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Evening Standard

Entertainment

Rod Minchin

Ben Elton says his angry 1980s stand-up persona was ‘a useful lie’

Ben Elton Richard Curtis Margaret Thatcher

Writer and comedian Ben Elton has been discussing his career at the Cheltenham Literature Festival (Ian West/PA) - (PA Archive)

Ben Elton has insisted he is nothing like the brash, loudmouth stand-up comedian that made him famous in the 1980s.

The writer and comedian got his television break appearing on Saturday Live and later Friday Night Live when his quickfire, left-wing, Margaret Thatcher bashing act – accompanied by his shiny suit – brought him headlines.

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