Osweo
03-26-2010, 09:59 PM
Paul Daniels, The Krankies, Cannon & Ball... So just why do these geriatric jokers still play to sell-out crowds?
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/09/05/article-1052850-0289F93500000578-276_468x655.jpg
Game for a laugh: Clockwise from top left, Frank Carson, Jimmy Cricket, Bobby Ball, The Krankies, Paul Daniels and Tommy Cannon, with (centre) Jane Fryer
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1052850/Paul-Daniels-The-Krankies-Cannon-amp-Ball--So-just-geriatric-jokers-play-sell-crowds.html#ixzz0jK3OX7yR
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1052850/Paul-Daniels-The-Krankies-Cannon-amp-Ball--So-just-geriatric-jokers-play-sell-crowds.html#ixzz0jK264SvS
Try to ignore the tiresome journalistish prattle...
The last half an hour has been eventful. Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball have hugged me, kissed me rather wetly and told me they love me. Frank Carson is on his umpteenth joke - 'What's the difference between Frank Carson and the M1? You can turn off the M1.'
The Krankies have shown off a good deal of their deep orange tan and Brotherhood Of Man have wafted around happily in clouds of hair spray and cologne.
Oh yes, and Paul Daniels has just removed two packs of cards and a lemon from his right trouser pocket, stripped off to his black knitted boxer shorts and is now standing - furrier than you'd think - in one corner of his dressing room.
'Now try not to get over-excited, I'm only getting changed,' he chirps, pulling on his black magician's slacks. 'You're delightful, where are you from? We've got plenty of time - would you like me to show you a card trick?'
Er. 'Lovely. Somewhere in that pack is one card that's different to the other 52. I know what it is, but I've been using special neuro linguistic conjuring to affect your brain. So, go on, name a card.'
Two of spades. Welcome to the Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth, or, more accurately, backstage at the Pavilion, where a handful of Britain's oldest and most experienced comedians and entertainers are limbering up (very enthusiastically if rather creakily) for the big moment - curtain up on the Best of British Variety Tour 2008.
Cannon & Ball, the Krankies, Jimmy Cricket, Frank Carson, Paul Daniels . . . these were the heroes of light entertainment in the Seventies and Eighties who regularly commanded audiences of up to 18million. And, awful though it is to admit, it's something of a surprise to discover that some are still with us, let alone fresh from sell-out shows in seaside resorts all around the country.
Not one of them is under 60. Carson's 83 and even teeny - 4ft 5in - Janette Krankie, who's spent 43 years playing a wee boy in shorts and cap, is 61 and proudly brandishing her bus pass.
And music is courtesy of 1976 Eurovision Song Contest winners Brotherhood Of Man.
Not quite your cup of tea? Well never mind - because according to this lot, there are plenty who love them.
'People love variety - they always have and there's a massive demand for it,' says Bobby Ball. 'Just because it's not on television any more doesn't mean it's gone away. It's still alive and kicking.'
Certainly, tickets for the 20-date tour have been selling like variety never went out of fashion. And in front-of-house the audience is all of a quiver - rustling programmes, plugging in hearing aids, adjusting generous bottoms in the red velvet stalls and chattering excitedly.
A very jolly sea of neat perms, shiny pates and a spattering of youngsters clutching Union Jack flags and standing to the patriotic strains of God Save The Queen.
Belfast-born Carson - veteran of The Comedians, Opportunity Knocks and The Good Old Days - is compere for the night ('I'm the real star, but I allow the rest of the cast to come on at intervals - hee hee') - and kicks things off with a raft of jokes about mothers-in-law, Irishmen, a linguistically challenged oriental gentleman and an African foot doctor:
'Who said there's nothing wrong with defeat?'
Wait for it . . . 'Nelson Mandela's chiropodist. It's a cracker!'
Next up, homosexuals. 'I went into a toilet and there was a sign saying: 'Beware of homosexuals'. When I came out there was another one saying the same thing. Then I saw a sign attached to the skirting board. I bent down to read it. It said: 'You've been warned twice already!'
The audience hoot with laughter and crunch through Murray Mints.
....
So what's the attraction?
Out front in the stalls, the audience are laughing so hard at the Krankies, they can hardly breathe. 'What do you find in Ancient Greece? Ancient chips.'
It's pretty basic stuff, but it seems to work. So what's the attraction?
'We're talking proper laughter - belly laughs,' says Bobby Ball. 'And there's none of that effing and jeffing in here. It's not mean, or nasty - it's just warm family entertainment.'
'Though I'm not sure that everybody would say it's politically correct,' adds Janette Krankie. 'But, then again, the folk that we're getting in the audience aren't really that bothered about everything being PC. I don't think people are that easily offended.'
The British Variety Show is never going to be accused of being highbrow, or sophisticated, or subtle or, least of all, politically correct. But the audience couldn't give a fig. They're loving it - clapping along and whooping with laughter.
'This is our bag - live entertainment,' says Tommy Cannon. 'We're just hoping that this tour heralds the return of variety because for us, this is the real deal.'
And cheesy though it is, the old guard are pros - their timing is immaculate, the magic is great (naturally, my two of spades turned out to be the only card in the pack with a red back), they send themselves up beautifully, and, you may not believe it but some bits are actually really very funny.
Great stuff! :thumb001:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/09/05/article-1052850-0289F93500000578-276_468x655.jpg
Game for a laugh: Clockwise from top left, Frank Carson, Jimmy Cricket, Bobby Ball, The Krankies, Paul Daniels and Tommy Cannon, with (centre) Jane Fryer
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1052850/Paul-Daniels-The-Krankies-Cannon-amp-Ball--So-just-geriatric-jokers-play-sell-crowds.html#ixzz0jK3OX7yR
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1052850/Paul-Daniels-The-Krankies-Cannon-amp-Ball--So-just-geriatric-jokers-play-sell-crowds.html#ixzz0jK264SvS
Try to ignore the tiresome journalistish prattle...
The last half an hour has been eventful. Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball have hugged me, kissed me rather wetly and told me they love me. Frank Carson is on his umpteenth joke - 'What's the difference between Frank Carson and the M1? You can turn off the M1.'
The Krankies have shown off a good deal of their deep orange tan and Brotherhood Of Man have wafted around happily in clouds of hair spray and cologne.
Oh yes, and Paul Daniels has just removed two packs of cards and a lemon from his right trouser pocket, stripped off to his black knitted boxer shorts and is now standing - furrier than you'd think - in one corner of his dressing room.
'Now try not to get over-excited, I'm only getting changed,' he chirps, pulling on his black magician's slacks. 'You're delightful, where are you from? We've got plenty of time - would you like me to show you a card trick?'
Er. 'Lovely. Somewhere in that pack is one card that's different to the other 52. I know what it is, but I've been using special neuro linguistic conjuring to affect your brain. So, go on, name a card.'
Two of spades. Welcome to the Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth, or, more accurately, backstage at the Pavilion, where a handful of Britain's oldest and most experienced comedians and entertainers are limbering up (very enthusiastically if rather creakily) for the big moment - curtain up on the Best of British Variety Tour 2008.
Cannon & Ball, the Krankies, Jimmy Cricket, Frank Carson, Paul Daniels . . . these were the heroes of light entertainment in the Seventies and Eighties who regularly commanded audiences of up to 18million. And, awful though it is to admit, it's something of a surprise to discover that some are still with us, let alone fresh from sell-out shows in seaside resorts all around the country.
Not one of them is under 60. Carson's 83 and even teeny - 4ft 5in - Janette Krankie, who's spent 43 years playing a wee boy in shorts and cap, is 61 and proudly brandishing her bus pass.
And music is courtesy of 1976 Eurovision Song Contest winners Brotherhood Of Man.
Not quite your cup of tea? Well never mind - because according to this lot, there are plenty who love them.
'People love variety - they always have and there's a massive demand for it,' says Bobby Ball. 'Just because it's not on television any more doesn't mean it's gone away. It's still alive and kicking.'
Certainly, tickets for the 20-date tour have been selling like variety never went out of fashion. And in front-of-house the audience is all of a quiver - rustling programmes, plugging in hearing aids, adjusting generous bottoms in the red velvet stalls and chattering excitedly.
A very jolly sea of neat perms, shiny pates and a spattering of youngsters clutching Union Jack flags and standing to the patriotic strains of God Save The Queen.
Belfast-born Carson - veteran of The Comedians, Opportunity Knocks and The Good Old Days - is compere for the night ('I'm the real star, but I allow the rest of the cast to come on at intervals - hee hee') - and kicks things off with a raft of jokes about mothers-in-law, Irishmen, a linguistically challenged oriental gentleman and an African foot doctor:
'Who said there's nothing wrong with defeat?'
Wait for it . . . 'Nelson Mandela's chiropodist. It's a cracker!'
Next up, homosexuals. 'I went into a toilet and there was a sign saying: 'Beware of homosexuals'. When I came out there was another one saying the same thing. Then I saw a sign attached to the skirting board. I bent down to read it. It said: 'You've been warned twice already!'
The audience hoot with laughter and crunch through Murray Mints.
....
So what's the attraction?
Out front in the stalls, the audience are laughing so hard at the Krankies, they can hardly breathe. 'What do you find in Ancient Greece? Ancient chips.'
It's pretty basic stuff, but it seems to work. So what's the attraction?
'We're talking proper laughter - belly laughs,' says Bobby Ball. 'And there's none of that effing and jeffing in here. It's not mean, or nasty - it's just warm family entertainment.'
'Though I'm not sure that everybody would say it's politically correct,' adds Janette Krankie. 'But, then again, the folk that we're getting in the audience aren't really that bothered about everything being PC. I don't think people are that easily offended.'
The British Variety Show is never going to be accused of being highbrow, or sophisticated, or subtle or, least of all, politically correct. But the audience couldn't give a fig. They're loving it - clapping along and whooping with laughter.
'This is our bag - live entertainment,' says Tommy Cannon. 'We're just hoping that this tour heralds the return of variety because for us, this is the real deal.'
And cheesy though it is, the old guard are pros - their timing is immaculate, the magic is great (naturally, my two of spades turned out to be the only card in the pack with a red back), they send themselves up beautifully, and, you may not believe it but some bits are actually really very funny.
Great stuff! :thumb001: