According to British comedy scholar Roger Wilmut, "The striking thing about E. L. Wisty was that he never smiled—Cook managed to keep a straight face throughout, despite the audience laughter.
"[2] The character was originally known as Mr Boylett, after the table butler at Radley College, the school Cook attended.
Cook started by doing impressions of the real Mr Boylett, telling bizarre tales including that of the Holy Bee of Ephesus, which flew three times round the crucified Jesus, and stories of how Mr Boylett bought various inanimate objects after he thought he saw them move.
"[3] In later sketches Wisty became known for bothering members of the public on park benches with his monologues on topics including tadpoles, royalty, newts, peace through nudism, inalienable rights and his (equally fictional) friend Spotty Muldoon.
Cook enlisted a secretary at Private Eye to send out postcards announcing:[5] "We shall move about in people's rooms and say, 'Excuse me, we are the World Domination League.