Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
2 appearances
comedian and variety star, known as the king of the Diddy Men and squire of Notty Ash.
On the island
Eight records
For the Good TimesFavourite
In my imagination I would be remembering the happy days, the wonderful, wonderful happy days of childhood with my mother and father and my brother and sister in Notty Ash when we ran wild over the fields and my hobbies were digging holes and setting fire to my coat and falling out of trees and sending away forth to this place in London for itching powder and stink bombs. The happiest childhood anybody could possibly have.
I think Al Jolson was the greatest showman that ever played a light entertainment stage.
because I wanted to remember all the the happy times and the wonderful times of when I was a teenager and all the
Frank Chacksfield and his Orchestra
they do a lovely job on Love Is Like a Violin
I am a clown, I'm very proud to be. Uh we've got uh the two sides of the clown, of course, and clowns often conclude their comedy performance with a tearful earful.
I Just Called to Say I Love You
I think it's a s absolutely superb song, sung superbly by Stevie Wonder
She is a beautiful singer. Beautiful voice.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:08Were you born in Liverpool again? Was there any theatrical or musical background in your family?
My father's family, well, he came from a large family, they all played instruments, you know, and uh had musical evenings. Because I mean in those days people used to entertain themselves more. I had two aunts who were on the stage.
Presenter asks
1:24How early did you have an ambition to be a professional [entertainer]?
I made my first appearance when I was about two. My aunt and uncle were singing at a concert, singing a romantic duet, and I wandered onto the stage without any trousers on. That was my first laugh.
Presenter asks
1:37What was your first job when you left school?
I worked for my father. He was a coal merchant. And then I decided to do a bit of tycooning on my own. A bit later on, I bought a furniture van and I fitted it out with shelves and went round selling packets of soap powder and buckets and shovels and ... all sorts of things like that.
The keepsakes
The book
The Times
I think I'd have to have the uh the Times World Atlas because then, being on a desert island, I could look at the uh atlas and remember all the marvellous places, wonderful places I've visited, all the people I've met, and all the people I hope to meet and all the places I would like to go.
Presenter asks
What was your first professional engagement?
My very first professional engagement, I signed a huge contract. Must have been about seven pages in it, all on coloured paper and all with wonderful clauses, you know, that I mustn't appear within three hundred miles of this theatre. Ever again. And I've appeared at the Theatre Royal and Opera House, Stockport.
Presenter asks
4:25You've talked about the difficulty of getting material. Where do you get it from?
I create a lot of it myself and I have the assistance of a writer. And we try to keep it all original and we don't do any old gags. Not that there's anything wrong with old gags, a gag is as good as the number of laughs it gets.
Presenter asks
5:22Can you take the business of getting laughs very seriously? I believe the reaction to every gag in every show is registered.
We have a, you know, big sort of chart and we write a keyword down for each gag and then a little comment alongside it as to how it went that particular performance from VG to dead flop. So, this way you can gradually build up a performance of sure fire stuff.
Presenter asks
1:12What are you going to do on the desert island with nobody to play to?
Well, uh yes, that that is I must admit, I would be uh absolutely desolate. ... I I cannot imagine myself just being on my own. ... Yes, I would I think I could go through all my routines and uh lots of other people's routines, I think, and tell myself jokes and stories.
Presenter asks
5:25Tell me about your parents. Your father, I've read somewhere, was rather like Albert Tatlock in Coronation Street. Is that fair?
Oh, I don't think so. Like Albert Hutler. Oh, Albert Hutler was quite uh quite a gentleman. No, my dad was a wonderful man. Oh, he was marvellous. He's as I say he was a musician, he had his own dance band, he ran the coal, the coal merchants' business.
Presenter asks
8:24People say if they haven't seen you live, then they haven't seen you, as it were, that you're best live. Do you feel that?
Well, I I think uh an audience relationship with an artist is absolutely wonderful. Gracie Fields used to say it was like a silver thread between the performer and the audience. A lot of uh posh people say it's uh rapport. And I call it building a bridge.
Presenter asks
12:59Tell me about humour and how portable it is. Does what makes them laugh in Glasgow make them laugh in Bournemouth?
The greatest thing that ever happened for uh comedians was Coronation Street. We found that it it was all a fib, that the uh the Southerners didn't mind in fact, not didn't mind, they adored the uh the terrace houses and the Lancashire accent, because it was very, very popular in Bournemouth.
Presenter asks
17:26Tell me about the Ken Dodd that isn't on the stage. The one that lives in this house in Naughty Ash. What's he like?
I keep my personal life and my private life very, very much very close to my heart because I think it's only fair to your family and your friends not to uh embarrass them.
Presenter asks
24:27There are endless jokes about your performances going on perhaps a little longer than they're scheduled. Do you do that on purpose?
Not longer. A lot longer. ... Yes, I do do a long show. Why?'Cause I enjoy it, and'cause it's uh you shouldn't break up a good party.
“My favourite comedian is my father. He makes me howl, makes me laugh and I get a lot of material from him.”
“I used to do backyard concerts, you know, we used to charge two cigarette cards for admission.”
“I don't know about the music hall expiring. I think I always think it was assassinated, but that's another programme.”
“I just like to try and get to the top of my profession. Keep getting the laughs for as long as I can.”
“In my imagination I would be remembering the happy days, the wonderful, wonderful happy days of childhood with my mother and father and my brother and sister in Notty Ash when we ran wild over the fields and my hobbies were digging holes and setting fire to my coat and falling out of trees and sending away forth to this place in London for itching powder and stink bombs. The happiest childhood anybody could possibly have.”
“She was a lovely lady. She was quite small. She was a mini mum. ... she gave us the most precious thing I think any parent can give any child. That was that she spoke to us, she talked to us. We used to spend hours and hours just talking to my mum, and she we'd talk about her childhood and her schooling and uh she was quite a brainy lady and uh she would just talk to us and I think that's why we're, you know, we're quite so happy.”
“Well, I I think uh an audience relationship with an artist is absolutely wonderful. Gracie Fields used to say it was like a silver thread between the performer and the audience. A lot of uh posh people say it's uh rapport. And I call it building a bridge.”
“Oh yes, I think so, yes. I think all the comedians are conscious of the fact that you're treading a tightrope all the time and uh a joke is like a a watch mechanism. There can't be one word too many, one word too uh l and it's all a rhythm. Each word has to be a very special word in a very special place with a very special rhythm.”
“Yes, I am, yes. I think every day is a good day, and if you can't do something good for yourself, wouldn't do it for somebody else.”