Bruce Forsyth's Comedy Heroes (five); WHAT makes one person laugh, makes another sit looking like someone has died.

The secret of a good joke is just that - a secret. No-one has discovered it, otherwise we'd all be laughing overselves silly.

You'd think a series such as Comedy Heroes would help unlock the comic closet to reveal a few tricks of the trade. Alas, it's little more than another excuse to re-run old TV clips.

"Entertainment legend" Bruce Forsyth took us through some of the comedy performers he admires. Rather a lot of them, to be precise, although there was a noticeable lack of representatives of the new comedy generation.

We were reminded, first of all, that Forsyth's been entertaining for more than 40 years. It was nice to see him again, to see him nice. The programme makers didn't trust his judgement as various talking heads - including Jimmy Tarbuck, Jackie Clune and Michael Grade - were on hand to back up his choices.

We learnt that as a child, he was taken to the variety theatre every week by his father. What he picked up from Max Miller was the value of making contact with the people watching him. Miller was known for his blue gags, which went over the young Brucie's head. "I didn't understand his jokes but laughed because of his contact with the audience," he said.

Much of Forsyth's appeal is down to his own interaction with the public in shows such as The Generation Game. His other choices reflected a wide range of comedy, from double acts Laurel and Hardy to comedians Les Dawson and Jackie Mason.

The bonus was the chance to see again classic sketches, including Morecambe and Wise's musical interlude with Andre Previn in their 1971 Christmas show, as well as the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Tarzan audition in which a one-legged man wanted to play the king of the jungle. "I have nothing against your right leg, unfortunately neither have you," Pete told him.

Forsyth revealed that his wife says the comedy character most like him is One Foot In The Grave's grumpy Victor Meldrew. He didn't deny it. "There's a part of my life that's always been a bit Victor," he admitted.

The programme also reminded us that Forsyth is not so much a comedian as an all-round entertainer. Two clips showing him with his comedy heroes showed this. One had him singing while Roy Castle played the trumpet. "When you got the two of them together it was like the circus has come to town. Between the two of them, they could do anything," said one observer.

Forsyth himself waxed lyrical about Sammy Davis Jr, another all-rounder with whom he did a TV show. "The best time I ever had in TV," he said.

Published: 22/03/2005