Great Yarmouth 1981

I went along with my family,I was 20.We sat on the front row.That was my first sighting of Lenny Henry too.I had knitted a little Bobby Ball doll.I can't knit to save my life, so it was pretty basic,I took it to the stage door before the show.They were so funny,I had seen them on the TV but they are so much better live.I didn't go to the stage door afterwards,I was a bit shy.We took some photo's although some are a bit blurred.I've put the best one's on Facebook,I was inspired by seeing Roz's x

Yeah, Roz has loads doesn't she? I think she started when she was born, lol.

Yours is great, I saw it online when you and Roz were commenting on it, I couldn't because I wasn't on your friends list but I will come and find you, lol.

Most comedians are much better live aren't they - well maybe not so much the ones from these days, but the ones like Bobby & Tommy who learned their craft over many years. I was looking up the artists who will be appearing on the Variety Tour and when I read about Norman Collier on Wiklipedia it said that the TV "version" of his act, e.g. faulty microphone and chicken routines, is a very poor reflection of what he actually does, and that to understand why he is still in such demand one has to see him live. If Cannon & Ball are even better live than they were on TV (on which they were excellent), then I'm in for an extra special treat on 10th September!

Much better live Lorna, seeing the full interaction between the pair of them as well as the interaction with the audience is unbeatable.

The amount of times those two guys crack up has me in stitches, always love to see that.

You're gonna love it x

Andrea,

I've just read your post about the first time you saw Cannon & Ball, and your mention of Norman Collier doesn't exactly fill me with confidence about enjoying him at the Variety Tour, lol! Was he that bad, lol - and I can't even sneak out to the loo or to have a fag when he's on, cos we are on the front row! Oh dear, ah well, it'll be a great evening with the other artists, and will be worth seeing for the boys alone, even if there was no-one else I liked, after all it's them I'm going for. Enjoy Scarborough by the way x

It might be that I was a kid at the time you see when Norman Collier was around all the time. I just may not have got it!
If I saw him now I might see him in another light.

That happened with The Krankies last year. They always drove me nuts as a kid but seeing them as an adult, I appreciated what they were doing and came away thinking very differently of them, they were one of the best acts on last year's show, apart from our lads of course but I really did enjoy seeing them and I was dreading it before the show.

It's really surprising how differently you view things now from seeing them in your youth, some things that amuse or interest you now, would not have done as a kid as a lot of it would probably have gone way over your head as a child I think.

Thats's the good thing about variety though isn't it? If you don't like one act, there'll be another along in ten minutes time, lol.