An Irishman in England

Dr. B asks:  "When I was 11 or 12, I remember watching this British TV comedy show.  It was sketch-oriented, 1970's vintage, and shown on PBS or a Canadian station.  At the end, this guy just sat in a chair -- drink in one hand, cigarette in the other;  totally cool, totally reserved -- telling funny stories.  It's driving me crazy.  Who was it?"

Philbony says:  Dude, that was 'Dave Allen at Large'.  Without the internet, your question would have had me up all night long for the next fortnight (always throw in English words when discussing England).

In fact, Dave Allen was surprisingly hard to find info on.  Searching for "1970s British Comics who sat on a chair drinking and smoking telling funny stories" didn't return the best results.  But a process of elimination (ie. it wasn't Eddie Izzard or Frankie Howerd or Alan Davies, but something like that) and deep meditation on Benny Hill routines yielded a lucky guess that Wikipedia and Google confirmed.

Anyway, here's the short bio Dr. B:

     Dave Allen (1936 - 2005) was an Irish comedian popular

     in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada in the 1960's,

     1970's, and again in the 1990's.

     Allen's act was typified by a very relaxed, intimate style.  He

     would sit in a chair, smoking and holding a glass of whiskey.

     Along with his seated routines, his television shows were

     interspersed with sketch comedy.

     An atheist himself, he would often make jokes about religion -

     particularly the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of

     England.  At the end of his act he would often toast the audience

     with the words:

     "Goodnight, thank you, and may your god go with you."

And Dr. B -- as promised -- see several clips below courtesy YouTube:

Funky Open

I Don't NEED to Smoke

The Haunted Cottage

An Italian Funeral