https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/arena_ken_dodds_happiness/

Anyone watched this?

No one.

Quote: ComedyGeek @ 1st January 2014, 6:38 PM GMT

https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/arena_ken_dodds_happiness/

Anyone watched this?

View original

I hope to. For many years I couldn't take to Doddy. I think I'm right in saying that his very maudlin song "Tears" outsold the Beatles in its year. All the grandparents seemed to buy it. My Grandad thought he was fantastic. Somehow that combination of factors created a feeling around his comedy that it too was old-fashioned schmaltz. When he was questioned on his rather pathetic tax avoidance, more opposition set in.

But I have to a large extent changed my mind. He is yet another of those complex comedians who you lazily pigeon hole at your peril. The excellent BBC radio documentary that was rebroadcast last year revealed interesting emotions in him, not that there is necessarily huge depth. What he does have is a philosophy that is about far more than fame and money. It is intrinsic to him as an individual and it is what drives him.

And driven he undoubtedly is. It is impossible not to admire his schedule in old age and the marathon length performances. I also think that he has the same kind of serious professionalism that Bob Monkhouse and others had. Comedy is a craft to Dodd and he definitely understands all of its technical intracacies. Does he make me laugh? Yes actually he does now and quite a lot, partially because I like him better as a person.