“My uncle was a great conductor. He was struck by lightning”

A musical conductor is not the same as a conductor of electricity, but there have been jokes. “My uncle was a great conductor. He was struck by lightning six times” is a joke that has been printed on an image. “A musically talented friend of mine has recently died. He was struck by lightning. It’s such a shame… He was a great conductor” was posted on Twitter by Sickipediabot on February 22, 2011.
 
The joke is usually credited to British prop comedian Tommy Cooper (1921-1984), but earlier citations are lacking.
 
“If lightning strikes an orchestra, who is most likely to get hit?”/“The conductor” is another version of the joke.
 
         
Wikipedia: Tommy Cooper
Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a British prop comedian and magician. Cooper was a member of the Magic Circle, and respected by traditional magicians. He was famed for his red tarboosh, and his appearance was large and lumbering, at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and more than 15 stone (210 lb; 95 kg) in weight. On 15 April 1984, Cooper collapsed with a heart attack on live national television. He died soon afterwards.
 
Twitter
BIG_BEAR_F1‏
@BIG_BEAR_F1
A musically talented friend of mine has recently died. He was struck by lightning.It’s such a shame… He was a great conductor.
1:55 AM - 22 Feb 2011
 
Twitter
sickipediabot‏
@sickipediabot
A musically talented friend of mine has recently died. He was struck by lightning.
It’s such a shame… He was a great conductor.
7:13 PM - 22 Feb 2011
     
21 October 2011, South Wales Echo (Cardiff, UK), “There’s a Funny Thing ...: Echo readers loved our double-page spread packed with Caerphilly gag machine Tommy Cooper’s one-line jokes earlier this week… so here are more top gags from Welsh comedians,” pg. 18:
My uncle was a great conductor… he was struck by lightning!
TOMMY COOPER
     
Twitter 
UberLaughs‏
@UberLaughs
#UberLaughs My Grandad was a great conductor.
He was struck by lightning 7 times.
10:11 PM - 1 Nov 2012
 
20 April 2014, Wales on Sunday (Cardiff, UK), “Cooper gags still a laugh 30 years on” by Emma Sisk, pg. 21:
My uncle was a great conductor. He was struck by lightning.
 
WalesOnline
How does this year’s ‘best Fringe joke’ stack up against Tommy Cooper’s timeless one-liners?
Darren Walsh won the award with the gag, ‘I just deleted all the German names off my phone - it’s Hans free’
ByTryst Williams
16:54, 25 AUG 2015 UPDATED20:50, 25 AUG 2015
(...)
23) My uncle was a great conductor. He was struck by lightning.
 
Twitter
#hellomynameisZoe‏
@ZMoorhouse
Today, grandad Pat would have been 104! Big fan of Tommy Cooper: ‘my uncle was a great conductor. He was struck by lightening’ 👏😁👏
1:20 PM - 17 Mar 2017
 
Twitter
Bobby Brown ©‏
@BobbyBrown2309
My Grandad was a great conductor. He was struck by lightning 7 times.
8:33 AM - 9 Nov 2017