I was so sad to learn that Tony Phillips passed away earlier this month.
Tony was a bit of a local celebrity and was a face you'd always see around Hitchin, whether you knew him or not. He was a longterm friend of Doggett & Ephgrave, who always supported our projects and often lent us a hand as we did to him. And he was a creative powerhouse, forever writing and performing, and always trying something new; he put us (relative) youngsters to shame really.
I believe it was 2010 when he took a two-hander about Glenn Miller to the Edinburgh Fringe. Glyn and I were there that year with our first stand-up show 'Big In Small Places', which he was good enough to attend with Hitchin's Town Centre Manager Keith Hoskins in tow. We popped to the Pleasance a few days later to watch his play, which he'd written as well as appearing in it, and we were stuck by how good it was; it still sticks in my mind vividly. It could have toured easily and had a life beyond the Fringe (which isn't a Pete & Dud reference).
I tended to bump into him on the bus in recent years when he'd always have a new writing project to talk about enthusiastically, while also enquiring how work was for me. And when I struggled to replace a large part of my Edinburgh funding when my Dad passed away before we could transfer it, Tony turned up to the next Mostly Comedy with a wodge of cash that he gave me with a silent quasi-drug-dealers' handshake. It was a kind gesture from a generous man, who understood how hard it was to get a creative project off the ground - having done it so often himself - and could only offer encouragement and advice; I hope he understood when that money had to go toward the cost of cancelling the run as my situation grew worse.
While he had considerable energy, losing his wife Martha last year inevitably had a huge impact. They were clearly a team. You'd still see him about town, but there was a gap by his side; I'd like to think they're now reunited. And I hope he's still trying to pitch his ideas to anyone who'll listen on the other side; he's probably already talked God, Jesus and Gandhi into joining him & Bruce Forsyth in a five-hander about the Rat Pack (if he hasn't convinced Sinatra to play himself).
We'll keep a comp on the door for you at Mostly Comedy forever, Tony. And I'll save a seat for you on the bus too.
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| Tony Phillips in 2013 (photo by Glyn Doggett) |