An author from Glusburn has written a celebration of northern England’s many popular comic entertainers.

On Behalf of the Committee — a History of Northern Comedy is the work of Tony Hannan, a freelance journalist and former cartoonist with the Keighley News’s sister paper the Telegraph & Argus.

He began work on the 656-page book five years ago but said the current state of the economy made its publication especially timely. He said: “Historically, in times of trouble, the British public has turned to its comedians to give them a lift. And more often than not, their particular favourites have been northerners through and through.”

He explained that the book’s title was taken from the catch phrase of Colin Crompton, who played the club chairman in the “Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club” television show.

Mr Hannan said the book was a social history, as well as a tribute to the talent of comedians ranging from George Formby, Les Dawson and Gracie Fields, to Mike Yarwood, Steve Coogan and Peter Kay. It begins in the era of Victorian music hall and continues into the television and Internet age, via variety theatre, working men’s clubs and radio.

Mr Hannan said: “To begin with, I was to a large part out to dispel those clichéd regional stereotypes.

“But the more research I did, the more I detected unmistakable differences between the comedy of north and south.

“In the south — and by ‘the south’ us northerners always mean London — comedians tend more usually to deal in gags.”

He added: “Northern comedy, on the other hand, tends to be more character driven and, we might say, feminine.” “Up here, it’s all about the minutiae of everyday life.”

On Behalf of the Committee — a History of Northern Comedy is out now in hardback. It is published by Scratching Shed Publishing and is priced £25.