Pye, John – You just couldn’t gag John

John Pye (1933-2007)

John Pye put a broad smile on the face of the great British public – most of whom had never heard of him.

For John, who lived on Redcliffe Road, Grantham, was  a gag writer who wrote rib-tickling gags for comedian Ken Dodd since 1963, this despite suffering from Parkinsons Disease for the last 15 years of his life.

Grantham born, he was brought up at Harrowby Close, and after a spell at Little Gonerby School, Albion Street, he went to the National School and finally the Wesleyan School, Wharf Road.

He learned a trade as a cabinet maker with Dixon’s, the Wharf Road furnishers,  and after two years National Service with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment as a gunner/rifleman in Germany and Egypt, he returned – this time as a salesman.  His day job was in selling for the rest of his life, but he is best known as a joke writer.

John wrote for many comedians and his work was used most weeks over 14 years for BBC Radio 4’s Week Ending, and the News Huddlines broadcast his material, but he most empathised with Ken Dodd’s brand of humour.

John saw his first stage show, Radio Roundabout, in October 1946 at Grantham’s State Cinema where Max and Harry Nesbitt topped the bill.

It was a memorable night that propelled him into watching top comedians perform.

He first saw Ken Dodd at Blackpool in 1955, when he was captivated by his manic style of comedy, and later got to know him.

John appeared at the London Palladium with Doddy in the 1980s. He remembers standing on the vast stage where years before he had seen Bob Hope and Jack Benny.

He gave talks to numerous groups about scriptwriting and his heroes of comedy.

Until 2001 he ran In Touch, a St Peter’s Hill greetings card shop, with his wife Jennifer, a former beauty queen, for 28 years.