Tommy Cooper, a comedian who was always full of surprises, had a special one for the organisers of the show. After rehearsing his act, Robert Nesbitt checked with him that what they had just seen was exactly what he was going to be doing on the night. "It's going to run for five minutes?" questioned the director. "You haven't left anything out, have you? That's what we'll be getting?"
Tommy Cooper said that was what he was going to be doing. Imagine Robert Nesbitt's astonishment, then when, come the evening performance, Tommy went on and did just three minutes - something almost unheard of among comedians at a Royal Variety Performance in this era.
