Old Soho turned out to bid farewell to Tony Rushton, art director of Private Eye, who is stepping down after 50 years.
Norman Balon, the 86-year-old former landlord of the Coach & Horses, actress Jane Asher and her cartoonist husband Gerald Scarfe were among the guests.
Eye editor Ian Hislop said, only half-joking, that Rushton had divided the staff by saying in a recent interview that the magazine would be “a very worthy, boring magazine” without the cartoons — to the cheers of the many cartoonists present at Kettner’s on Greek Street.
Deputy editor Francis Wheen performed a rap in praise of “Tone”, banging his walking stick in time — he has back problems — for added emphasis. Who says the Eye isn’t keeping up with the younger generation?
MORE ABOUT