Charles Thomas McKinnon was born in the Scottish town of Greenock on the 6th of November 1919 (the same day that confirmation was announced of Einstein’s general relativity theory). It was while employed on the shipyards in 1934 that Charles Murray first began calling himself Chic, it was a name chosen for an amateur group he was part of, entitled Chic and his Chicks. Chic was renowned as a good comedian in those days and it was with no surprise when he teamed up with his wife Maidie Dickson, who was a renowned musician and artiste. The husband and wife pairing were collectively known as ‘The Tall Droll with The Small Doll’. The pairing soon built a glowing reputation throughout the land as their combination of songs and jokes made them a hit in the theatres and eventually breaking into television. They were even picked to play at the Royal Variety Show in 1956, although the show was cancelled due to the Suez Crisis. As the years passed, it became obvious that Chic was coming more and more into his own, so when Maidie decided to retire it was no surprise that Chic embarked on a solo career.

Chic and his wife, Maidie (Image Source)

The image that Chic chose to portray himself with, the ever present bunnet and the forbidding expression on his face, his comedic approach was certainly unique, certainly surreal and in many cases, certainly absurd. It was an approach that endeared Chic to many people in Scotland, although you get the feeling that some of his humour was lost on those from across the border in England and who knows what the rest of the world would make of it.

Chic in his bunnet (Image Source)

Chic made a cameo appearance in the film Casino Royale in 1967 and also played the headmaster in the film Gregory’s Girl in 1980. Some of his television work included ‘Chic’s Chat’, a series broadcast in the early 1970’s on BBC Scotland. But it was still the theatre where Chic made most of his appearances. Chic was much loved by many other comedians of the time, his Scottishness and surreal style of joke telling won many admirers but it also confused many. Chic once appeared on the TV comedy show ‘Jokers Wild’ and was asked for his take on the seaside. Chic answered with a short tale about having won the pools and telling his mother that she could have anything she wanted. His mother said she wanted to see the seaside, so Chic took her to the seaside, sat her in a deckchair and left her there for two weeks and, on returning, he asked her what she thought. His mother answered him by saying ‘Is that all it does?’. Now obviously that was not a true story, I am sure Chic would not do such a thing, but as a joke it does just show what Chic’s humour was like.

Chic of course belonged to a different era, would his style of humour be so revered today in the way someone like Billy Connolly is? The answer surely must be yes. Chic sadly passed away in January of 1985 and yet his humour is not forgotten. In January 2005 Channel Four ran a programme called ‘The Comedian’ Comedian’, it was a run down of the top 50 comedians of all-time, as selected by comedians. The top ten on the list were Peter Cook, John Cleese, Woody Allen, Eric Morecambe, Groucho Marx, Tommy Cooper, Laurel and Hardy, Billy Connolly, Reeves and Mortimer and Richard Pryor. It is easy to see why. Chic made the list at number 38, a great achievement for one not known too much out of his native land of Scotland and not bad also for one who had died 20 years before the list had been made.

Chic may be long gone but his jokes live on, the surreal, unique style may cause many to miss the point of his jokes but for others it would have them in stitches. The style he used was very often him telling the joke as if it happened to himself, even though it didn’t actually happen. Below we will take a look at some of Chic’s finest examples, hope you enjoy.

Once when Chic was on a wee sojourn round Scotland he needed to find a place to stay. He came across a Bed and Breakfast and chapped on the door, it was late at night. The landlady opened the top window and shouted down: ‘What do you want?’, Chic answered: ‘I would like to stay here’. The landlady replied ‘Well stay there then’ and shut the window.

Chic told the story of the time his neighbour asked to borrow his lawnmower. ‘Fine’, said Chic, ‘But don’t take it out my garden’.

Another story Chic loved to tell was of the time when he was driving past a farmhouse and had the great misfortune to run over the cockerel from the farm. Guilt took over Chic and he knocked on the door of the farmhouse to tell the farmer about the deceased bird. ‘I’m afraid I’ve just killed your cockerel but would like to replace it.’ Chic said. The farmer looked at him quizzically and said: ‘Fair enough, the hens are round the back.’

One day Chic was standing at the bus stop waiting for his bus home, having missed out on his dinner he was currently eating a pie supper, purchased at the local chippy. Beside him at the bus stop was a wee old woman with a dog. The dog could smell the pie supper that Chic was eating and the aroma caused much excitement to the dog, it was trying its hardest to reach it by jumping up and down. Chic noticed what the dog was doing and turned to the woman and said: ‘Would you like me to throw him a bit?’. The woman said yes so Chic bent down, picked the dog up and threw it away.

As I said earlier most of Chic’s jokes were not based on actual happenings, obviously Chic would not really have thrown a dog away like that. On the subject of animals, Chic had many jokes based on that subject. One day he was walking around London on one of his trips down south. A man approached him and asked him if he knew the Battersea Dog’s Home. Chic responded by saying: ‘I didn’t know it had been away.’

Chic also liked to visit the doctors regularly, on one such visit the doctor asked him if he was ever disturbed by improper thoughts during the night. Chic answered ‘No’ and then added for good measure ‘I actually enjoy them’. Then there was the time Chic was at the doctor complaining about having butterflies in his stomach. ‘Have you eaten anything recently’ the Doctor asked. ‘Yes, butterflies’ was Chic’s response.

Talking about Chic’s jokes about going to the doctors, here is a video on Youtube of Chic telling one of his famous jokes, performed in 1984.

Chic was also famous for his one liner jokes, here are some examples;

‘We’ve got stained glass windows in our house. It’s those damned pigeons.’

‘I first met my wife in the tunnel of love. She was digging it at the time.’

‘My mother was so house proud that when my father got up to sleepwalk she had the bed made by the time he got back’

‘My wife went to a beauty parlour and got a mudpack. For two days she looked nice, then the mud fell off.’

‘It was raining cats and dogs and I fell in a poodle.’

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