I told you I was ill!

Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite (I told you I was ill).

The words on Spike Milligan’s gravestone, as gaeilge (in Gaelic) as the Church would not allow the English translation in its graveyard. Even in death, there was controversy & triumph.

Spike’s foolishness was my staple reading in the years 10 to 14 (and in the years beyond to the present day). I devoured anything I could find by him, his poetry, his wartime memoirs, the irrepressible puckoon... His TV show “Q” was incredible. To others it was self indulgent dross but I loved the anarchic silliness of it all. I remember the start of one episode as Spike turns up at Broadcasting House (the Beeb’s home) and takes out a giant wind up key, inserts it into the building and winds it up, starting the building…..simply brilliant, winding the BBC up which he enjoyed doing…years later I understood why.

The man is known as the father of British comedy but to be honest that is too shallow a title as British comedy is a huge force worldwide, I believe he should be known as a father of Global humour, many comedians today owe their living to this man smashing down the walls of comedy and opening up new vistas for them to perform

The “Beeb” could not understand the man or so they let on. Spike was convinced it was his “humble” beginnings which hamstrung him. He was reportedly very insecure over his lack of third level education which the college idiots at Broadcasting house turned up their noses at.

The fact was though, Spike was a manic depressive. An episode where he was bombarded in WW2 (he was an artllery signalman) had an apparent cataclysmic effect on his psyche. Reading his memoirs, it is apparent that this was the case. It is said that the line between genius & insanity is a thread. This statement unfortunately proved to be true as later on when Spike discovered fame in the Goons, the constant pressure of turning out weekly scripts threw him over the edge. In the rest of his career, Spike suffered a constant stream of mental/nervous breakdowns – Bi-polar disorder was eventually diagnosed. Milligan's own black comedy helping him to deal with this blight.

Spike was proud of his Irish roots, indeed he was proud of his Irish Citizenship and I daresay extremely proud his epitaph perplexed the powers that be! His character was incredibly complex, capable of a thousand moods. I care to remember him as a worthwhile human being who brought laughter to me on many a dark day!

If you want to read some of his stuff, start with "Puckoon", you'll never regret it!