Legendary Time Out comedy writer Malcolm Hay has died. Hay was hugely important on the London comedy circuit in the 1980s and 1990s, helping countless acts who went on to become household names take their first steps in showbusiness. Aspiring comedians would get their early gigs by buying a a copy of the listings magazine and working their way through Hay's list of venues, phoning them and asking for gigs.

He was much loved in comedy circles for his knowledge, soft-spoken enthusiasm and support for the scene. He was also most famous for his use of adjectives to describe acts, from "stylish" and "interesting" to "experienced" and "veteran".

Comedian Davey Johns was one of many who paid tribute on Facebook: "Fuck I just mentioned him today on my facebook page. He described me as fine and funny for about 25 years. One of the comedy names around when i was starting off. 'Fine and funny' meant he’d not seen you for a few years."

Alistair Barrie wrote: "I once got the dreaded 'experienced' for the first time and then the utterly devastating 'highly experienced' the very next week. I'd been going about five or six years and thought my career must be over. Thankfully I was back to 'skilful' the next...I think it's very hard to overestimate the number of us who simply wouldn't have been able to become comics without Malcolm's help and hard work."

Steve Gribbin wrote: "Malcolm was a staunch and enthusiastic supporter of the early Alternative Cabaret circuit of 1982-84. His adjectives were the stuff of legend! He was always a great supporter of Skint Video, and when I went solo in 1994, he could not have been more helpful and kind. I even got to write some columns in “ Time Out”. Me & Brian Mulligan even went to his wedding in Edinburgh in 87, I think it was….in person he was a lovely, very witty man. RIP Malcolm “Essential” Hay x"

Robin Ince posted: "how important his listings and sidebar pieces were to teenage me as I started visiting comedy clubs."

Ivor Dembina added: "Every week in the Time Out listings, Malcolm would annoyingly describe me as 'experienced'. Eventually I got so fed up I resolved that, if he did so once more, I'd phone him and complain. Fortunately that became unnecessary, when, by chance, the following week the description changed to 'very experienced'. If you want to understand how much he is missed, look at some copies of Time Out long after he left. Malcom Hay a true friend of live comedy R.I.P."

David Baddiel once said: "Malcolm Hay, the Time Out Comedy Critic, used to append an adjective to comedians in listings in the late '80s, and never change it. @JackDee I think was "witty". @scottcapurro says an interview he was "visiting American gay". I was "accomplished."

Dave Gorman wrote back in 2018: "The story goes that a comic, (Mark Maier, I think) once bumped into Malcolm in the Pleasance Courtyard. Malcolm: Hello, Mark, how are you? Mark: Charming and lively. I might well have the wrong comic. And the wrong adjectives....Any single detail might be wrong. The whole thing might have been invented. But even then, it would illustrate something about how every comic knew their Malcolm-adjective."

If anyone would like to share their memories of Malcolm or send their condolences they can contact the family through his stepson Tim Arthur ([email protected]), who also went on to be influential in the comedy world, editing the Time Out comedy section and then the magazine.