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0:00:09 > 0:00:13BBC interviews with influential figures of the 20th century.
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0:00:22 > 0:00:24WOLF HOWLS
0:00:48 > 0:00:52Ken Dodd, you're one of Britain's best-loved comedians.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57Some would insist that you're our greatest stand-up comic.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01What do you feel just before you go on stage?
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Er...very, very excited.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08Very, er... It's very thrilling.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12It's, er, a bit frightening, a little bit, er, little bit scary.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17Depending on the, er, the occasion, but very...
0:01:17 > 0:01:20Looking forward to it - I'm completely stage-struck.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23I just...just want to get on there and, er...
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Is it as terrifying as it used to be?
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Not quite, no.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30At one time I used to be terrified all the time.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Now I'm just frightened some of the time.
0:01:32 > 0:01:39What's the first thing that you have to do to win over an audience?
0:01:39 > 0:01:42The first... I think the first...
0:01:42 > 0:01:47Ooh, the first 30 seconds is the most important part of the act.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51You, er, you have to get through to the audience right away.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54I think actors call it establishing a rapport.
0:01:54 > 0:01:59Gracie Fields used to say it was a silver thread went from the performer
0:01:59 > 0:02:02to the audience, and I call it building a bridge -
0:02:02 > 0:02:04you build a bridge between yourself and the audience.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08You try to make friends with them, you try to say, "Here I am, folks.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11"I'm harmless. I'm just going to tickle you,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14"tickle your minds and, er, try to make you laugh."
0:02:14 > 0:02:19Does it take longer to warm some audiences up than others?
0:02:19 > 0:02:21Depending on the... It's nothing to do with geography.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25It's nothing to do with where in the country, it's to do with the...
0:02:25 > 0:02:26And it's nothing to do with the...
0:02:26 > 0:02:28Sometimes it's to do with the weather.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32It's quite, er...funny sometimes, when you're playing a big theatre,
0:02:32 > 0:02:34like the Blackpool Opera House,
0:02:34 > 0:02:37and, er...and it's been raining during the day
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and you can actually see steam rising from the audience,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42like a little cloud above them.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46But some audiences, er... Some audiences are harder,
0:02:46 > 0:02:50if you like, than others - sometimes for no reason at all.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54I did two shows in the Southeast just last week -
0:02:54 > 0:02:56Canterbury and Gravesend.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59One was... One was absolutely uproarious,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02and the other just took a little bit more time to work on.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05And so you have to try just a little bit harder and, er,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07remember your timing and remember...
0:03:07 > 0:03:11Just... Just gauge when to, er, go for the laugh.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13A bit like, er... A bit like, er...
0:03:13 > 0:03:15A bit like a bullfighter, actually!
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Is it a wooing process of the audience...
0:03:17 > 0:03:20- Yes. - ..or is it an assault on them?
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Oh, no, no. It's very much a wooing.
0:03:22 > 0:03:23It looks like an assault.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27You start off with the quite... quite loud and...
0:03:27 > 0:03:31as you would, you go in with all guns firing
0:03:31 > 0:03:34and you go in with a lot of, er,
0:03:34 > 0:03:39a lot of facial expression and arm movements.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Most of this is instinctive.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45It's not, er... You're just trying very, very hard.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Maybe I'm trying too hard.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51And then you... As you feel the audience...
0:03:51 > 0:03:53An audience... No two audiences are alike.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55I've been 40 years in show business
0:03:55 > 0:03:57and obviously I've never done the same show twice.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59Because every audience is different -
0:03:59 > 0:04:01a different permutation of personalities.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05And you can see where the audience is quiet, where the audience are,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09you know, quite lively, so you have to coax these people
0:04:09 > 0:04:12and just keep this lot... keep them on the boil.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Are you trying to control them?
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Yes. Yes, very much. It's, er... You're part...
0:04:17 > 0:04:21You're part-comedian, part-actor and part-orator.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26And what are you trying to do by controlling them?
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Try to, er... Try to give them a laugh.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31I always say you can't make anybody laugh, but you can give people...
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Laughter is inside everybody.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Everybody has this laughter inside them.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39It's just waiting for you to try and just release it.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44So, you just have to coax them and sometimes you have to be,
0:04:44 > 0:04:48er...very, very well-mannered and other times, you can be quite cheeky
0:04:48 > 0:04:51and be a bit, you know, a bit hard-faced
0:04:51 > 0:04:53and, er, chide them a little bit.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58You're only... It's all... It's all done joshing, it's all mock.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01You go on quite a long time, sometimes, don't you?
0:05:01 > 0:05:05I do have a reputation of running a few seconds over, yes.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07This is because I...
0:05:07 > 0:05:11I love it so much and I love... making an audience laugh,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14giving an audience laughter, hearing...hearing laughter.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Laughter is the most beautiful sound in the world,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20and when you've really got them... you've really got them rolling,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23it's a shame, really, to break up the party, but we don't go on...
0:05:23 > 0:05:25All audiences, they love to feel
0:05:25 > 0:05:28they're getting that little bit extra. It's, er...
0:05:28 > 0:05:31I think in an age when everything is sort of pre-packaged
0:05:31 > 0:05:34and you know exactly what you should be getting, it's nice to...
0:05:34 > 0:05:36It's nice to get a little, er...
0:05:36 > 0:05:39In the old days, you know, when they used to sell a loaf, there used to be
0:05:39 > 0:05:40a little knob on the top, and so,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43up north, they used to call it the jockey on the loaf.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46And it was a little bit extra. A baker's dozen, er...
0:05:46 > 0:05:48I like to give them a little bit extra,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51and they appreciate... the audience appreciate it.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53How long can you go on?
0:05:53 > 0:05:55Oh. Ah. Well, that's...
0:05:55 > 0:06:00I once did a marathon, er, for a charitable...for a charity,
0:06:00 > 0:06:02and I think we went just on about four hours.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05But is it a sort of macho thing, saying, "I can go on and on and on"?
0:06:05 > 0:06:06- No. - No?
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Oh, no. No, no.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10It's not a battle in which you're trying to...?
0:06:10 > 0:06:11Oh, no. No, no. Cos you should've...
0:06:11 > 0:06:14You should've won the battle very early on.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16If you haven't won the battle in the first five minutes...
0:06:16 > 0:06:19But I've heard you say, "I've beaten you," you know, "You're giving in."
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Oh, that's a gag. That's a gag. "Give in" is a gag.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Give in, it means... It's like little boys say to give in.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27They all shout, "No!"
0:06:27 > 0:06:30I say, "Well, you better had - I'll give you a Chinese burn."
0:06:30 > 0:06:32You know, Chi... You know, with the wrist.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34You sometimes go very quickly.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35Yes, yes.
0:06:35 > 0:06:40I try to get as, er, as many laughs as I can in the time available.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45Er, I do mostly one-liners, mostly patter, er,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49and...one or two - not very many - joke stories.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53And even the joke stories have got one-liners in them.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57We try to work on about...well, if we can get seven laughs a minute,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59we're doing...we're OK. We're motoring.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01I would think so!
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Is a pause the most difficult thing you could try to do?
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Can you ever slow down? Do you ever slow down on stage?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Oh, yes, sometimes you have to. Sometimes you have to.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11As I say, it's very, er...
0:07:12 > 0:07:15It's very like oratory, very like acting,
0:07:15 > 0:07:17that you have to know when to...
0:07:17 > 0:07:21Before the tag line comes in, you have to know when to pause -
0:07:21 > 0:07:26that is timing. Timing is the bits in between the gags.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28How do you learn timing?
0:07:28 > 0:07:29Mostly instinct, I think,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32and mostly trial and error and practice.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36I've been practising now to be a comedian for 40 years, so, er...
0:07:36 > 0:07:39- You're still practising? - Yes. Still very much so.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42I think one of the most wonderful things in your life
0:07:42 > 0:07:45is to know that you've learnt something new.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48- You were born in Knotty Ash. - That's it.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50- Near Liverpool. - Yes.
0:07:50 > 0:07:51When were you born?
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Now, I've read different dates,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56so I'm going to ask you to tell me when you were born.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Well, a lot of people say, you know, "How old are you?"
0:07:59 > 0:08:01And I tell everybody, "I think I'm 35."
0:08:01 > 0:08:02Yeah, but you're not!
0:08:02 > 0:08:06I think I'm 35, because I think a man is as old as he thinks he is,
0:08:06 > 0:08:10and my brain is 35, and I feel like I'm 35,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13and when I was 35, I had some marvellous times
0:08:13 > 0:08:18and my...my...my personality and my conscious life was wonderful.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20So I'm 35.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23You're not going to tell me when you were born.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24I was, er...
0:08:24 > 0:08:25If you ask...
0:08:25 > 0:08:29When you ask a comedian a question, you might get two answers -
0:08:29 > 0:08:31you'll get the comedian's answer,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34because he desperately wants to, er, impress you
0:08:34 > 0:08:38and desperately wants to make you laugh, and then you'll get the truth.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40So the comedian's answer - I was born...
0:08:40 > 0:08:43I was born at a very early age, so I should be near to my mother,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46and, er, I was born one day and...
0:08:46 > 0:08:49we were so poor the lady next door had me.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52I was a clever sort of... I was very clever. Clever baby.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54When I was six months old, I could walk.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55The bottom fell out of the pram.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01You said... The implication of that is that there are two people -
0:09:01 > 0:09:04- the comedian and the real you. - Yes, indeed, yes.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06- Is that right? - Yes, that's correct, yes.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08How different is the real you from the comic?
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Er, I think he'd like to be like the comic.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15He'd like to be, er, sort of... the hail-fellow-well-met.
0:09:15 > 0:09:21He'd like to be the laughing chap all the time, you know?
0:09:21 > 0:09:23Full of # Happiness... #, all that.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28But, of course, it isn't, because life has its trials and tribulations,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31and I do like to think seriously about certain things.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Very seriously.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Yeah. Now, you're not going to tell me when you were born -
0:09:36 > 0:09:40whether it was '31 or '29 or 1927,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42but you are going to tell me who your father was.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44- Yes. - Who was he?
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Arthur. Arthur Dodd.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47What did he do for a living?
0:09:47 > 0:09:48He was a coal merchant.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50What sort of person was he?
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Wonderful, marvellous.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54You say that about your dad, don't you?
0:09:54 > 0:09:59He was a very, very funny man, a loving man, a warm man.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03I had a marvellous childhood and, er, he was always...
0:10:03 > 0:10:07He would make things for us, he would make...
0:10:07 > 0:10:10He was very, very clever with his hands and making things.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12- I'm useless. - Was he a hard-working man?
0:10:12 > 0:10:15A very, very... I never saw anybody work as hard as that man.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Well, maybe you work as hard as he did. Was he a driven man?
0:10:19 > 0:10:22He was driven because he had three children and a wife.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24And, er, times were very hard
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and he lived through the coal strike of nineteen-twenty...
0:10:28 > 0:10:30- Six. - ..six. 1926.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33He also, for a time, was a professional musician...
0:10:33 > 0:10:34during that coal strike,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37and, er...he had a wonderful sense of humour.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40He was a great clown. He had a very, very, very, very funny face.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44He could pull faces and, er, he was a lovely man.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Having said that, I think...
0:10:46 > 0:10:49during your life and in the later part of your life,
0:10:49 > 0:10:54you realise what a complex relationship father and son are,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56and you have to, er...
0:10:56 > 0:10:57You have to...
0:10:57 > 0:10:59You learn that some of the times
0:10:59 > 0:11:02when perhaps you found life difficult -
0:11:02 > 0:11:04the relationship with your father -
0:11:04 > 0:11:06was sometimes due to some of the things
0:11:06 > 0:11:07you're now experiencing yourself.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Sometimes, er, your health.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Sometimes the fact you're growing older,
0:11:12 > 0:11:14sometimes that you're in the autumn of your life.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17There are many, many... There are many things you wish you...
0:11:17 > 0:11:20What were the difficulties in your relationship?
0:11:20 > 0:11:21Oh, only... Only that...
0:11:21 > 0:11:24I think every son argues with his father.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26You don't argue with your mother, you argue with your father.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29- Tell me about your mother. - She was lovely, she was wonderful.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32She was a small lady, so I tell everybody I had a mini mum.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34And she was very optimistic.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37My father was more, er...
0:11:37 > 0:11:40He was more... He insisted that you get things right,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42but my mother was very optimistic and always...
0:11:42 > 0:11:45She said to me when I first started
0:11:45 > 0:11:47being an entertainer, as a child, and...
0:11:49 > 0:11:54..whenever I would go, she would help me to pack my things together
0:11:54 > 0:11:55and she'd say...
0:11:55 > 0:11:57I remember she said to me once,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00"I don't care what you do, Kenny, as long as you wear a clean shirt."
0:12:00 > 0:12:02When you were a very small baby -
0:12:02 > 0:12:0418 months old - you were very, very ill.
0:12:04 > 0:12:06- Is that right? - Yes. Yes.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08Did that... Were you aware of that?
0:12:08 > 0:12:11You obviously weren't particularly aware of it at the time.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Were you aware of it later on, that you'd been so ill?
0:12:13 > 0:12:17Yes, I was quite, er... Quite...quite thin,
0:12:17 > 0:12:21and, er, I've always had this sort of, the wheeze.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23And, er... But...
0:12:23 > 0:12:28But did your parents feel that there was something special about you
0:12:28 > 0:12:31because you'd survived this terrible double pneumonia as an infant?
0:12:31 > 0:12:33I think so, yes. I think so, yes, yes.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35We, the three of us - I've got an older brother, Bill,
0:12:35 > 0:12:37and a younger sister, June -
0:12:37 > 0:12:41and we all got equal shares of love and attention.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45I'm sure we did. Absolutely, we insisted on that.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47You were surrounded by love.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50- Oh, very much so, very much so. - Does a comedian,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53out there on the stage, need to be surrounded by love?
0:12:53 > 0:12:54Yes.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Is that what wooing an audience is about?
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Yes. Yes. You're really...
0:12:58 > 0:13:01There's part of you that's still a child,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05that's asking for appreciation, asking for...
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Asking for approval, asking for love.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12There's part of you that's really asking for approval all the time,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16and the terrifying thing is the fear of rejection.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20If an audience rejects you, that's terrible, that's awful.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23So, all the time you're trying to say,
0:13:23 > 0:13:27"Please, please, please accept what I'm doing."
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Would other comedians agree with that description of what it's like?
0:13:30 > 0:13:33I don't know. I don't know.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Er, I think so. I see behind their eyes.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38I watch other comedians.
0:13:38 > 0:13:39I love watching comedians,
0:13:39 > 0:13:41I will go anywhere to watch a comedian,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44cos every comedian has a good night and a bad night,
0:13:44 > 0:13:45and if you get them on a good night,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47it's marvellous - you feel part of them, you know,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50you're sharing their triumph.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53And on a bad night, if a comedian is, well, dying,
0:13:53 > 0:13:56you feel so sympathetic for them, you really want...
0:13:56 > 0:13:59You're willing them to do something that's going to make things right.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01So, yes, I think they are...
0:14:01 > 0:14:05Once again, I think they're asking for appreciation,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08asking for people to like them, asking for friendship,
0:14:08 > 0:14:10asking for love.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15When did you first find out you could make people laugh?
0:14:15 > 0:14:16I started...
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Oh, I was one of these little boys that used to...
0:14:19 > 0:14:21My father used to take us to variety theatres -
0:14:21 > 0:14:23well, all sorts of theatres, but mostly variety.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25He loved variety and he loved comedians
0:14:25 > 0:14:27and he used to take us every week to perhaps one
0:14:27 > 0:14:28or even two variety shows.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32And as a small boy, you know, boys watch railway trains
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and they always want to be the engine driver.
0:14:35 > 0:14:36But it always seemed to me that
0:14:36 > 0:14:39the engine driver in a show was always the comedian.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43He was the top fellow, the top of the bill, so I wanted to be a comedian.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44Well, I couldn't do it right away,
0:14:44 > 0:14:46cos I was only about seven or eight years old,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48and I used to read these books called The Wizard.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Comics - The Wizard, The Hotspur, The Rover -
0:14:50 > 0:14:54and they were always about heroes, and I wanted to be a hero.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57I wanted to be a hero, I wanted to discover some new land.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00I wanted to be... I wanted to be...
0:15:00 > 0:15:03You wanted to be loved for being... for doing something marvellous.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05I wanted to be a hero as well! I had a lot of ambition.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07And I used to read these advertisements
0:15:07 > 0:15:09at the back of these comics,
0:15:09 > 0:15:10and one day I saw these...
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Always about a firm here in London,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14and they used to sell things like, er,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16itching powder and a Seebackroscope,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19which is thing you put in your eye
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and you can see if an assassin is creeping up behind you,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23which is very essential for a boy of eight.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- In the playground? - Uh-huh.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28So I saw this advertisement one day and it said, "Fool your teachers,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31"amaze your friends, send 6p in stamps, become a ventriloquist."
0:15:31 > 0:15:33So I did, didn't I? Yes. See?
0:15:33 > 0:15:34And I...
0:15:34 > 0:15:38My father bought me this, er, ventriloquial figure
0:15:38 > 0:15:41and I started doing little concerts.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44My first was at an orphanage just near, er,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Knotty Ash, where I live.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49My dad wrote the script and that was my first show at about eight,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52and then I did everything - any school concerts...
0:15:52 > 0:15:56oh, Froth-Blowers' hot pots, dockers' soirees.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58I met these people -
0:15:58 > 0:16:00a lady called Hilda Fallon - in Liverpool,
0:16:00 > 0:16:06who ran a concert party and I joined their troupe and I did sort of, er,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09any kind of show we could. Any show, we'd get a show.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13You worked as a salesman for a living at one point in your life.
0:16:13 > 0:16:14I helped my father in his business
0:16:14 > 0:16:17for a while with my brother Bill, and then I...
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Once again, I wanted to be a hero, so I struck out on my own and I had
0:16:21 > 0:16:22this sort of hardware business,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and I think that's where I learned...
0:16:25 > 0:16:27Pots, polishes and lotions and stuff?
0:16:27 > 0:16:28That sort of thing, yes.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30And that was on the knocker on the door?
0:16:30 > 0:16:33At first, at first, and then I had a shop and I used to...
0:16:33 > 0:16:36That's how I learnt to sell things. Well, really to sell yourself.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41You learn how to look people in the eye and try to sell things to them,
0:16:41 > 0:16:43and I think, er...
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Could you sell me a pot of something if you set your mind to it?
0:16:46 > 0:16:48- Yes. - You could?
0:16:48 > 0:16:50- Yes, I think so, yes. - How did you get your start
0:16:50 > 0:16:52in show business proper?
0:16:52 > 0:16:56I, er... As I say, I was doing all these local shows,
0:16:56 > 0:17:00and then I did one or two shows in theatres.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Er, I did a show, for instance, in New Brighton,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06an RAF Benevolent Fund show once,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09on a Sunday, and an old chap there saw me -
0:17:09 > 0:17:11a man called Dan Slater, who had been a comic
0:17:11 > 0:17:13and also been a theatre manager.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16And he sort of took over my management for a while
0:17:16 > 0:17:19and got me some theatre shows,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22just within sort of 50 miles of Merseyside.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Then he introduced me to a marvellous man -
0:17:25 > 0:17:28a wonderful agent called Dave Forrester -
0:17:28 > 0:17:32who took me on and took me from the Wigan Hippodrome,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36where I did one of my very first shows where he saw me...
0:17:36 > 0:17:39I was a guest artist in a show there.
0:17:39 > 0:17:40Actually, it was...
0:17:40 > 0:17:43I didn't know when I signed the contract, it was a nude show,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46and I was put in as a sort of guest artist in the second half.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50And they boasted that they had the only moving nude in the business,
0:17:50 > 0:17:52cos in those days, they weren't allowed to move,
0:17:52 > 0:17:56and a young lady was pushed across the stage on a bicycle.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59So she was a moving nude, and I was on in that show
0:17:59 > 0:18:03and he signed me up then, on a six-month probationary contract.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05And he...
0:18:05 > 0:18:10It lasted until two or three years ago, when he passed away at age 90,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13but I always think he was 100 and kept 10% for himself.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15But he... He...
0:18:15 > 0:18:16Perhaps he was...
0:18:16 > 0:18:19He took me from Wigan to the Palladium.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22And where you had that amazing, successful run.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25But you were fortunate, it seems to me,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29that in those days - however long ago those days were and, again,
0:18:29 > 0:18:31we're getting to the point
0:18:31 > 0:18:33where you ought to be able to identify these dates -
0:18:33 > 0:18:36you were fortunate to be working when the music hall tradition
0:18:36 > 0:18:40in this country - such as at the Wigan Hippodrome...
0:18:40 > 0:18:41- Yes, indeed. - ..was still alive,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43was still happening.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45You could get out there on the boards and work.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47People call them music halls because...
0:18:47 > 0:18:48They were variety theatres,
0:18:48 > 0:18:50and music hall was a bit before that -
0:18:50 > 0:18:52music hall was where people actually sat in the audience...
0:18:52 > 0:18:54- OK, variety theatre. - More like the clubs,
0:18:54 > 0:18:55but the variety theatres
0:18:55 > 0:18:57and the giant... The big ones,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01the big Moss Stoll tours were gradually
0:19:01 > 0:19:03coming to the end of their life,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and I was very, very lucky and I turned professional in 1954 -
0:19:06 > 0:19:10September 27th 1954 - at the Nottingham Empire,
0:19:10 > 0:19:11and the next week was Leeds
0:19:11 > 0:19:13and the following week was Sunderland,
0:19:13 > 0:19:15and then up to the house of terror -
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Glasgow Empire -
0:19:17 > 0:19:20and down to Birmingham, Brighton.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23And I played all these wonderful, marvellous theatres
0:19:23 > 0:19:26and worked with some great stars, some big, big stars.
0:19:26 > 0:19:27My second week was...
0:19:27 > 0:19:31The first week was with Kenny Baker - the famous trumpeter -
0:19:31 > 0:19:35who is still very much Kenny Baker, the famous trumpeter.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Then the second week was Suzette Tarry,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40a wonderful lady who taught me how to take bows.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42She said on the second night, on the Tuesday, she said,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44"Young man, you have quite a good act,
0:19:44 > 0:19:46"but you can't take bows for toffee.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49"Would you like me to show you?" "Oh," I said, "Yes, please."
0:19:49 > 0:19:52She said, "I shall be here every night when you come off the stage,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54"and you do exactly what I do, what I tell you to do."
0:19:54 > 0:19:57And so, every night for that week, as I came off, she told me
0:19:57 > 0:20:00when to go on, when to hold back, when to take a long bow,
0:20:00 > 0:20:02and she taught me how to take bows.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Who else did you learn from?
0:20:04 > 0:20:07I learned from... I had wonderful heroes to look up to.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09I think when you're trying to learn anything,
0:20:09 > 0:20:11when you're trying to study any particular art,
0:20:11 > 0:20:13I think you sort of look to the best,
0:20:13 > 0:20:18and I worked with some of the best and some of the kindest people.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Jewel and Warriss, who were absolutely wonderful to me.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24Little Arthur Askey, who was my hero!
0:20:24 > 0:20:27So much energy, it was like seeing a firework display go off.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29I worked with Ted Ray, who I think
0:20:29 > 0:20:32was the best stand-up comic of them all.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34I worked with Max Miller in Brighton.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I met Max and he was a wonderful person.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41He was getting rather old then, but he was still a giant.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44And Tommy Cooper... All the greats.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49Where could you, or where could a successor to you, start now?
0:20:49 > 0:20:51It would be a very different apprenticeship, wouldn't it?
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Very. Even...
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Even allowing for the fact that I believe there are now more theatres
0:20:57 > 0:20:59in this country than there were 40 years ago -
0:20:59 > 0:21:01that's an amazing fact, isn't it?
0:21:01 > 0:21:03A lot of people think the theatres are all gone. No.
0:21:03 > 0:21:04There are more theatres now,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08but they're all smaller theatres - they're all 500-seater, 1,000-seater.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Every town, every city worthy of its salt - or gritting -
0:21:12 > 0:21:16has its own civic theatre or a theatre run by a trust.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19And there are thousands - hundreds, certainly -
0:21:19 > 0:21:21probably thousands of theatres all over Britain.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23I made a vow that I would play every one,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25and I'm still probably only halfway through.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27- Have you kept count? - Yeah. Well, not count.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Well, I could, I suppose, if I went through my date sheet,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33but it's a lot. I've played some strange ones.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Some up in Shetlands, er...
0:21:35 > 0:21:36oh...
0:21:36 > 0:21:38in the Theatre in the Forest in the Lake District.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40But all these theatres.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42I was very lucky I was able to play all the big theatres
0:21:42 > 0:21:44before they closed.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46I, er...
0:21:46 > 0:21:49I've played some very strange ones, too.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52What's your comedy about?
0:21:52 > 0:21:54My comedy is about giving people laughter.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Yeah, but what's the subject matter of it?
0:21:56 > 0:21:57Happiness.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59No, that's the end effect you're trying...
0:21:59 > 0:22:01You're saying the targets?
0:22:01 > 0:22:03- What are you trying to achieve? - The subject matter?
0:22:03 > 0:22:05No, what do you make jokes about?
0:22:05 > 0:22:06Jokes about, mostly...
0:22:07 > 0:22:10All comedy, all humour, all jokes,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12reflect the lives we live.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14It reflects our lifestyle.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17That is why a lot of jokes, a lot of American humour -
0:22:17 > 0:22:21some American humour, a lot of American - doesn't travel very well
0:22:21 > 0:22:23and a lot of our humour doesn't travel well over there.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26And European humour, but it all reflects that...
0:22:26 > 0:22:29So my jokes are about family life, er...
0:22:29 > 0:22:30I start...
0:22:30 > 0:22:32My act is like a kaleidoscope, if you will.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35I go on first of all and I try to build the bridge
0:22:35 > 0:22:39and I talk about the most important thing in the world - themselves.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41- What's that? - Themselves.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44- Right. - Then I talk about the place.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47I josh the place, I have a little...
0:22:47 > 0:22:50Tease them about the town they live in,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54the city they live in, about the traffic systems and I say,
0:22:54 > 0:22:55"This traffic system,
0:22:55 > 0:22:57"you must be very proud - nobody'll ever find you now."
0:22:57 > 0:23:00And that works in every city in Great Britain, cos every city
0:23:00 > 0:23:03and every town in Great Britain has a traffic problem.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Then I talk about...
0:23:05 > 0:23:08And gradually, you ingratiate yourself into their confidence,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12so that then they trust you, they trust you with their minds.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14They trust you with their sense of humour,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17cos people are very proud of their sense of humour,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19and they won't just let anybody tickle them.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Then, through the act,
0:23:21 > 0:23:23you gradually get to the stage
0:23:23 > 0:23:25where you can talk about being very...
0:23:25 > 0:23:27very, er...surrealistic.
0:23:27 > 0:23:28You can talk about men's legs
0:23:28 > 0:23:30getting very lonely in their trousers,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33in the dark all day.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36How important is the fantasy language that you invent, as well?
0:23:36 > 0:23:38I very rarely...
0:23:38 > 0:23:40The fantasy language - the tattyfilariousness
0:23:40 > 0:23:42and the discomknockerating -
0:23:42 > 0:23:44that really is another...is another department.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47That was more for, mmm...
0:23:47 > 0:23:49More for the zany part of it,
0:23:49 > 0:23:53and particularly in the children's humour section - the family audience.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56I'd been professional about, er...
0:23:56 > 0:23:57well, only about six months
0:23:57 > 0:23:59and I discovered a brand-new audience.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02When I started off, I was a front-cloth comic.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06That's a comic that, er, goes on when the...
0:24:06 > 0:24:09you know, the liberty horses are behind.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12And, er, then I discovered a brand-new aud... The family audience.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16The family audience of pantomime, the family audience of summer season,
0:24:16 > 0:24:18where mums and dads took the children,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20and their aunties and the uncles
0:24:20 > 0:24:23and the grannies, and you have to find a completely new approach.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25New subject matter, so I invented...
0:24:25 > 0:24:27That's the language and the Diddymen.
0:24:27 > 0:24:29I invented these little Diddymen for the children,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32and the discomknockerating and the tattyfilariousness.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35It's all trademarks - the hair, the teeth, the fingers, the eyes -
0:24:35 > 0:24:38they're all trademarked to make you different
0:24:38 > 0:24:40than any other humorist, different than any other comic.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42You have to be different.
0:24:42 > 0:24:43Can a comic be good-looking?
0:24:44 > 0:24:47If he is, he has to do something about it.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48And he has to...
0:24:48 > 0:24:50- The teeth are deliberate. - I've always been cursed...
0:24:50 > 0:24:52The teeth are deliberate. You could have had the teeth fixed.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54- Oh, yes, yes, yes. - But it would, er...
0:24:54 > 0:24:56I didn't know that. I didn't know that until about, er...
0:24:56 > 0:24:58about ten years ago.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02I was sitting in a dental surgery here in London, and he said,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04"Well, that's it, Mr Dodd.
0:25:04 > 0:25:05"Anything else we can do?"
0:25:05 > 0:25:08Laughing, I said, "Yes, if you can straighten them."
0:25:08 > 0:25:10"Oh, yes, we can do that for you."
0:25:10 > 0:25:13"What?" And then I was left with this dilemma.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15- My agent nearly had a relapse... - I should think, yeah.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18..when I told her I was going to have my teeth straightened.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21But, er, no, I think... you have to be able to go...
0:25:23 > 0:25:25..and do all this stuff,
0:25:25 > 0:25:29because...part of the psychology of humour is to make an audience
0:25:29 > 0:25:31feel that they're superior to you.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34You have to learn humility, you have to let people laugh at you.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36It's very important that you...
0:25:36 > 0:25:38And I don't mind, I don't mind people laughing at me. It's fine.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41It's part of my job, I'm a jester.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Setting the family audience aside for another day,
0:25:44 > 0:25:46how rude can you be?
0:25:48 > 0:25:52I had... Once again, I had great heroes to look up to - Robb Wilton,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55er...Tommy Handley and these giants...
0:25:55 > 0:25:58these giant - not just comedians, they were humorists.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02They were very creative people. Jimmy James said to me once, he said,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04"See, Ken, there are people who say funny things,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06"and people who say things funny,"
0:26:06 > 0:26:10meaning the difference between a man who just tells jokes and a man who
0:26:10 > 0:26:12actually sort of creates jokes,
0:26:12 > 0:26:15creates the humour, creates them and acts them.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19And I think... They didn't... They were never obscene.
0:26:19 > 0:26:20They may have been slightly risque.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24No, but you. How sexy is your act, in fact?
0:26:24 > 0:26:25Oh, ah, well, yes.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29Well, I... I like it to be spicy
0:26:29 > 0:26:33and I like people to know that I'm very much a man
0:26:33 > 0:26:37and I tell honeymoon jokes and I tell jokes about, er...
0:26:37 > 0:26:41I say I'm a sex symbol for women who don't care.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44And I do stuff like that, yes.
0:26:44 > 0:26:45But, I mean, the tickling stick.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- The tickling stick. Well, that... - That's a sex symbol, isn't it?
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Well, people have... but I think that's a phallus-y.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Yeah, but I know that, but it actually is a phallus, isn't it?
0:26:54 > 0:26:55I mean, that's what it is.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58No, I don't think so. Tickling, I think, can be...
0:26:58 > 0:27:00Tickling can be innuendo.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Tickling can be sort of, "By Jove, missus, how tickled we are!"
0:27:03 > 0:27:05That, yes, it's the...
0:27:05 > 0:27:08You're talking about something that's getting into the area of,
0:27:08 > 0:27:13er...the enjoyment of sex, but sex is a thing to be celebrated.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15It's a wonderful thing. It's a...
0:27:15 > 0:27:17It is happiness.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Isn't the essence of that that you're...
0:27:20 > 0:27:23that you're pretending not to go the whole way,
0:27:23 > 0:27:25but they're actually imagining it?
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Well, yes, this is a very...
0:27:27 > 0:27:29I think I learnt that from Max Miller.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Max Miller never told rude jokes.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Everybody thought that Max Miller was a blue comedian.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36He was never a blue comedian. He always dared the audience to...
0:27:36 > 0:27:39"Please, lady, lady, don't make me say it, lady, don't make me say it."
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Yeah, but that's because he made them think it.
0:27:41 > 0:27:42- He teased. - He didn't say it,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44but made them think it.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46He teased, he teased the audience. You do, of course.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50I mean, if sex and even vulgarity and bawdiness...
0:27:50 > 0:27:52Bawdiness is a wonderful thing.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55It's a wonderful thing to celebrate being a human being.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57Do you ever take a break?
0:27:57 > 0:27:59Yes. Yes.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01What do you do when you relax?
0:28:01 > 0:28:03We like to travel.
0:28:03 > 0:28:04Er...
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Like to travel to interesting places.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09Took you a long time, I've read somewhere, to go abroad.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Oh, no. That was a story at one time.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14- That's a story. - I was very busy. I was very busy.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16As I say, I started...
0:28:16 > 0:28:19being a professional comedian in 1954,
0:28:19 > 0:28:23and within ten years, I was starring at the London Palladium,
0:28:23 > 0:28:24which wasn't bad.
0:28:24 > 0:28:30And then, we did 42 weeks then went back the following...1967,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32played another 40 weeks there,
0:28:32 > 0:28:34played Windsor Castle, the Royal Household party.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37- How did that go? - Very well! Very well!
0:28:37 > 0:28:41I can remember singing Happiness - # Happiness, happiness # -
0:28:41 > 0:28:45and...Her Majesty was just where you are now,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49and I looked down and her hands were going on the arms there.
0:28:52 > 0:28:53That was a wonderful...
0:28:53 > 0:28:55I shall treasure that for the rest of my life.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58You sing Happiness, and you obviously make...
0:28:58 > 0:29:00- but can you give people happiness? - Yes.
0:29:00 > 0:29:01Is happiness something everybody can have?
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Yes, it's a attitude of mind, isn't it? It is an attitude of mind.
0:29:05 > 0:29:07And, er, sometimes people,
0:29:07 > 0:29:10when they're very depressed, can go to a show -
0:29:10 > 0:29:13I'm very proud to say, they come to my shows -
0:29:13 > 0:29:17and, feeling quite down, quite depressed sometimes,
0:29:17 > 0:29:19for all sorts of reasons.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24And we get, you know, they tell us afterwards that it was...it was...
0:29:24 > 0:29:27for a few hours, it really gave them a lift.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30Can you perform when you're not happy yourself?
0:29:31 > 0:29:34It's... It's, er... You have to, actually.
0:29:34 > 0:29:35No, you don't have to.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37But you have chosen to, haven't you?
0:29:37 > 0:29:39Yes, there is a...
0:29:39 > 0:29:40Once again, it's like two people again.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44It's, er...the private person,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46before they go on stage,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49might feel quite down or even...
0:29:49 > 0:29:53just not feel like being the comedian at all,
0:29:53 > 0:29:58but once the music starts and you're on, something happens -
0:29:58 > 0:29:59you become another person.
0:29:59 > 0:30:04And can that be true even if someone you love very much is ill?
0:30:04 > 0:30:06It has happened, yes, yes.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08Or someone you love very much has died?
0:30:08 > 0:30:11- Yes. That has happened, yes. - Did you have to perform...
0:30:11 > 0:30:13- Yes. - ..when your father died?
0:30:13 > 0:30:15- Yes, I did, yes. - You didn't choose not to?
0:30:15 > 0:30:19I didn't. I chose... Out of respect for him, I chose to do it.
0:30:19 > 0:30:20Yeah.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22Was that hard?
0:30:22 > 0:30:25That particular night was very hard, yes.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27Yes, that was very hard.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29Is this going out there
0:30:29 > 0:30:32and losing yourself in an audience
0:30:32 > 0:30:35a sort of escape from the difficulties of life?
0:30:37 > 0:30:38Not from the difficulties.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40It's an escape to somewhere very, very happy.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43I enjoy myself, I have the time of my life when I'm on the stage.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45I really do, I enjoy every second of it.
0:30:45 > 0:30:47Is the large part of your audiences women?
0:30:48 > 0:30:49No, no.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53I have a very, very...wonderful sort of...
0:30:53 > 0:30:54wonderful spread of audiences.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56I... I have... We have...
0:30:56 > 0:30:59It seems to me that a lot of your act is addressed to women.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Cos women do...
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Ladies do have a better sense of humour - well, a more emotional
0:31:06 > 0:31:09sense of humour - than men, cos women are more emotional than men.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11Oh, yes. Men are much more...
0:31:11 > 0:31:14They hold it and it's a bit more macho, isn't it,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17to sort of keep it to...?
0:31:17 > 0:31:18"Make me laugh!"
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Whereas ladies, they really... They get it.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23They're out for a good time. They enjoy themselves.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26If you've ever been to a hen party...
0:31:26 > 0:31:30Well, why is it that you manage to give them so good a time?
0:31:30 > 0:31:31I enjoy it myself.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36I love doing it and I take good care to try and get good material,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38to try and write good material, to try and, er,
0:31:38 > 0:31:40get other people to write me good material,
0:31:40 > 0:31:42and I know a good joke when I see one,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45and I only do my own - I'll only do my own material.
0:31:45 > 0:31:47I mean, you come on to them as sexy but innocent, would you say?
0:31:47 > 0:31:49Yes. Yes, I think so, yes.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51I mean you wrap your rudeness
0:31:51 > 0:31:53and sexiness in a sort of childlike...
0:31:53 > 0:31:55- Yes, that is true. - ..quality.
0:31:55 > 0:31:56Yes, that is so.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59I mean, let me ask you seriously,
0:31:59 > 0:32:03are you as good with...are you as popular with younger audiences,
0:32:03 > 0:32:07or is there something that's pleasantly familiar
0:32:07 > 0:32:09about your act for older audiences?
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Every... Every ten years - I think every seven years,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16but every ten years, you have to pass an exam again with the public.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19You have to reinvent yourself, and you have to find...
0:32:19 > 0:32:21You come up with something new,
0:32:21 > 0:32:25or do something rather spectacular, and, er...
0:32:25 > 0:32:29this is... Thank goodness I've been able to do this for 40 years.
0:32:29 > 0:32:34I've either had a successful record or I've had a successful,
0:32:34 > 0:32:39er, show in London in the West End that's brought me a lot of publicity,
0:32:39 > 0:32:43or I've done a very successful... Perhaps a successful television show.
0:32:43 > 0:32:49Er, as... Last year, we did a...a mega success - a mega success -
0:32:49 > 0:32:51with a show called An Audience With...
0:32:51 > 0:32:53and this was a big, big success
0:32:53 > 0:32:56and this was... I've reinvented Ken Dodd again,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59and now there's all sorts of teenagers
0:32:59 > 0:33:01and boys and girls coming up
0:33:01 > 0:33:04and saying, "We never realised that this sort of comedy...
0:33:04 > 0:33:07"We thought comedy was all about swearing at the audience.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10"We thought comedy was all about talking about -
0:33:10 > 0:33:14"well, mentioning, er, unmentionable things!
0:33:14 > 0:33:16"Taboos, we never realised you could have a good time
0:33:16 > 0:33:19"just by talking about...
0:33:19 > 0:33:22"Oh, no, no, talking about the doctor's routine or the..."
0:33:22 > 0:33:26What are the best moments of your life? Are they on stage or off it?
0:33:28 > 0:33:31Well, a mixture of both, I think. I've had some... I've, er...
0:33:31 > 0:33:33Whatever success I've had,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35I've some wonderful people helping me,
0:33:35 > 0:33:37and I've got some...
0:33:37 > 0:33:39I've had a lovely family who help me.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43I've got partners - I've got a partner who helps me.
0:33:43 > 0:33:44I've got, er...
0:33:44 > 0:33:48I've got, er, lots and lots of friends and supporters
0:33:48 > 0:33:50and they all help in their own way.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52What have been the worst moments of your life?
0:33:52 > 0:33:56Well, I think the same as most people - bereavements and, er,
0:33:56 > 0:33:59sometimes, when you're up against it.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03Yeah, I think everybody gets their share of tough times,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05but you, er...
0:34:05 > 0:34:06I have a...
0:34:06 > 0:34:11I'm very grateful that I have something in here that...
0:34:13 > 0:34:16I don't... I think you'd call it...
0:34:16 > 0:34:19I think you'd call it courage, I think.
0:34:19 > 0:34:25When I've been down, something gets very, very determined there
0:34:25 > 0:34:26that it's not gonna beat me,
0:34:26 > 0:34:30and I won't let it beat me, and I won't and I won't.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32And I still have the enthusiasm.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35That is the greatest talent anybody can possibly have
0:34:35 > 0:34:38if they're thinking of coming into show business or the theatre -
0:34:38 > 0:34:40you have to have enthusiasm.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Do you have fears? What do you fear in life?
0:34:44 > 0:34:46I think, like most... Like most people...
0:34:46 > 0:34:49I'm blessed with reasonable health,
0:34:49 > 0:34:52but I'd be frightened of being incapacitated.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54I'd be, er...
0:34:54 > 0:34:58I'd be frightened of somebody telling me I had a terminal illness.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00Er...
0:35:00 > 0:35:03I think I... I think I'm frightened...
0:35:04 > 0:35:06I'm fearful of, er...
0:35:06 > 0:35:09when the end of my life comes,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12that maybe I won't have done all the things
0:35:12 > 0:35:14I would want to have done,
0:35:14 > 0:35:19and maybe, er...maybe I'd want to redress one or two things.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22But, yeah, I think I'm mostly norm...
0:35:22 > 0:35:24Things that most men and women are frightened of, I think.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28- Are you a believing man? - Yes, yes. Yes, I believe in my...
0:35:28 > 0:35:32I believe in my creator, and I don't think it matters whether you call him
0:35:32 > 0:35:36God, Jehovah, Muhammad, Buddha - I think it's the, er...
0:35:36 > 0:35:41They're all different ways of approaching our creator.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45I cannot possibly believe that I'm an accident.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48I... I must have a... I must... There must be...
0:35:48 > 0:35:50And I feel very strongly - very strongly sometimes -
0:35:50 > 0:35:54that I'm being guided, that I'm being helped, yes.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56You're very loyal to your roots.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00Is it... Do you live in the same house you were born in?
0:36:00 > 0:36:02- Yes. Yes. - Have you always lived there?
0:36:02 > 0:36:03Yes.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05You lived there with your father and mother.
0:36:05 > 0:36:06- Yes. - And now you live...
0:36:06 > 0:36:08But I live in other places as well, you know,
0:36:08 > 0:36:12when I played the Palladium for several years, I lived in London.
0:36:12 > 0:36:16Er... I, er, I've lived in other parts of the country,
0:36:16 > 0:36:18and I lived in other parts of the world for a time.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22I live on Merseyside - Liverpool in particular -
0:36:22 > 0:36:24because it's a wonderful city,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28full of people who are very, very full of enthusiasm.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31Once again, this... That's why so many comedians come from Liverpool.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34People used to say, "Why do so many comedians come from Liverpool?"
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Arthur Askey said, "You've got to be a comedian to live in Liverpool."
0:36:37 > 0:36:39They're the sort... They're very, very...
0:36:39 > 0:36:41What do you spend your money on?
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Er...books.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45Books. Er...
0:36:46 > 0:36:49..clothes, you know, some clothes.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52But mostly...mostly books, I think,
0:36:52 > 0:36:53and any...and gadgets.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57I love gadgets! I love things like anything electronic.
0:36:57 > 0:37:02Everything from sort of computers, down to, er...video recorders
0:37:02 > 0:37:04and recording machines.
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Do you have regrets?
0:37:06 > 0:37:07Oh, yes.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09- What are your regrets? - I think everybody has regrets.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Er...
0:37:11 > 0:37:16I do regret I haven't got children, yes.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18Yes, I do regret that
0:37:18 > 0:37:23and I do regret that perhaps... I think I would have, er...
0:37:25 > 0:37:28I think I would have liked to have started travelling earlier.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31I think I would've, er...
0:37:31 > 0:37:33I would've liked to have gone to university, I think.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38Are you really a loner, a very lonely person?
0:37:38 > 0:37:41No, I don't think so. No, no. I love chatting.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45I'm a terrible...gasbag.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49I love talking and, yes, I talk sometimes when I should be listening,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52but, er, I do talk a lot and I love talking with friends
0:37:52 > 0:37:54and, er, you know,
0:37:54 > 0:37:58people in show business, but I think everyone, deep down inside,
0:37:58 > 0:38:01has moments of...moments of quiet
0:38:01 > 0:38:04and moments of, er, thinking.
0:38:04 > 0:38:10And, yes, think about what it's all about, and I do, er,
0:38:10 > 0:38:11I have...
0:38:11 > 0:38:14I have...I think, like most people,
0:38:14 > 0:38:19feelings of compassion for parts of the world that, er, shouldn't be
0:38:19 > 0:38:24the way they are and for people who shouldn't be in the state they are.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29And I realise that God hasn't made us all equal by any means,
0:38:29 > 0:38:34and perhaps the strong ones are here to look after the weaker people.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36Will you ever retire?
0:38:36 > 0:38:38I don't think so. I don't think so.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40The comedian will say, er...
0:38:40 > 0:38:43When I'm asked this question, "Will you ever retire?",
0:38:43 > 0:38:45say, "No, no, no, missus.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47"But your children will tell their grandchildren
0:38:47 > 0:38:49"I was in the theatre the night he was shot."
0:38:49 > 0:38:52That's the comedian, but the retire...
0:38:52 > 0:38:53No, while I've got my health,
0:38:53 > 0:38:56while I can do it, I can't think of
0:38:56 > 0:38:58anything more wonderful than to go onto a stage,
0:38:58 > 0:39:00or into a television studio,
0:39:00 > 0:39:05or in a radio studio and just to give laughter
0:39:05 > 0:39:07and to hear the sound of laughter
0:39:07 > 0:39:10and know that I had something to do with making them laugh.