Early Career
Grayson left school at the age of 14 and began working professionally as a supporting drag act on the comedy club circuit. He initially used the stage-name Billy Breen, but changed it to Larry Grayson in the 1950s on the advice of his agent; BBC TV's "The One Show" reported on 27 November, 2012 that the name "Grayson" was taken from the American singer Kathryn Grayson, but the origin of the name "Larry" is unknown. Over the next thirty years, he toured the UK in male revues and drag shows, as well as in variety shows at venues including working men's clubs, regional theatres and The Metropolitan in London. He also added stand-up comedy to his act and developed a unique and very gentle anecdotal style of comedy. It was usually based around his various imaginary friends such as Everard, Apricot Lil, Slack Alice, and the postman Pop-It-In Pete. A lot of his material was observational. In his early years, Grayson's family owned the only telephone in the street, and his inspiration came from listening to his neighbours using the phone.
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