Great Britain to honor its comedy greats on April Fool's Day

Great Britain's Royal Mail will honor 60 years of comedy on its Comedy Greats stamps to be issued April 1.

An article in the March issue of Royal Mail's British Philatelic Bulletin begins, "This issue celebrates brilliantly distinctive British humour by paying tribute to generations of comic geniuses — from Norman Wood and Spike Milligan to [Dawn] French and [Jennifer] Saunders, Lenny Henry and Victoria Wood via [Eric] Morecambe and [Ernie] Wise and Monty Python. These are revered practitioners from the past 60 years, including many whose work is considered a landmark in comedy. Released on April Fool's Day (naturally), the issue also features a Presentation Pack, Stamp Cards and a Retail Stamp Book."

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The set will include 10 nondenominated first-class stamps. The designs feature photographs of the performers, including images of some well-known skits. For example, John Cleese in the "Ministry of Silly Walks" skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus is shown in background of the Monty Python stamp. A black-and-white photograph of the Monty Python comedy troupe is shown in the foreground.

The stamps are se-tenant (side-by-side) in two strips of five, starting on the left side of the first strip, they honor: Spike Milligan, the Two Ronnies (Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett), Billy Connolly, Morecambe and Wise, Norman Wisdom, Lenny Henry, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Monty Python, French and Saunders, and Victoria Wood.

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