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Eric Thompson
MBE
After Dinner Speaker
Eric Thompson MBE
Eric began his after dinner speaking career under
the Atlantic when he toasted ‘The Immortal Memory’ of
Nelson on Trafalgar Night. As a Scot, it was not long
before he was also toasting ‘The Immortal Memory’ at
Burns suppers (but not underwater). By the time he had
risen to Commodore of the Clyde submarine base at
Faslane, his reputation had spread far beyond the Navy
and he has now performed at dinners from Plymouth to
Aberdeen including a Variety Club bash at the London
Hilton and the annual dinner of the Institute of Marine
Engineers at Grosvenor House.
His other grand venues include Glasgow City Chambers;
Edinburgh’s Signet Library; Draper’s Hall in the City of
London; and Lancaster’s magnificent town hall where he
had the honour of being the only speaker at the
Submarine Centenary Banquet.
However, he still enjoys the more intimate audience and
has even performed in a Glasgow comedy club. Eric is
equally comfortable telling the farcical tale; reciting
his own comic verse; or delivering a serious message. As
he always tailors his scripts to suit the audience, he
has been able to enthuse people of all ages and types
from schoolchildren to senior citizens; ‘stag’ to ‘hen’;
corporate to club; and English to Scots.
He is also regularly in demand as a compere. His comic
poem, ‘Ally Shanter’, won the BBC Radio Scotland Burns
Bicentenary poetry competition. He is a graduate of the
Strathclyde University Stand-Up Comedy course.
His performance in the first Glasgow International
Festival of Comedy, was described as "brilliant" on
BBC's Fred MacAulay Show. His first book of comic Verse,
'Colquhounsville-sur-Mer' has just been published.
Eric is a deep thinker in more ways than one. He is a
Chartered Engineer; Fellow of the Institute of
Electrical Engineers; post graduate nuclear engineer;
Master of Science; JP; Deputy Lieutenant of
Dunbartonshire; member of Strathclyde Police Board;
former Non Executive Director of an NHS Trust; Freeman
of the City of Glasgow and is currently Liberal Democrat
Councillor for Helensburgh East. He was awarded the MBE
in 1979 for leadership during a submarine
emergency……but, despite all that, he can’t resist the
funny side!
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