Sir Ken’s tickled to still be spreading Happiness
Comic going strong at 89
Sir Ken Dodd is up there with one of the most charming but unpredictable interviewees I have ever come across.
The Liverpudlian entertainer was at the heart of creating what we know as stand-up comedy, taking his show from the music hall to radio and on to television, and becoming as famous as The Beatles.
The 89 year-old brings his Happiness tour to the Alhambra Theatre on Sunday for one of only two Socttish shows and was in great form when we spoke this week.
“Hello Mr Jones,” he remarked. “I am looking forward to coming to Scotland. But first I want to ask you, how did you get a name like that? You must be the only Welshman in Scotland. Do they call you Gareth McJones? They call me Hamish McTickle!”
At times, Sir Ken became the one asking the questions, with quips such as ‘Do you eat leeks in your porridge?’ and describing me as ‘the Welsh exile’.
However the comedian is still deadly serious about entertaining his audiences, and researching how they react to different jokes.
“I’m coming up the road to do the show, not as a visitor. When you are doing a show, you have to focus on it. You have to focus on how you are going to do it. To think what are the audience like? What do they work as? Are they farmers? Are they mechanics? Are they journalists?”
Sir Ken worked in sales before he started as a comedian in the 1950s and uses experiences learned then to aid his comedy routine.
He said he had devised a ‘giggle map of Britain’, and added: “I was a salesman going round the doors. I used to ask ‘Can I sell you a bucket?’ and things like that. I kept a notebook about all of the products I sold, and do a similar thing with the venues I’ve played at.
“I’ve played as far up as John o’Groats and all over the UK – it’s a giggle map of Britain. Humour is a wonderful subject. But it is like talking about music. It’s such a wide subject that covers such a wide variety of issues.”
Like all great comedians, his material is always evolving and still changes between nights on the tour.
“For a comedian, the material should always be changing, all the time to reflect what is happening and what you think about things,” he said.
“When I come to Scotland, I talk about all sorts of things. I never talk about politics though, that’s for other comedians.”
Sir Ken first appeared in Scotland more than 60 years ago, and has played in Stirling many times. “We need to make our yearly trip to Scotland. I first played in Glasgow, at the Empire, the ‘House of Terror’ as we used to call it. I first played there in 1954, I’ve been to Glasgow lots, Edinburgh, Stirling, Perth, Inverness a few times.
“I first came to Dunfermline when I read about a man who was born there, moved to America and became a multi-millionaire – Andrew Carnegie.
“I am an avid reader, I have about 30,000 books, and in Liverpool we have a magnificent library, which was built after a donation by Andrew Carnegie.”
The Sir Ken Dodd Happiness Show takes place at the Alhambra in Dunfermline at 7pm, and the crowd have been promised an entertaining evening.
“It’s not just me, I have a lot of people supporting me. We have got a couple of wonderful people, including a band called Andante.
“It’s all about entertaining. We have live music, none of this miming.”
You must be the only Welshman in Scotland. Do they call you Gareth McJones?