Les Dawson's Secret Notebooks

“The wife gave me breakfast in bed this morning . . . it flew off the plate when she threw it. I didn’t mind— there’s something vaguely sensuous about a poached egg on quilt. I know why she was angry . . . I’d spilt cocoa all down her nightdress. Serves me right for wearing it.’”




Les Dawson was the comedian’s comedian, a man with a massive following in his lifetime who has become a true cult hero. Who can forget the out-of tune piano playing, the mother-in-law jokes, and his trademark fast-fire gags and routines? Collected here by Les’s wife, Tracy, is a treasure-trove of unseen and previously unpublished Les Dawson material culled from his notebooks and diaries. Les’s determination to hone his material is clear from the boxes of hand-written gags and routines he left behind, each page funnier and more outrageous than the next. Heading after heading is followed by pages of one-liners as well as inventive letters, radio and television routines, silly drawings, and crazy, off-the-wall stories. Additionally, there are Les’s often poignant diary entries from the early days when he was a Hoover salesman struggling to make it on stage. This is a rich and fabulous feast indeed, and one that will be devoured by Les Dawson’s countless fans.