Blackpool Big Night Out

Blackpool.

Get off with you! THEY LAUGH

There is that many stars played Blackpool, you could not count them.

There's that many played Blackpool.

When I leave my house, to come to Blackpool to do a show,

my heart's beating, because I know I'm going to have a good time.

I love the smell of Blackpool, in the morning, it smells like...

Comedy.

Yeah.

On top of all that, my dear wife, after years of bliss,

she ran away last week with the fella last next door. I do miss him.

LAUGHTER

This is what makes it so nostalgic to come to Blackpool.

I met the wife in Blackpool on the Pleasure Beach.

In the Tunnel of Love. She was digging it.

LAUGHTER

# Downtown, things will be great

# When you're downtown,

# No finer place for sure

# Downtown Everything's waiting for you

# Downtown

# Downtown. #

By Jove, what a beautiful day.

What a beautiful day for jumping off the top of Blackpool Tower,

holding your granny's corsets over your head,

and saying, "How's this for hang gliding?"

It's so crowded at Blackpool,

the corporation had to send to Morecambe for more, new seagulls,

more seagulls! Ha-ha!

-Hey!

-What?

-You'll do.

-Who?

-You.

-For what?

-For me.

-Oh, right!

Oh, sit down!

How long have we been in the amateurs now?

12 years you've been in the amateurs.

12 years.

You know, I can always tell if an audience is going to be good or bad.

Good night.

LAUGHTER

Hup, hey, hop?

LAUGHTER

In its day, you did get all the top stars.

Everybody came and played at Blackpool.

Oh, it was everything. It was the capital of entertainment.

Morecambe and Wise, I remember Morecambe and Wise.

Summer seasons on North Pier.

The Opera House.

The biggest acts in the business

were here in Blackpool doing summer seasons.

-TV COMMENTATOR:

-Here's holiday entertainment for the whole family.

The Morecambe and Wise Show,

starring Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise,

an all-star company.

This fabulous show is on the stage for the summer season,

at the ABC Blackpool, from the 5th of June.

The Morecambe and Wise Show is presented twice nightly

at 6:10pm and 8:45pm,

in the comfort of Europe's most luxurious theatre.

Blackpool was hugely important to Morecambe and Wise.

It was the foundation of their careers.

And they shipped up there for the first time in 1953.

That was their big break.

And they never really looked back after that.

That was the beginning of an incredible career.

Ladies and gentlemen, we'd now like to play you Monti's Csardas.

Three Blind Mice.

LAUGHTER

-Pardon?

-Three Blind Mice, it's harder.

Because I play it backwards.

Monti's Csardas. We're going to play Monti's Csardas.

-All right then.

-Are you ready?

-Oh, well, up to you.

-Here we go.

One, two.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

-That was marvellous, wasn't it.

-Where were you?

-I couldn't get in!

-With one stick, too.

-One stick, you did it. And it was on fire as well.

I've never seen hammers go like that before.

-You're supposed to come in halfway through.

-Ha-ha. I'll remember that.

When Eric and Ernie were in town, they were such heroes.

They even got to judge the Miss Blackpool beauty pageant.

-TV COMMENTATOR:

-Who better than comedians Albert Modley

and Morecambe and Wise, to make the very best of a good job?

It's very odd to see people like Eric and Ernie

involved in that kind of scene.

But, I think back in the day, comedians were glamorous.

They were right at the top of the professional entertainment tree.

And, that meant flash cars, pretty women.

And it was of the time.

Eric always loved Blackpool.

What he used to say was, compared to everything,

Blackpool was really the only one worth playing.

The only thing that he didn't like doing, he said, in all honesty,

was the North Pier,

because it was so far out into the water.

If the weather changed, it became seriously lethal

getting to the dressing rooms and performing.

-TV COMMENTATOR:

-No less than three piers

for those who feel the need for a different one each day.

Theatres, sun loungers, and orchestras

are to be found on all of them.

The largest of the three is the North Pier,

710 yards in length, including the jetty.

Thousands stroll here each day,

thousands more relax in the sunshine.

His friend, the late singer Matt Munro, worked with them many times.

He was walking to perform one night along the front.

A big wind got up, blew him over, and he broke his arm.

So, it kind of made sense in the end

that maybe the North Pier was a bit dangerous on a bad night!

Let's do it one more time.

If you played the North Pier in the autumn, October,

you were liable to get some quite lively wind, storms, and rain.

And, sometimes, even the Central Pier used to rock in the bad weather.

Sometimes, you wondered whether you were going to finish the night

halfway into the Irish Sea.

I remember being in that pier, in October.

And the waves were coming up underneath,

you could see them under your floorboards in your dressing room.

It was like being on a ship.

And you'd walk, it was a quarter of a mile to the end of this pier.

And there you'd be, with 1,100 people in the audience.

It was a great atmosphere.

You could see the steam coming off the people,

because they've had to walk down the pier!

-HE LAUGHS

-It was great.

But they didn't seem to mind, didn't seem to care.

I've looked out on to the audience when we've had bad weather.

They're sitting there in wet clothes.

You could see the steam coming off their clothes.

But they're still having a good time. They're still laughing.

They forget about it.

Because, when you walk in any of these theatres,

you see a comedy show.

You're laughing so much, you're having such a good time.

You don't realise how wet you are

till you get back out of the building.

It was a hell of a walk down there.

And you have to have an act, a ten-minute act.

Because people sat in their deckchairs,

they were already shouting at you, "Hello!" I used to be so shy.

"All right, Mr Large?" "Oh, yeah, all right."

"Any free tickets?" "Ooh, I don't think so."

I followed Frank Carson down, one day.

And they were shouting at Frank: "Mr Carson!"

"Hello, there, love. By the way, hard luck in the Miss World competition.

"Good luck next week in the Horse of the Year Show, ha-ha." And he's off.

And I'm following him, and someone else. "Any free tickets, Mr Carson?"

"Aye, for every £9 you hand over, you get a free ticket! Cracker."

And he's off. And I'm thinking, I'm going to do that, Frank.

That's easier than putting the dark glasses on and the scarf.

There's no other seaside town with three piers.

Tell me, whatever taste you've got, that you don't like wandering out

into this amazing thing that mankind has made.

Where mankind conquers the sea.

The South Pier was famous because it was Al Read's first debut.

When you're on your holidays, to enjoy yourself, aren't you?

You see, there's no holiday for us married men.

We go through it with you wives. You put us through it, you watch us.

You watch us! Never mind "ha-ha", I heard that!

LAUGHTER

You won't let us out of your sight.

You've only got to think about going for one on your own with the lads.

"Where are you going again, without me?"

His father was quite a wealthy man, so was Al.

They'd booked the South Pier one Sunday night.

He put his own show on, with Al Read the star.

And, after the show...

I'm telling you a little story here,

because you never ask your family what they thought of the show.

Never. Because they'll tell you!

And, after the show, they're coming down the pier.

He said to his dear old grandma,

"What did you think of the show, Gran?"

Big mistake. His granny looked and says, "Well, Al, you looked clean."

And that was it.

Welcome to Blackpool.

I know why you're here, you always go,

"I'm a lovely colour," don't you?

Blue, with a red nose full of snot!

LAUGHTER

When I first came here, somebody liked me,

and they said, "Right. Will you do a show on the pier?"

I said, "Hmph, family entertainment, you don't want me there.

"Every other word's F."

"We're putting you on at 12 o'clock!"

All right. So I'm going to be talking to myself!

And, strangely enough, it was packed at 12 o'clock.

-But you got a lot of that...

-DRUNKEN MUTTERING

-HECKLING

-Ah, thank you very much!

Why are you being so nasty?

You were so gentle in the toilet half an hour ago!

LAUGHTER

I was 19 when I first came to Blackpool to work the summer season.

Let's face it, if you got a summer season at Blackpool,

you were going to be a star, or you were a star.

It was tremendously important to say,

"Where are you working this week? What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm at the Miners Welfare in Heckmondwike. What about you?"

"Er... I'm at Winter Gardens in Blackpool."

"Oh."

"Yeah." I mean, it was real kudos. Real feather in your cap.

You'd tell as many people as possible.

ORCHESTRA PLAYS

Where do you come to? I came to Blackpool.

To live in Blackpool, because it was the Mecca of show business.

I thought, eventually, I'll get a summer season here. And I did.

The first season I did was 1966, then I did one in 1968.

DRUM ROLL

And here is an English comedian.

RIPPLE OF LAUGHTER

Freddie Davies.

APPLAUSE

HE LISPS I say!

I say!

Come here, parrot face.

You know that budgie you sold me yesterday?

Look at it.

LAUGHTER

I stuffed 17lb of bird seed in it, and it still wouldn't bounce!

LAUGHTER

Isn't it about time you sold me a decent budgerigar?

I'd like a nice little talker.

Something that speaks with its beak.

And I don't care what colour it is, as long as it's blue.

There was a certain thrill about coming to Blackpool.

It was a special always a special occasion.

-TV COMMENTATOR:

-Playground spectacular.

Playground extraordinary. Blackpool, known to millions of Britons

and millions from overseas.

They built Blackpool.

It was designed, it doesn't happen organically.

And they get Matcham, the great architect in,

who builds these wonderful pleasure dromes for the working classes.

The Grand, of course, is the most beautiful theatre.

Which is a Frank Matcham theatre.

Frank Matcham was the great theatre architect,

and the Grand is a beautiful,

the most beautiful Frank Matcham theatre, I think.

And it's a great theatre for a comedian, for comics,

because the audience are there, right in front of you.

The piers along the sea front were developed in the late 19th century.

When the workers arrived in Blackpool, with their families,

it was a week-long Dionysian, Bacchanalian revel.

-TV COMMENTATOR:

-Now, here's an added treat.

Appearing in her very first summer show: Cilla Black!

Hey, isn't it marvellous? 16 weeks in Blackpool, with The Bachelors.

You will come and see us, won't you?

# I never cared much for moonlit skies

# I never winked back at fireflies

# But now that the stars are in your eyes

# I'm beginning to see the light. #

My dad would queue up on the Monday. We'd get here on the Sunday night,

he'd queue up on the Monday, in fact, all day, to every box office,

to get tickets for the show.

And we would see a different show every night.

And sometimes even two shows in one night.

And the first thing you'd do,

you'd go on a tour to all the box offices,

three piers, South, Central, North,

ABC, Grand Theatre,

the Opera House, the Winter Gardens,

and you'd get as many tickets as you could for the week.

Because, if you didn't get them then,

you wouldn't be able to get in the shows.

Because every show would do sell-out business.

You'd got the ticket, you'd queued, you got it.

I can remember as if it was yesterday,

getting in to see Tommy Steele.

I just, I'd actually got in, I was on my own!

My dad would say, "We're going to go and see a variety show tonight."

"What's that then, dad?" "Oh, you'll see.

"You'll probably get a plate spinner. You know.

"And then you'll get a woman on a saxophone.

"And a bloke that told jokes. And a lady that whistled."

And, oh, I thought it was fantastic.

And, getting in to the theatre was the magic.

Because, you knew, when you walked in

that big, dark, warm, inviting place,

you were in another world. You were just in another world.

We saw Jimmy Clitheroe.

And the routine with Alfie, and the bit of carrot in the goldfish bowl.

And every audience,

comedy then, they only had to do eight minutes, 10 minutes.

And he would take the carrot out of the bowl and eat it.

Of course, the audience thought it was a fish.

And the likes of my father thought that was hilarious.

HE SQUEALS NONSENSICALLY

-Take it away.

-Ohhh!

Why did you want to go and do that for?

Taking my mouth for a hanger, is what you're doing.

I wasn't doing anything with it, what did you go and do,

-you go and get them...

-HE BLUBBERS HYSTERICALLY

Even as a little boy, and my mum and dad were in showbusiness

so they wanted to see every show.

And I wanted to see the shows with them.

One of my greatest places that I loved was the circus,

Blackpool Tower Circus, with Charlie Cairoli.

Such a wonderful building.

I used to sit there and think,

one day, I'd love to be on that circus ring and do something.

I thought, possibly, a clown, I wanted to be a clown.

-You are a clown.

-"You are a clown." Thank you!?

Don't speak when I'm speaking, ha-ha.

-You're not that good.

-Yes, thank you!

TV COMMENTATOR: The Tower Circus is internationally famous.

As clever as a cart-load of monkeys,

this box of chimpanzees is the bring-the-house-down part of the show.

My name is Mooky the clown, and I work at the Blackpool Tower Circus.

And I'm a clown, um, hence the clown face.

And, my name is Mr Boo, I'm the straight man,

I make sure he doesn't cause too much trouble.

-And I work at the Blackpool Tower Circus as well.

-You do?

-I do.

-TV COMMENTATOR:

-Charlie Cairoli, almost a fixture at this circus,

puts the finishing touches to his make-up.

My name is Charlie Cairoli. Named after my father.

Well, he was actually called Carletto.

But, it's Charlie, when it's translated.

He was the clown at the Blackpool Tower from '39, to '79.

I joined my father in 1970.

Great man.

Never gave me a lesson.

Never sort of showed me how to do anything.

I just watched, and learnt.

-Where is it?

-Here.

Where?

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

Blackpool Tower Circus, the greatest show on Earth.

I think it started 118 years ago, it's been there every single year

without missing a summer season, ever. Even through the war.

It's been 118 years.

There was a lot of shows going on. The circus was the different one.

There were a lot of twice-nightlies, and the stars,

Bruce Forsyth, Morecambe and Wise, things like that.

But, the circus was the totally different one.

-TV COMMENTATOR:

-Holding hands, or rather holding tails.

Another kind of slow traffic moves across the promenade.

The circus elephants, taking their daily exercise.

It was wonderful that the elephants came out on the beach,

holding, trunk to tail. It was part of what you were involved in.

You felt as though they were our elephants.

Because they were part of our showbiz environment.

And something you'll never forget. It was like being in the Serengeti.

The elephants had loved it in the sea.

One day, the elephants wouldn't come out, they missed a show,

they were out there, and they couldn't get them out at all.

If you look way back to people like Frank Randle,

the working man's comic who, I think, was earning £1,000 a week,

all those thousands of years ago.

# That's what it's all about. #

Frank Randle was a very unique entertainer.

He was known as the King Twist of Blackpool.

You could, in a way, say that he owned Blackpool.

In fact, owned the hearts of a huge amount of people who came here.

-By the way, what is your name?

-Just have a guess.

Hm. I should say, Frozen Fanny.

-You almost amuse me, you do, really.

-Why? Isn't that your name?

I don't mind, if you like it that way.

Ooh, I like it anyway.

-How about a dance with a gentleman?

-Er... Bring him to me.

-I mean me!

-You?

-Yes.

Oh, dear, I could almost laugh.

I wouldn't do that, you may ladder your stockings.

I met one of my idols, one of my heroes.

I didn't actually work with him.

But he came on the pier late in life, Frank Randle.

HE IMITATES HIM MUMBLING

"Ooh, hello." He talked very posh like that.

He wore a lovely actor's overcoat.

"Hello, hello, Ken, are you having a nice season, haw-haw, hee."

Yes, he's a wonderful, wonderful clown.

With Frank Randle, he was like mega comedian,

he was here every year, I think.

And he used to have this boat moored off the end of the pier.

He had his own yacht moored off the North Pier, the Nomura.

Which Laurel and Hardy sailed around the bay with him in that.

They had to be brought back by what passed for air sea rescue then.

Because Frank liked a drink,

and couldn't quite skipper his own yacht.

But, at the peak of his game, which was the 1940s,

every summer season was played here in Blackpool. Sell-out houses.

He was billed as "star of stage, screen and magistrates court".

Of course, one of the biggest names associated with Blackpool was

George Formby.

Tiny, little, bucktoothed man but the king of Blackpool

and it was almost as if he had the keys to the city. It was his empire.

He could to know wrong whatsoever.

All right, I'm going to sing a song

called My Little Stick Of Blackpool Rock.

This being in Blackpool, we'll have it filmed as well.

OK, Ernie.

# With my little stick of Blackpool rock

# Along the promenade I stroll

# It may be sticky but I never complain

# It's nice to have a nibble at it now and again. #

I saw George Formby at the Opera House.

What I loved about him was he had a great stage presence.

# One afternoon the band conductor up on his stand

# Somehow lost his baton, it flew out of his hand

# So I jumped in his place and then conducted the band

# With my little stick of Blackpool rock. #

Randle and Formby are kind of the yin and yang of British comedy.

Now, the one thing about Randle,

which in those days would set you back,

was that he was illegitimate and Beryl Formby,

who had pretensions, loathed and despised illegitimate people.

They weren't proper.

So, Jack Taylor was going to put a big show on in Blackpool

and Formby and Randle were sharing the bill.

I think this was the Taylor Made Show.

And Beryl stormed into Taylor's office and says,

"There is no way that my George

"is going on a bill with that mongrel."

Another occasion, Taylor managed to get them

on the same bill again and it was a charity do.

And it was decided, again by Beryl,

that George would be top of the bill

and the story goes that Frank got a load of 2 x 4,

nailed the dressing room door shut, George is trapped inside,

goes on stage and goes,

"Ladies and gentlemen, the management have decided that

"George Formby is a better man to entertain you

"so let's see him get on with it."

And he walked off and went to the pub,

leaving the audience totally bewildered.

# Sitting on the top of Blackpool Tower

# When the evening shadows fall

# There you'll find me hour after hour

# While the seagulls up above drop messages of love

# We have a fortune teller in the Tower, bear in mind

# She said to one fat lady, "Don't think that I'm unkind

# "I'd like to tell your future but your future's all behind."

# Sitting on the top of Blackpool Tower. #

Every star wanted to come to Blackpool

and play Blackpool.

That was the ultimate aim - "Let's go and play Blackpool."

This chap coming along the promenade now -

so suave, so elegant, so debonair.

That's him, it's Terry-Thomas inhaling Blackpool's bracing air.

Oh, good show.

Blackpool. The busy holiday resort prepared itself

for yet another beauty contest. But this one with a difference.

Master of ceremonies, Bruce Forsyth.

Also officiating was the mayor of Blackpool.

For being baby of the year, Julianne won £500 and a crown.

But she didn't seem to want either.

Everybody in the business wanted to work Blackpool.

They wanted to come here because Frank Sinatra came here.

He only did the London Palladium and Blackpool.

That's why people wanted to work Blackpool.

Judy Garland worked in Blackpool.

Everybody wanted the prestige of doing Blackpool.

We turn now to something,

a song that I did here in 1950

when I appeared here

at the Opera House.

Frank Sinatra was a big hit in Blackpool.

About 1950, Frank Sinatra came over.

Actually, his career was in a bit of a wane in the States.

It had gone down slightly, not as popular.

But when he got to Blackpool and he saw the crowds

and the crowds cheering and clapping him,

jumping on the bumper of the Buick, bouncing it up and down,

banging on the windows, he said,

"They love me, this town, don't they?" I said, "Yes, they do, sir."

He said, "I could become mayor." I said, "Yes, you could."

# Why not take all of me? #

And so to the playground of the North -

warm, crowded, pulsing Blackpool,

where the royal couple attended a special gala performance

in their honour, staged at the Opera House.

CHEERING

Councillor Ogden, Blackpool's civic head waited to greet them.

After the show, the Queen and the Duke met many of the performers.

Introduced by Jack Hylton, here are Alma Cogan and Arthur Askey.

It was a brilliant, absolutely brilliant, brilliant place.

There were nothing you couldn't do or see here.

That's why we loved Blackpool. It's alive.

If you come into the town, even now, you can feel a vibe.

A lot of seaside places, you can't feel that.

You can feel it in Blackpool.

You felt that, here,

every day something exciting was going to happen.

You might bump into Frank Randle, you might bump into Max Bygraves,

you might bump into Ken Dodd in the street.

You thought these things were possible.

You'd get off the train and you'd walk through those backstreets

and then, suddenly, ka-pow!

You're hit with the light.

And the light goes like a diamond bullet through the mind

and turns you on to all these exciting things that are on offer.

Who can resist a candyfloss when it's surrounded by neon?

-SPEAKS UNWINESE

-Good evenly, dear peetlouters.

Now, you'll be wondering how this great complicare with

the acrobatty and the scintillating rotatalights works.

Now, really, here we start with the nervy end with do a deep

trickly how for rotators of the commutade.

Now, with a sparkitten in the one hand,

rate through to the nerve end on the other and you can't,

unless all the oxengy-vacuua from every little bulbit and bulbit

throom and all the brrr-tickedy-tock flim-flom

howdly-hoes all after a syncopale insofar as glockamusey with

contemplet with gives for a great illuminade

which Blackpool gave for it.

The illuminations have always been something magical.

It starts off, you know, if you're from within reach of Blackpool,

it starts off as something that you learn about as a kid that you

talk about at school, that you are promised somebody within

the family, whether it's your mum, your dad, your grandad,

your grandma, your uncle, somebody will take you to the illuminations.

Female impersonator Danny LaRue is there to switch on the lights,

which first went on 60 years ago.

Obviously Danny, like everyone else, really enjoys himself at Blackpool.

Danny LaRue - a wonderful, wonderful entertainer.

I think he sang Mother Kelly's Doorstep, I think.

And it was like a magic wand. It was like somebody waving a magic wand.

I've never seen anything like it. The effect of his -

he had such charisma that I thought that audience absolutely were...

They were absolutely enthralled.

He was a great artist.

# On Mother Kelly's doorstep

# Down Paradise Road

# I'd sit along o' Nelly

# And she'd sit along o' Joe. #

Jayne Mansfield arrives in leopardskin to

turn on the lights and turn all the men on as well at the same time.

Ladies and gentlemen, autumn is here again

and with it comes the Blackpool illuminations.

It's pretty obvious that she is better known than most folk who've

been here to do this job to...to do this job as it's been done.

I have now very great pleasure in asking Miss Jayne Mansfield

to switch...to switch on

the autumn illuminations of 1959.

Now, I understand you...

CHEERING

It's completely breathtaking. I'm without words.

To switch the illuminations on is mega. It's mega.

And we were asked to do it

and it's the first time ever that the North Pier allowed

a car down to get us off cos we couldn't get off cos the pier

were rammed with people.

-That's right.

-We couldn't get off the pier.

We were stuck on the pier so they had to get a car and the car

drove through the people, otherwise we would never have been able to...

-Not over them.

-Well, no. But drove towards them, yeah.

When it comes to entertainment, Blackpool has

just about everything and its latest show place is the new ABC.

A glittering example of contemporary theatre design

and to match its glossy exterior, a spectacular stage show

starring some of the top names in the world of popular entertainment.

MUSIC: "Summer Holiday" by CLIFF RICHARD

# We're all going on a summer holiday

# No more working for a week or two. #

I worked at the ABC Theatre with

Larry Grayson, Grayson's Scandals, and that was a great show.

APPLAUSE

I'm worn out.

LAUGHTER

Do you know, I keep going limp?

I do. I think it's the rhubarb. Do you know, the other day...?

People absolutely loved Larry.

The audience loved him because he had that warmth and when he

spoke to the audience, you thought he was talking to you personally.

You know, he used to say,

"I love you very much. I love you all. Oh!" You know.

He actually, Larry actually thought he was Judy Garland.

He really thought he was Judy Garland reincarnated

and he told me that.

I had someone at my door. I said, "Who could it be?

"Who is at my door? Is it the milkman, Sterilised Stan?

LAUGHTER

Trying to force his yoghurt through my letterbox.

LAUGHTER

"Come in," I cried. It was Everard. He came flying in.

He said, "Have you seen my snorkel?" I said, "Not for a long time."

LAUGHTER

It's very different now. You had to call them, as well...

You respected the top of the bill,

you called them Mr Grayson, Mr Morecambe, Mr Wise.

It was never, "All right, Larry?"

It was very, very different.

You respected your peers in those days and that's how it was.

There was the ABC, there was the Winter Gardens.

There were two theatres and the Winter Gardens.

There was the Grand, there was three piers. Every theatre, ten-piece band.

Ten, 12 dancers, a special act, singers, comedians.

-Everywhere packed. You couldn't get in. It was amazing.

-Unreal.

-Atmosphere was amazing.

-Unreal.

It's so wonderful to be back in Blackpool again.

You know, you hear such wonderful conversations here in Blackpool.

"But, Henry, that isn't our baby."

"Shut up, it's a better pram."

LAUGHTER

I always remember Tommy Cooper coming out and standing

and doing nothing for what seemed like ten minutes and I thought,

"Just imagine being able to do that."

He had an umbrella on his arm, bowler hat and a gaberdine mac buttoned up

and he just came and stood

and stared us out until the whole theatre, at the Winter Gardens,

here, was in absolute hysterics.

All he'd have to do then was just go...

Just a twitch and off we'd go again.

And I used to think, "Oh, that's wonderful. The power."

I don't know why I did that.

I don't. There's no reason.

What?

What do you mean come off? I've just come on.

To come and see it and see these geniuses of comedy,

these giants at the top of their game, doing what

they were doing to audiences was a magical experience, to me.

I remember going on a day trip to Blackpool once and I went to

see Morecombe and Wise, Eric and Ernie, at the ABC first house.

Then I came out of there, walked across the road to

the Opera House and saw Ken Dodd doing the second house.

It was absolutely brilliant.

This morning I was having my usual morning dip.

I always have a dip every morning. I dip my bread in the egg.

I was down on the beach and a beautiful girl came up to me

and she said,

"Hello, handsome, can you tell me the way to the opticians?" So, I...

LAUGHTER

Ken Dodd's done summer season in Blackpool for about 400 years

and he's still there every Sunday at the Grand and it's still sold out.

Ken Dodd and he is 85 years old now, Ken.

And he's just as funny now as he was then.

She said, "Do you know what an erogenous zone is?"

I said, "I know you can't park there after six o'clock."

LAUGHTER

"Have you ever tried an aphrodisiac?"

I said, "I went out with a Norwegian girl once."

She said, "Do you believe in safe sex?"

I said, "I've got a hand rail round the bed.

"and I always try to keep one foot on the ground."

She said, "What about your libido?"

I said, "I'm going to swap it for a Sierra."

When I first played Blackpool, the first season in 1955,

it went 22 shows.

22 shows from Fleetwood to Lytham St Annes,

employing probably near enough to 3,000 people - musicians,

dancers, singers, jugglers, comedians.

My Auntie Nelly, my big Auntie Nelly, she was down on the beach.

And the man from Blackpool Corporation, he said,

"Missus, would you mind getting off the beach, please? The tide's waiting to come in."

Big!

To me, Blackpool has been a wonderful, wonderful place

to live, love and work.

First of all, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say

how tickled I am, how tickled I am by all this goodwill.

What about you, missus, have you been tickled by goodwill?

Good old Willy.

On every street corner there was, you know,

a theatre putting a great show on.

And sometimes two or three shows on each pier.

From one end of the pier as you stepped on it to the other

end of the pier and a kids show in the middle.

For my first big summer season, and I think it's got to be 1986,

the Hi-de-hi stage show.

Because, obviously, David Croft, God love him,

who has now, you know, left us,

and Jimmy Perry, they always had the foresight that

whenever they had what appeared to be a really popular TV show,

of course, straight away they said,

"Come on, we can make this into a fabulous stage show."

So, you first arrive and there is a meet and greet and then you

get the guys from the council, two or three ladies but mostly guys.

And, well, "We'd like to welcome you to the Winter Gardens Blackpool

"and we really, really hope you have a lovely season with us."

CLEARS THROAT

There is a lot of throat clearing

and feet shuffling cos they're a bit, you know.

"Anyway, anyway, help yourselves to tea and biscuits.

"We got some Jammie Dodgers and things like that."

It was so lovely because it was something like,

"There'll be can-APE-s for you."

You know, canapes, I call them can-APE-s.

So, straight away you go, "Bless them. They're going to be great.

"They speak everybody's language."

I was very fortunate

because I used to have to go up just for the weekend, from Thursday to

the Sunday, to rehearse a television show called Blackpool Night Out,

in which Mike and Bernie Winters starred.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Good evening.

Well, good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to

the ABC Theatre Blackpool for our last show this...

CHEERING

APPLAUSE

-Was that you humming?

-Eeeee!

I was always in the opening number with my girls.

And then the producer or director said, "Lionel,

"we've got The Beatles coming up to do a show."

And I went, "Oh, fantastic."

Well, here they are, ladies and gentlemen, the fabulous Beatles.

MUSIC: "Ticket To Ride" by The Beatles

# I think I'm gonna be sad I think it's today, yeah

# The girl that's driving me mad is going away... #

We were on duty outside the ABC to keep the crowds away cos

they got mobbed wherever they went.

There were lots of us to keep the crowds away

while they arrived in cars at the ABC.

Once we got them into the ABC Theatre, it was my job to

stay with them all day and guard them throughout the day

ready for the show at night time.

And I did just that.

I was with them from probably 8am

until five or six in the evening and I went to them at one stage,

after about an hour, to ask for their autographs.

They were standing in an aisle apparently talking to each other.

And I asked for their autographs and John Lennon said,

"We're rehearsing."

And I didn't realise but they were

actually in a group, head to head, singing all the numbers.

And this went on all day.

But then they got their instruments out on they played

Hard Day's Night and they had apparently written

Hard Day's Night to release it on television that night.

And they played the chord,

just in the aisle of the theatre,

and I was six feet away.

It's hard to describe this but, 50 years on, I remember the note went,

"Boing!"

And the place vibrated and then, # It's been a hard day's... #

And 50 years later, that's still ingrained in my mind, that chord.

-Well, thank you very much, everybody.

-Blackpool.

Blackpool and all that. It's lovely to be here.

MUSIC "Hard Day's Night" by The Beatles

# It's been a hard day's night and I've been working like a dog... #

It was television history, Blackpool Night Out, it really was.

During my sojourn through this vale of tears,

many sights have thrilled me.

Dawn flushing the sepia sky over Kowloon,

processions of faith along the banks of the Ganges,

a sunset streaking across the Caribbean,

but they all pale into insignificance

when compared to the excitement I felt

when I first saw Blackpool Tower.

You always associated Les with Blackpool.

Whenever we worked in Blackpool, we used to see him a hell of a lot.

Used to have a golf day so I'd play golf with him.

Him and Frank, they were just part of Blackpool. Like the Tower.

Almost on the same level.

If you go to Blackpool, you will see Les Dawson, Frank Carson.

Oh, yeah, and the Tower.

We'll start off with that golden oldie Side By Side

so let's hear those tonsils rattle. Are you ready?

PLAYS: "Side By Side" by Gus Kahn & Harry M Woods

That's it. Now, come on, don't be shy. Let yourself go. Come on.

We're all people under this canvas sauna so let yourselves go.

Are you ready?

# Oh, we ain't got a barrel of money... #

That's it.

# Maybe we're ragged and funny... #

PLAYS WRONG NOTES

# But we'll travel along Singing this song

# Side by side... #

Try to keep together if you can.

Les was fantastic. Always funny.

But he did like to eat his burgers cos you could

smell from my dressing room, which was next door to his,

you'd go in and you'd go, "What's that smell? Oh, burgers."

And his wife, Tracy, would be there cooking the burgers on this

little stove they'd got and he's be stuffing his face with the burgers.

-AS LES DAWSON:

-"Come and have a burger, son. You'll like this."

It was great.

On the show we have found two Blackpool landladies

with great big personalities.

Please welcome Sissy and Ada.

APPLAUSE

Tell me, Sissy, have you got many visitors booked in for the season?

Oh, Ada, look, I can't tell you. The way the bookings are going,

-we are going to need a stacker truck to get them all in.

-Very nice.

-It's been like that since Easter.

-I didn't know that.

I think it's because we've changed the name.

-We've changed it from Bide-a-Wee To Ocean Lean.

-Very nice.

Of course, we are attracting a much better class of person now.

-You know, they're coming from Macclesfield.

-Macclesfield?

-Yeah, not to mention Didsbury.

-Ooh!

Used to have a landladies night when you came into summer season.

They did, didn't they?

And it was called Landladies Night and all the landladies

from all the guesthouses, hotels all took up the first 10, 15 rows.

-And you knew...

-Most important night.

Most important night of all because them ladies would go back

and sell the show to the people who are coming into the town who

stayed at the guesthouse.

So if you didn't do a good show,

you knew about it cos the place would be half empty.

It didn't matter about what the critics said, really.

It was what the landladies said.

Cos they used to go in their houses so they'd talk to them, you see.

Yeah, arriving...

You got more nervous when the landladies were in

than when you did on an opening night.

Because they come to judge.

They don't come to laugh, they come to judge.

When we first set our large, big summer season Hi-de-hi,

they very cannily got a lot of bed-and-breakfast

landladies in there.

They came in their droves and they left in their droves going,

"Oh, fantastic. We're definitely going to recommend this."

So that's how they got to sell their shows as well.

Landladies were extremely important, you know.

Dinner at five o'clock, breakfast at nine o'clock

and everything is in the same place as it was last time.

That was the folklore of Blackpool. What the landladies said counted.

They would come and see the show

and people used to stay with these landladies.

The general public used to stay with them and they'd say,

"What's the best show in town?" And they'd say,

"Ken Dodd, Frankie Warren," and they'd go out and book the shows.

The best publicity, of course, is recommendations. Word of mouth.

And if you can please landladies... IF you can please the landladies...

IF you can please the landladies.

..you're in.

I remember arriving and seeing the trams

and there was people advertised on the tram,

like Cilla Black and Val Doonican, and you think,

"Well, you've arrived when, you know,

"you've got your name on a tram. This is incredible."

When the next-door neighbour ran in

he said, "How many rolls of wallpaper did you take to do your living room?"

I said, "12." He was in a week later.

He said, "I've got two rolls left over." I said, "So have I."

LAUGHTER

I remember, once, doing the South Pier and I actually saw it

and I said, "That's my name on the tram. I must get on here."

The famous trams go past with your name on it -

Keith Harris and Orville starring at the Grand Theatre.

It's a wonderful, wonderful feeling.

I was sat in the Queens Hotel. I was in the coffee lounge.

It was 1987

and I was having a coffee and I looked at the window

and a bus passed and it said,

"The legendary Roy Chubby Brown. Come and see at the South Pier."

And I looked and I went, "Hey, that's my name." Nobody told me.

Then, of course, after that, people saying,

"Saw you on a bus yesterday."

"Did you? Was I sat down?"

"No, you were on the side."

I remember seeing a tram pass and it had "Little And Large" on it. Wow.

Done it. Got it. You know?

To think we had gone there as teenagers

and wandered down the Golden Mile and wandered down the North Pier

and all of a sudden your name's up there and you're top of the bill.

Great feeling.

It's a shock, really,

when it happens because we only ever saw, as kids,

if you like, these big stars on posters and stuff

and then to think that we came and travelled that same journey,

if you like, and when we hit Blackpool...

-What were it, 1979/80 season?

-Aye.

..the town was just splattered with Cannon And Ball over the buses,

North Pier, the biggest sign we've ever seen of us in lights

and, you know, it was just... To be honest, we couldn't take it in.

And then, of course, to switch the lights on the same year as well

was like, "What else can happen?" You know.

Well, apart from being the Mecca of show business,

lots of theatrical people lived in and around the area.

This one-man gig, for me,

actually begins here in this very quiet residential avenue

in Blackpool, which I suppose is the home of entertainment

and where ever entertainer loves to come to.

It was the oldest aircraft I'd ever been in. It had an outside lavatory.

LAUGHTER

There was an old parish priest beside me.

He said, "Mr Carson, are you nervous in an aircraft?"

I said, "I'm very nervous, Reverend Father." He said,

"Have a nice glass of wine." He gave me this lovely glass of wine.

I said, "That's beautiful, strong wine, isn't it?" He said,

"Yes, the Pope drinks that."

I said, "No wonder they carry him about in a chair."

That's a cracker, that one.

Oh, Frank Carson, yeah, he loved Blackpool.

I mean, he would have worked there every year if he could have done.

I think he just had a little spell away

when he went to live in Ireland in Balbriggan.

He became the mayor of Balbriggan, as only Frank can.

But the lure of Blackpool brought him back

and I think he was at his happiest in Blackpool.

I've worked two summer seasons at the south end of the resort

and I think every young comedian dreams of playing Blackpool.

I know I did when I was young.

There is a donkey on Blackpool beach with an IQ of 146.

And none of the other donkeys will talk to it.

Nobody likes a smart ass.

LAUGHTER

That a cracker, isn't it?

I said to a fellow in Blackpool,

"Who is the funniest man you have here?"

He said, "Les Dawson at the Opera House."

I went and there was a large crowd.

I said to this fellow, "What's the comedian Les Dawson like?"

He said, "He's the funniest man in Britain."

"Have you ever heard of an Irish comedian called Frank Carson?"

He says, "Yeah, he's rotten."

I said, "I'm Frank Carson."

He said, "I'm Les Dawson."

It's interesting how many comics have retired to Blackpool

or set up home...

Les Dawson hadn't retired, he lived just down the road in St Anne's.

Frank Randle moved from Wigan to Blackpool.

George Formby moved from Warrington to Blackpool.

So many entertainers are still here now.

Famously, Hylda Baker lived in Blackpool and, of course,

her stage persona was this sort of little, doddery, sort of mad

old lady but in real life, when she lived in Blackpool,

she sort of did the whole showbiz lifestyle thing.

She had a monkey, a flash car

and she'd drive around like the queen of Blackpool.

Really quite extraordinary and to be much admired, I think.

Yeah, she had a pet monkey, yeah.

She used to take it to her digs and a little kid.

Very small, it were, and it used to pinch things.

She used to give it nuts.

She went in the theatre and she'd take it in the theatre with her.

If you'd go in her dressing room,

this monkey would be jumping all around, you know.

Hylda Baker was one of the queens of Blackpool.

Is everybody happy?

AUDIENCE: Yes.

Good. Cos...

# Everybody likes you when you're cheerful... #

We got a nursing home for her near Blackpool

and my number two, Rod, took her there

and they got off the train, got into a cab and drove,

just by chance, down the Golden Mile to get to the nursing home.

And Rod said it took an hour because the minute the first person

saw it was Hylda Baker, they stopped the cab.

They were pulling down the windows for her autograph.

You see, Blackpool loves its own.

There were comedians that were colossal in Blackpool

and none bigger than Hylda Baker.

She knows, you know.

Me and him had been going 18 years when we got on telly.

And the first time we topped a bill was at the pier, the North Pier.

We came over from Oldham and we parked our cars

and we're walking to the North Pier and we see this queue going

out of the North Pier from the box office, halfway up the front.

Big queue - three or four deep, like that.

says to him, "Look at that. I wonder who's on besides us."

And I looked and said, "What do you mean besides us?

-"It's me and you they've come to see."

-"I think it's for us."

-I can't tell you the kick we got out of that.

-It was unreal.

To make it in your own territory is fantastic, isn't it, really?

One, two, three, four.

All right. Hey!

HE MOUTHS

# Whoa, the path runs deep and wide

# From footsteps leading to a cabin... #

Rock on!

# Above the door there burns a scarlet lamp... #

Rock on!

Reggae, reggae.

-I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

-Rock on!

-I'm sorry.

-Rock on!

-Hey!

-Reggae. Rock on!

-What are you doing?

-Rock on!

What are you doing? We've only just come on.

-Rock on!

-For God's sake.

-Rock on!

-Rock off.

-We get 18 weeks, six nights a week.

-Two shows a day.

Two shows a day and we sold out every one of them.

Bobby Ball we knew before Blackpool

but Blackpool proved that he was a comic genius and Tommy Cannon

is perhaps the great underrated straight man of modern comedy.

Together they were dynamite.

Lord Delfont were doing the North Pier and it was full

and he owned the piers and it was full.

He came up to the little stage door and they said,

"I'll tell you what, Mr Delfont, you can't come in." He said,

"Why's that?" He said, "It's full."

Lord Delfont said, "That's fantastic. I'll stand at the back."

"No. You're not allowed to stand at the back."

He said, "But I own the pier." He said, "I don't care.

"You're not coming in here and spoiling this show."

And he wouldn't let Delfont in and he never forgot it.

-See you, Tommy.

-OK.

-See you, Tommy.

-OK, I'll see you around.

-See you, Tommy.

-This is our second visit...

-See you, Tommy.

-Look after yourself, Tommy.

-I will, I will, Robert.

You'll do for me. You'll do for me, Tommy.

-Robert.

-You'll do for me.

-And you'll do for me.

-You'll do for me.

-And you'll do for me.

-Hey.

-What?

-You'll do.

-Who?

-You.

-For what?

-For me.

-All right, go and sit down.

LAUGHTER

See you, Tommy.

The most amazing season that I was ever associated

with in Blackpool was when Cannon and Ball returned

two years later to play at the Opera House.

Cannon and Ball at the Opera House - 3,000 seats, twice nightly,

6.30 and 8.30, six nights a week for 22 weeks. Sold out.

That's 36,000 people a week

watching one show repeated six nights

a week twice nightly.

That is awesome.

Get hold of one of the stools and bring it in the middle

-while I talk to you here.

-Talk to me?

Obviously you need talking to.

Now get a stool and come here.

Drop you off on the motorway but you find your way here.

LAUGHTER

Well, get mine.

Get your own!

LAUGHTER

When we walked on here, when we walked on, you've got to think,

"Who else has walked on this stage? Who else has done this?"

It's the pinnacle of the comedy entertainment world.

Especially for a Northener. When you come here, everybody's been here.

I've done the South Pier, the middle pier, the North Pier, all the

top hotels, the Winter Gardens, the Ballroom and now I'm on the Grand.

If you were in the entertainment business,

what you want to do is you want to end up on the Grand.

Cos when I stand on that stage, I know Bob Hope's been there,

Gracie Fields, Nat Jackley, Hylda Baker, Tommy Trinder,

Tommy Cooper, Dickie Anderson.

Everybody who's anybody in the entertainment world has

stood on that stage in the Grand.

Nothing will epitomise more the esteem that Blackpool's

held in than the choice of the Opera House for the Royal Variety.

My proudest moment in Blackpool, undoubtedly, was bringing

the Royal Variety Show to Blackpool in 2009.

To have Her Majesty the Queen travel up to Blackpool to see

a show in that theatre, in the Opera House.

I went there and you could feel, in the town, the buzz.

The whole town was out to see the Queen, to see the stars coming in.

It was like old-time Blackpool.

Welcome to the most prestigious variety show in the world.

SHOUTING

Thanks, love.

To the Royal Variety 2009.

CHEERING

From Blackpool.

CHEERING

The entertainment capital of the world, ladies and gentlemen.

And to be there when we have Her Majesty the Queen and Lady Gaga

in the same building

on a wet November night is a very special feeling.

Oh, Blackpool, I love you.

If you snap me in half, I'll have Blackpool written right

through me cos I love it here, and I always will.

-I like it, don't I?

-Oh, he loves Blackpool.

I have never seen or heard people enjoy themselves by just

being in a place as you found in Blackpool.

# Da, da, da-da-da, da-da, da, da, da. #

Ta-dah!

It's got this DNA running through it, which is glamour,

which is entertainment, which is excitment.

Blackpool is exciting, full stop.

There was just a magic about the place.

Just absolutely magical.

We love Blackpool, as you can tell.

Blackpool was the star of stars. Numero uno.

There's only one Blackpool. There only will ever be one Blackpool.

# So we end our TV show

# Pack our bags and off we go

# Bye, bye, Blackpool

# It's a show we won't forget. #

-Have we been paid?

-Not yet.

-Not yet.

# Bye, bye, Blackpool #

# Goodbye to the beach farewell the Tower

# How we're gonna miss this Sunday hour. #

APPLAUSE

Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to thank all the artists who've

appeared on Blackpool Night Out during the series.

Yes, we'd like to thank all the artists who've

appeared on tonight's show.

APPLAUSE Put the lights out!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd