From the Industrial Revolution to our own digital age - via music hall, Variety, working men's clubs, radio, cinema & television - northern-born comedians have been at the heart of British popular culture. This witty and informative book investigates why that should be so, while also celebrating the contributions of such household favourites as George Formby, Gracie Fields, Al Read, Frank Randle, Hylda Baker, Jimmy Clitheroe, Les Dawson, Morecambe & Wise, Victoria Wood, Vic and Bob, Steve Coogan, Caroline Aherne, Johnny Vegas and Peter Kay along the way. On Behalf of the Committee is a rich reassessment of British comedy history and cliché-free confirmation that you really do have to laugh - or else you'd cry.