Doddy has fans tickled pink

Armed with his trusty tickling stick, Ken Dodd kept Wolverhampton Civic Hall laughing until after midnight with another of his marathon comedy shows.

The 80-year-old Squire Of Knotty Ash told the Express & Star: "It's always great to see the dawn of Wolverhampton. I love coming back to this city, it is the laughter capital of the world because Black Country folk love nothing better than a good laugh.

"I really rate the Black Country sense of humour and love all the Aynuck and Ayli jokes – Tommy Munden tells the best ones.

"This isn't a job for me, its a hobby and I'll keep on going."

Hundreds of fans lined the city streets before last night's event, many of them clutching tickling sticks and Diddy Men. The show, which marked Dodd's 50th year in showbiz, finally came to a close at 12.10am.

Val Turner, aged 53 of Norton Canes, said: "I'd never seen him before but had always enjoyed him on the television. They just don't make them like Ken anymore, he's a real star. Not many people can say they've been to a show that spanned two days, but I can now."

Emma Gough, aged 26 of Hednesford, added: "Ken's brilliant because there's never any swearing in his act, it's good family fun."

Lisa Pearce, aged 36 of Great Wyrley, described herself as Dodd's number-one fan, she attended last night's show with family members June Simkiss, aged 64, and William Bakewell, aged 12.

"I've seen him around 20 times," she said. "We brought along our sandwiches and flasks for tonight's show. We were well prepared. He was brilliant."

Carol Fletcher, of Penn, brought her own Diddy Man and said she had been looking forward to the performance for weeks.

Lisa Clarke, aged 25 of Oldbury, had been given the tickets as a birthday present.

She said: "I've always been a fan and the tickets were a great surprise."

Mother and daughter Rosemary and Christine Cox, of Finchfield and London, said they admired Ken's staying power and obscenity-free act.

The Christmas show covered all the comedy bases - marriage, the taxman and local councils - and certainly got the capacity crowd into the festive spirit.

Ken also delivered a string of famous Hollywood one-liners in a Black Country accent.

By the time the doors opened in the early hours, people were still singing and clapping along with the irrepressible character.