BERNARD MANNING Jnr Would you like to be buried or cremated, dad? BERNARD MANNING Surprise me son.Byline: By BRIAN ROBERTS EVEN at his funeral Bernard Manning managed to get the biggest laugh of the day. Mourners were told how his son, Bernard Jnr, recently asked if he wanted to be buried or cremated. With typical dry wit the comic replied: "Surprise me." The story was told by parish priest Father Bryan Cunningham at a service for the star who died at 76 last week from kidney failure. And the laughs kept coming as Bernard's wise-cracking pal, Irish comedian Frank Carson led the tributes to a congregation filled with fellow stand-up veterans. He said of the controversial funnyman fun·ny·man n. A humorous person, especially a professional comedian. : "We all loved him. He didn't spare anyone. "There are 15 or 16 comedians in here who are all very funny men who dedicated their lives to making people happy. None as much as our beloved pal, Bernard. "In fact I spoke to him a couple of weeks before he died in hospital - he didn't even spare the nurses. "He was complaining that they changed his medication to iron tablets and he woke up facing north. "He didn't even spare me or Cannon and Ball Cannon and Ball are an English comedy double act consisting of Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball. The duo met in the early 1960s while working as welders in Oldham and began working the pubs and clubs of Lancashire. . He said "You remember the Marie Celeste Celeste is a woman's first name. Celeste may also refer to: in Music
"He even complained when his nurses put him on iron tablets - and he woke up facing north." Thousands lined the streets near Bernard's World Famous Embassy Club and broke into spontaneous applause as he was carried by horse-drawn carriage for cremation cremation, disposal of a corpse by fire. It is an ancient and widespread practice, second only to burial. It has been found among the chiefdoms of the Pacific Northwest, among Northern Athapascan bands in Alaska, and among Canadian cultural groups. in his beloved home city of Manchester. In front of the coffin was his pride and joy - the registration plate I LAF LAF Lance Armstrong Foundation (non-profit cancer organization) LAF Look and Feel LAF Laugh LAF Lebanese Armed Forces LAF Liquidity Adjustment Facility LAF Lost And Found LAF Laminar Air Flow from his white Rolls Royce. His grandchildren Ben, Hayley and Chloe let three balloons in the blue colour of his beloved Manchester City team into the sky before the coffin was carried inside to the accompaniment of Neil Sedaka's Turning Back the Hands of Time. Local entertainer Vince Miller sang Abide With Me and was thanked afterwards by Carson who had the congregation laughing when he said: "Many thanks for that Vince - now we know why you don't get a lot of work." The hundreds of mourners included comics Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball, Jim Bowen, Stan Boardman, Roy Walker and Roy "Chubby" Brown. Many were in tears as the service ended to My Way. brian.roberts@mirror.co.uk CAPTION(S): FINAL CALL: Outside the Embassy Club; FRIEND: Carson; LAST LAUGH: Bernard |
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