Cancel culture hasn't come for comedians the way some say it has, according to comedy veteran Lenny Henry.

Mr Henry is also an author of two new books, The Book of Legends, a children's book, and a second iteration of his memoirs, Rising to the Surface.

His new autobiographical book will take readers through the "rollercoaster" of being catapulted into showbiz at an early age and the racism he experienced on the way.

"You know what it's like, you're trying to survive and to learn at the same time", he told The Anton Savage Show.

"I thought it was like being chucked into a river with anvils attached to your ankles."

Early years

After his run on New Faces, a popular British television talent show, Mr Henry said he worked non-stop for over a decade.

"The big thing about being a young person in show businesses is that all the old people are dying to give you advice", he said.

"I had advice for years and years and years, and I soaked it all up like a sponge."

"I'm kind of a student of comedy by necessity, I enjoyed the learning but it was really hard."

Being a comedian in Britain is more challenging than in the United States, he said.

"Once you've got 20 minutes [of material], you can go anywhere and work any club."

"It's not like that in Britain. You literally have to learn a whole trade."

"Because I'm kind of a student of comedy by necessity, I enjoyed the learning but it was really hard."

Racism

"I was a young 16-year-old black kid who was out and about doing the clubs in places there was never anybody that looked like me."

"There wouldn't be a black person within a 40-mile vicinity of any club that I did."

"I was always having to go on stage and make the first joke about my appearance."

He said that making fun of his background "saved [his] life" at times.

Radio DJ John Peel once remarked to Mr Henry that before he came on stage, people had been calling him names and threatening to hurt him if he wasn't funny.

"By the time it got to the end of the show, they were all on [my] side."

Cancel culture

Mr Henry isn't shy about his appreciation for some figures in his life and career, however he doesn't hide his distaste for some.

The late Bernard Manning, he said, was "deliberately obtuse and awful as a comedian".

"Wherever Barnard is, I'm hoping that it's warm - really warm", he joked.

"Technically, I thought there were things that he did when he started off that were very clever and he was obviously influenced by American comedians."

"But as he got older and more offensive, I just stopped liking anything he did."

"It seems to me that people only get cancelled if they want to."

Mr Henry isn't convinced that the modern political landscape is much less accommodating to offensive comedians.

"You say, if you did that now you'd get cancelled, but it seems to me that people only get cancelled if they want to", he said.

"It seems to me that people are able to get away with things by being clever and by qualifying everything."

Listen back to the full conversation here.

Main image shows Lenny Henry. Picture by: Landmark Media/Alamy