It looks like there’s no stopping Ken Dodd. Despite a recent spell in hospital for a hernia operation, the comedy legend has no plans to call it a day any time soon.
See also: Fans tickled by Doddy’s stamina
The veteran entertainer, still treading the boards at the grand old age of 80, chatted to the Express & Star backstage before taking to the stage in front of his ever faithful fans in Dudley.
And as usual he treated his beloved audience at Dudley Concert Hall to another marathon show - coming off stage at 12.30pm after a bumper five-and-a-half hour performance.
He spoke about his love of the spotlight and why he would be continuing to make his long-standing audiences laugh for as long as he can.
When asked whether he would be thinking about retiring in the near future, he just shook his head and laughed at the mere suggestion.
“I love show business. I am stage struck. There’s no business like show business and it’s true.
“What else could I do? It’s the only thing I can do. I am useless at decorating,” he quipped.The evergreen Liverpudlian was also passionate about his love of Dudley where he has been entertaining audiences for decades.
Although the town was often the butt of a lot of his gags during the show, he is clearly very fond of the town and in particular its people.
He said: “I come here every year now. You have a unique sense of humour in the Midlands just like Liverpool has its own sense of humour.
“There’s some great comedians to come out of the Midlands and the Black Country like Aynuk and Ayli and Tony Hancock.
“The people in Dudley are absolutely fabulous. I always like coming here,” he added.
For anyone unable to make it to one of his two shows at the Dudley Concert Hall, he was happy to give them a taster of what they had missed out on.
“It’s a pot-pourri, a mixture of music and all kinds of comedy.
“We have to start with the ‘Hello Dudley’ and talk about the place and the people.
“I have just been in hospital so I will talk about that and go from there.
“It’s like a big party, a party that keeps getting wilder and wilder and just before it gets completely out of control we end it,” he added.
By Heather Large
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