership with Denis Goodwin and together they became the most prolific writers in British radio comedy of the times. A career in front of the microphone and camera beckoned, and Bob Monkhouse never looked back. He became one of the biggest stars in Britain, and in the final decade of his life was regarded as the elder statesman of British comedy, revered and respected by younger comedians.

Robin Williams' comic genius was first widely seen in a 1978 guest spot on America's top rating sitcom Happy Days, and its spin off built around his talents Mork and Mindy. He was without question the most exciting comedy talent of his generation, his dazzling comic brain in seemingly endless overdrive as he riffed in freeform during extraordinary stand up routines and not-to-be-missed appearances on talk shows in both America and Britain. Movie superstardom was inevitable, with Good Morning Vietnam, Dead Poets' Society and Good Will Hunting and many other films establishing Williams as a major box office draw, but it is for his peerless comedic skills that he is discussed here, as Mark Wells and John Marley dive into - and enjoy - the comedy of Bob Monkhouse and Robin Williams.

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