Editing Tommy Cooper (section)

==Development of the act==
Cooper was [[demobilization|demobilised]] after seven years of military service and took up show business on Christmas Eve 1947. He later developed a popular [[monologue]] about his military experience as "Cooper the Trooper". He worked in variety theatres around the country and at many night spots in London, performing as many as 52 shows in one week.<ref name="Roy Busby">{{cite book|author=Roy Busby|title=British Music Hall: An Illustrated Who's Who from 1850 to the Present Day|year=1976|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hHKfAAAAMAAJ|isbn=023640053-3}}</ref>

Cooper developed his conjuring skills and became a member of [[The Magic Circle (organisation)|The Magic Circle]], but there are various stories about how and when he developed his delivery of "failed" magic tricks:<ref name="BBC2"/>

*He was performing to his shipbuilding colleagues when everything went wrong, but he noticed that the failed tricks got laughs.
*He started making "mistakes" on purpose when he was in the Army.
*His tricks went wrong at a post-war audition, but the panel thoroughly enjoyed them anyway.

To keep the audience on their toes Cooper threw in an occasional trick that worked when it was least expected.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}