Editing Willie Rushton (section)

==''Private Eye'' and the satire boom==
Rushton remained in contact with his friends from Shrewsbury School, who had added [[John Wells (satirist)|John Wells]] to their number and were now running their own humour magazines at Oxford University, ''Parsons Pleasure'' and ''Mesopotamia'', to which Rushton made many contributions during his frequent visits to meet them. A cartoon of a giraffe in a bar saying "The high balls are on me" was not met with approval by everyone in the university administrative quarters. Rushton suggested that ''Mesopotamia'' could continue after they left university. During his time as a clerk he had been sending his cartoons out to ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' but none had been accepted. After being knocked over by a bus, he gave up his job as a clerk, determined not to waste another day.<ref name=Sherrin />

After almost but not quite being accepted by ''[[Tribune (magazine)|Tribune]]'' (a [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]-supporting <!-- then -->newspaper edited by [[Michael Foot]], Paul's uncle), Rushton found a place at the ''Liberal News'', which was also employing [[Christopher Booker]] as a journalist. From June 1960 until March 1961, he contributed a weekly strip, "Brimstone Belcher", following the exploits of the titular journalist (a fore-runner of ''[[Private Eye]]''{{'}}s Lunchtime O'Booze), from bizarre skulduggery in the British colonies (where the soldiers holding back the politicised rabble bear a strong resemblance to privates Rushton and Ingrams), travelogues through the US, and the hazards of by-electioneering as the independent candidate for the constituency of Gumboot North. After the strip folded, Rushton still contributed a weekly political cartoon to the ''Liberal News'' until mid-1962.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The Salopians finally found a financier for their magazine and the first issue of ''[[Private Eye]]'' was published on 25 October 1961. Rushton created the magazine in his bedroom in [[Scarsdale Villas]] using [[Letraset]] and [[Rubber cement|cow-gumming]] illustrations onto cards which were taken away to be photo-lithographed. He also contributed all the illustrations and the mast-head figure of Little Gnitty (who still appears on the cover, a blended caricature of John Wells and the ''[[Daily Express]]'' standard-head). One critic{{who|date=November 2024}} described the original lay-out of the magazine as owing much to "Neo-Brechtian Nihilism", although Rushton thought it resembled a betting shop floor. One feature in the early issues was the "Aesop Revisited", a full-page comic strip which let him work in a wealth of puns and background jokes.

With ''[[Private Eye]]'' riding the satire boom, [[Peter Cook]] soon took an interest and contributed two serials recounting the bizarre adventures of Sir Basil Nardly-Stoads and the Rhandi Phurr, both of which were illustrated by Rushton, as was "[[Mrs Wilson's Diary]]". In the early days the team also worked on two books, ''Private Eye on London'' and ''Private Eye's Romantic England'' that made heavy use of Rushton's cartooning talents. One of the first ''[[Private Eye]]''-published books was Rushton's first collection of cartoons, ''Willie Rushton's Dirty Weekend Book'', which was subsequently banned in Ireland on the grounds of its explicitness.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Reuniting with his Salopian friends had also reawakened Rushton's taste for acting. After they had finished university, he had accompanied his friends in a well-received revue at the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]]. ([[Richard Burton]] even appeared one night in their parody of ''[[Luther (play)|Luther]]''.) In 1961, Richard Ingrams directed a production of [[Spike Milligan]]'s surreal post-nuclear apocalypse farce ''[[The Bed-Sitting Room (play)|The Bed-Sitting Room]]'', in which Rushton was hailed by [[Kenneth Tynan]] as "brilliant". But it was a cabaret at the Room at the Top, a chicken-in-a-basket nightclub at the top of a department store in Ilford, that really launched his career. Rushton recalled meeting the [[Kray twins]] in the audience one night and that fellow performer [[Barbara Windsor]] "wouldn't come out for a drink that night".<ref>{{cite book |page=49 |first=Patrick |last=Marnham |author-link=Patrick Marnham |title= The Private Eye Story|publisher= Fontana/Collins |year=1982}}</ref> The revue also starred John Wells.

Rushton's impersonation of Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]] caught the attention of [[Ned Sherrin]], a young BBC producer searching for talent to appear in a forthcoming TV satire series. ''[[That Was the Week That Was]]'' (aka "TW3") ran from November 1962 until December 1963. It drew audiences of up to 13 million, making stars of its cast, particularly [[David Frost]]. Rushton became known for his impersonation of the Prime Minister, a daring novelty in those respectful days. "It's the only impersonation that people have ever actually recognised&nbsp;– so I'm very grateful to the old bugger&nbsp;... But then I had voted for him, so he owed me something."{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} Rushton also appeared on the original flexi-discs of skits, squibs and invective that ''[[Private Eye]]'' gave away, having success with two self-penned songs: "Neasden" and the "Bum Song". He also wrote songs for ''TW3'', many of which were revisited on later solo albums like ''Now in Bottles'' and ''The Complete Works''.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

In the autumn of 1963, a health scare led Macmillan to resign and [[Sir Alec Douglas-Home]] became prime minister. It was necessary that Douglas-Home resign his peerage to find a safe Parliamentary seat. The ''[[Private Eye]]'' team were so disgusted by the Conservative Party's machinations that they decided to stand their own protest candidate in the [[1963 Kinross and Western Perthshire by-election|Kinross and Western Perthshire by-election]]. Since he was the most well-known member of the team, Rushton was the obvious choice to stand. Rushton gained much attention from journalists, since he stood under the slogan "Death to the Tories".<ref>{{cite news |first=Leala |last=Padmanabhan |date=16 January 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30829089 |title=Al Murray and other celebrities who have decided to run for parliament |work= BBC News |access-date= 18 January 2015}}</ref> He polled only 45 votes, having advised his supporters at the last minute to vote Liberal, the Conservatives' only credible challenger.<ref>{{cite news |title=Evening Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9iQ-AAAAIBAJ&q=election&pg=PA6 |publisher=Evening Times |language=en}}</ref> Douglas-Home won.<ref>{{cite web |title=1963 By Elections |url=http://www.by-elections.co.uk/63.html |date=25 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225141806/http://www.by-elections.co.uk/63.html |archive-date=25 February 2012 }}</ref>

Rushton described his political beliefs as being "left of Limbo" stating that he had always voted for Labour because he felt their attitude to life was "more generous than anyone else's" but would happily take potshots at anyone who said something silly.<ref>"Remembering Willie Rushton BBC Audio CD AISN B0041OAOOS</ref>