Dodd has died.
I grew-up with a wonderful set of British comedians; Tommy Cooper, Kenneth Williams, Ted Ray, Norman Wisdom, Stanley Unwin, Charlie Drake, and of course Doddy to name just a few.
Their careers began before television made them into household names, and they mostly honed their skills either with ENSA or in music hall.
Back in the early 80's a friend of mine went to a Ken Dodd show at some big Country Club near Liverpool. He had been invited by a business client, and hadn't been particularly looking forward to it. When I spoke to him about it the following evening, he couldn't praise Dodd enough!
I think the show was supposed to have started at 10 pm, and should have lasted for two hours. My friend eventually left the Club at about 3.30 am, having had one of the best nights of his life.
Dodd was well known for over-running his shows, he never wanted them to end; he simply enjoyed himself too much. He always left his audiences desperate for more.
I never saw Dodd live myself; frankly he wasn't really my style. But there is no denying that he was a superb entertainer. Most current comedians will name comics such as he as the greatest influence on their careers.
Here's one of his gags "The man who invented 'cats eyes' did so after having caught a cat in his headlights one night. Had the cat been walking in the other direction he would have invented the pencil sharpener".
Goodnight Doddy; sleep well.
I went to see Doddy once at the theatre in Birmingham. My then husband had just moved to his new job and the whole department were getting up a bus load to go. It certainly wasn't my scene but we felt it would be rude not to go.
ReplyDeleteLike you say - he overran for hours and by the time you had laughed at one joke he was half way through the next. They don't make them like that any more.
That photo is frightening.
ReplyDeleteI saw him around 1970. The performance didn't finish until midnight
ReplyDeleteTatty bye Doddy. XXXX
ReplyDeleteMy Dad was a great fan, I took him and Mum to Manchester to see him around 1985, I did not think him funny until I was there.. I took them again to Preston around 1989... every show lasted at least 5 hours, the last time was at Southport in 2017 with my Grandson who really wanted to see him..... Ken was 89 years old and was on stage on his own for 4 1/2 hours.... even I at 70 would find it difficult to stand for that long !! The last of music hall comedy and never a rude joke !!!
ReplyDeleteI saw him in a club in Bradford. I borrowed my uncles membership card to get in. He was a good singer too. Sold a lot of records. My mum bought one or two LPs.
ReplyDeleteRIP Sir Ken Dodd.( I saw him as a kid:Blackpool 1966) One of the all time greats. The funeral will be held on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday.
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Read Derek Faulkner's Doddy joke on mine. Also good.
ReplyDeleteone to make you laugh until you wept and possibly the last link to music hall theatre
ReplyDeleteI saw him in a pantomime when I was about twelve and thought him hilarious. He was not to my taste either but I always found him funny if I could get beyond the cringe factor.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that joke inspired the novelty pencil sharpener you can buy from Amazon!