For many children of a famous parent, it can be hard coming out from under their shadow. But when your dad is a comic legend, maybe it's best not to even try.

Nick Morrison talks to the son of one half of Britain's favourite double act.

GARY Morecambe is too discreet to name names, which is a little frustrating, as you imagine that when he says famous he means very famous. Moving, as he does, in showbusiness circles, he meets a fair few successful performers, people who have no reason to be in awe of anybody, but when they find out who Gary is, the reaction is generally the same.

"They're usually mind-blown. I get question after question after question, and they all say the same to me, even some very famous people: 'Can I hold your hand? It's such an honour to meet you'. There are all these famous people who say they couldn't wait to meet me - it's quite bizarre."

Gary is a successful author, with 25 books to his name, but the celebs are starstruck because his dad was Eric Morecambe. As half of Britain's funniest ever duo, the tall one with the glasses is still revered as a comedy genius, but the way other performers feel towards him is more than just admiration. Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise managed to be loved.

"It is a huge testament to them. The love and respect for Morecambe and Wise is still so phenomenal, and I'm very proud of it and I never turn anyone down. My father was very grounded, and he used to say 'Remember you are only a human being'. That was drilled into me at a young age," Gary says. Indeed, Gary took one of his father's favourite sayings, Life's not Hollywood, it's Cricklewood, as the title of his memoir of growing up with a famous comedian as your dad.

"From the age of about four I remember him being famous, and when I started at school he was fairly well known, so it was kind of always like that and I was used to it. What would have been strange is if he had become famous while I was growing up.

"There are good things and bad things about it, but overall it has done me much more good than bad. It was difficult when I was a teenager, but then that was probably difficult for him as well," he says.

As a child, Gary remembers pretending to be Morecambe and Wise, in the same way other children play cowboys and Indians, but he almost sees Morecambe the comedian as separate from his father. "My sister has always said that I came at Eric as Eric the performer. I still call him Eric, whereas she calls him dad," he reflects.

"I put him on a pedestal. To me he was more of a performer, and I wanted him to be that. I still talked to him as my dad but I liked the fact that he was Eric Morecambe."

He says there were times at school when his dad made him cringe, but even there his classmates largely ignored it.

When he was 19, Gary went to work for his dad's agent, and had what must have been the somewhat strange experience of selling Morecambe and Wise T-shirts. It could have left him seriously mixed up: there are countless stories of the offspring of famous parents who have felt their name weigh too heavily on their shoulders, and have turned to drink or drugs to help them cope.

But Gary took the wise decision to avoid comedy, and instead turned to writing, his published works ranging from biography to fiction. While his name has helped open doors, it's still been up to him to deliver, although he admits that if he hadn't got anywhere he "would have been pretty p*ssed off". He says he went through periods when his dad's fame became difficult to deal with, but he is far from the malcontented son and was certainly comfortable with his situation by the time Eric died in 1984, at the age of 58, when Gary was in his late twenties.

"I'm genuinely proud. My whole existence as a writer is done through this great pride I have in Morecambe and Wise, and particularly in Eric. Every book I do, people want to talk about him, but it is never disgruntling."

Even though he has resisted efforts to try his hand at making people laugh - "As soon as the word 'comedy' comes up, I feel a chill go down my spine," he says - he is as much an admirer of his dad's work as anyone else.

"It is all about laughing. What impresses me is how well-crafted the shows were: they're still being shown and they're still funny, and that is real craftsmanship. You look at the Andre Previn sketch, and that is one of the best ever comedy routines - I think that is probably their finest moment," he says.

There can't be many people who don't find a smile crossing their face when they hear the words: 'All the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order', and stars queued up to join Previn to become the butt of Morecambe's jokes.

From Glenda Jackson as Cleopatra, to a high-kicking Angela Rippon, it seemed you weren't anyone until you'd been on Morecambe and Wise. Sir Robin Day considered his appearance as one of the highlights of a 40-year television career, and it was such an honour to be asked that the producers of The Play Wot I Wrote, an affectionate tribute now running on Broadway, have no trouble getting household names to appear, even though the original Eric and Ernie are long gone.

"I still laugh at it, and I can never get enough of their stuff, although I'm not a great fan of comedy per se," says Gary. "It's primarily about the relationship between two middle-aged men, and you can't date that."

Gary recounts the time he walked in on his dad enjoying one of his own shows. "He was falling about laughing, and I thought what was he laughing for? He knows what's coming next."

But Morecambe was just going along with the crowd. At their peak in 1977, Morecambe and Wise attracted a television audience of 27.5 million, then a record and still in pretty rare company. Christmases were organised around the Morecambe and Wise special, and the Royal Family were said to delay tucking into their turkey so they could catch it. Nobody has since come close to capturing their genius. And Gary does the only thing he reasonably can: laugh along with everyone else.

"I love talking about my father. It is great that people are still interested. From the age of five I knew I was never going to compete with him, so it's best just to get on with it."

Eric Morecambe: Life's not Hollywood, it's Cricklewood (BBC Worldwide) £16.99