Count Arthur Strong

Count Arthur Strong is a fictional comedy character created by English comedian Steve Delaney. He is an elderly pompous out-of-work deluded thespian from the North of England who is challenged by attention deficit disorder and memory loss. He is apt to use malapropisms in his attempts to sound educated.

Delaney grew up in Leeds. He created the Count in the 1980s, when he was a drama student at Central School of Speech and Drama in London and performed him at the end of term show, having drawn inspiration from characters he met during his childhood. However he put him to one side for several years during which he worked as an actor, appearing on Television in dramas such as 'Juliet Bravo', 'The Flying Lady', 'Casualty', 'The Bill', 'All Creatures Great and Small', 'Poirot'.

In 1997 Delaney resurrected him for his stand up comedy routine which gained a cult following in clubs. The character was performed at the Edinburgh Festival for several years to increasing praise and BBC Radio 4 launched a series for him in 2005. A second radio series was recorded between September 2006 and January 2007 at the Komedia Theatre, Brighton, and started to broadcast on Radio 4 at the end of February 2007. A third series began in late December 2007, still on Radio 4. A fourth begins recording in the autumn of 2008, for transmission early 2009.

The character has appeared on Mark Radcliffe's BBC Radio 2 show and can be seen on YouTube supporting Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Chicken Out! campaign, and on BBC Radio 4 show "The Remains of Foley & McColl".

2008 The Count recently finished a second tour of Count Arthur Strong the Musical which is planned for a DVD release August 2008.

His new show Count Arthur Strong - The Man Behind The Smile' is currently at the Edinburgh Festival Assembly Rooms.

Characteristics

A typical conversation for the Count will involve him confusing both himself and others, while becoming drastically sidetracked from the matter in hand. He is usually oblivious to the chaos he causes, often blaming his interlocutors for any confusion. On the rare occasions he realises he is at fault, he often attempts to extract himself with attempts to lie his way out of trouble. Inevitably becoming confused by his own lies, his last resort is usually to claim he was recording a stunt for a hidden camera show.

He has a misguided belief in his ability to hold his drink, and has oftened performed on stage or live TV/radio when drunk (or occasionally, concussed, with similar effects). He will often go to great lengths in order to get drunk cheaply.

Interestingly, the list of TV shows in which Count Arthur claims to have appeared is remarkably similar to Delaney's own list (see above). However, the one role that Count Arthur speaks about wherever possible, is Bridge Up The River Kwai (sic), appearing alongside Alec Guiness (usually refering to as some variation of "Alex Guinness book"), and appears to resent that Guinness got the part instead of him, although he does point out that he took over the role for the musical version. He also seems resentful that Sean Connery beat him to the lead role in what he usually calls Doctor Nolittle.

The Count (wrongly) believes himself to be an expert on Egyptology, leading to the show "Count Arthur Strong's Forgotten Egypt". This stems from his army days when he toured Egypt as part of the cast of what he calls Piddler On The Roof.

He claims to have many show business friends, although apart from Guinness, this seems limited to brief conversations with Anita Harris and Jimmy Clitheroe. He also appears to have a mixed relationship with Edward Woodward. While resenting Woodward's success, he also claims that his advice meant that "for the first time in years, Edward Woodward can cross his legs when he sits down". Woodward's name causes the Count many problems, calling him "Edward Woodwardward", "Edward Woodwind", "Edward Woodbine", "Wedward Goodwood" etc.

In many of his shows, the Count is seen with his protege, Malcolm Titter. Malcolm is a budding actor and playwright, and goes to the Count for acting lessons. Unsurprisingly, the result is that the naive Malcolm's work is shown to be utterly abysmal.

See also

* John Shuttleworth, another fictional comic "persona" from the North of England, created by Graham Fellows.

External links

* [http://www.countarthurstrong.com/ Count Arthur Strong official site]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/countarthurstrong/ Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!] (BBC Radio 4 page)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/countarthurstrong/pip/archive/ Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!] (BBC Radio 4 archive 2007)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/countarthurstrong/pip/archive/?2006 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!] (BBC Radio 4 archive 2006)
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/countarthurstrong/pip/archive/?2005 Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!] (BBC Radio 4 archive 2005)
* [http://www.komediaentertainment.com/count_arthur_strong/reviews.php Count Arthur Strong - Reviews]