As Tony was growing up his main ambition was to become a comedian like his Dad. Eventually his mother introduced him to a friend of the family George Fairweather, who was in show business to help young Tony find his feet in the world of entertainment. One of Tony's heroes was Max Miller and he used one of Max Millers routines as his first performance, this didn't go down to well, especially as the jokes were rude and Tony himself didn't really understand them. After the bad reception he got from this performance he vowed never to use rude jokes again.

In 1942 after being rejected by the RAF Tony joined a group of comedians, travelling around the war zones entertaining the troops. After the war Tony got his first real break in show business, a six week spell at the Windmill Theatre, his stage work here came to the notice of the BBC and he was given a spot on Variety Bandbox in 1949.