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Ken Dodd dies


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Ah now that is sad news. A true comic great and - as has already been said - a complete 'one off'.

 

Saw him on stage a long, long time ago as a child at the end of Skegness pier, something else that is no longer with us.

 

'What a beautiful day .... what a beautiful day for throwing a bucket of whitewash over the seagulls and saying "there - how do you like it?" ' Never heard that one since; could have been off the top of his head especially for that show.

 

If you've never seen it, watch the first Ken Dodd 'an audience with...' (one of few people that have had two of these done). He is at his rib-tickling best, egged on by one of the celebrities in the audience who has a fit of the giggles (who wouldn't?) and can't stop. You can see him loving that and it just makes it all the more funnier. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

 

His humour was only ever intended to make you laugh out loud. Occasionally risqué but never lewd or bawdy. Definitely of a different age and era. Thanks, Ken.

Edited by LNER4479
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I note that he got married on Friday...therefore depriving the Tax Man of any IHT :danced:

 

Talk about having the last laugh....first class!!!

Edited by polybear
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It's interesting to read that he married his partner on Friday.  Almost certainly because of inheritance tax. It's the only area of UK law that does not recognise common law relationships.

 

edit: Polybear had the same thought as I did.  It would be good if this was more widely publicised.  It also affects beneficiaries of the surviving partner on their death as the IHT allowances of each marriage partner can be combined, giving a larger IHT allowance of £650,000 instead of £325,000.

 

RIP.

Edited by 2mmMark
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So sad . Just feel yet another of the great showmen of my childhood gone . He was my Mum and Dads favourite and I’m sure he’s up there now keeping them entertained .

 

RIP Ken , you’ll be sadly missed

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Never managed to see one of his shows, but I do wish I had, as his humour was as has been said, unique and never to be repeated.  He had a long career making people feel happier, and that is no mean legacy.

 

His habit of over-running on stage will, though, not be missed by theatre managers.  I'm sure many fans have mssed late transport home because of it.

 

RIP Ken.

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Genuinely gutted, he’s the one ‘old school’ comedian I kept morbidly saying to my wife I really should see ‘before he dies’ he was booked to be on in crewe in a few months and was going to get tickets but never did

 

His ‘an audience with’ was one of the classics in the series, if not the best

 

‘What a lovely day to shove a cucumber through a letterbox and shout ‘eh up missus the Martians have landed’

 

I love a good drum, you can’t beat em!

Edited by big jim
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For years, I've been unable to see or hear the words "Ken Dodd" without thinking to myself "Look out missus, the Martians have landed."

 

(And if that means nothing to you, think little green men, cucumbers and letterboxes ...)

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I first saw him in Blackpool when i was 12 and took my daughter to see him twice in the last 5 years. It was her that insisted we went to see him last year in Great Malvern! The last of the Music Hall Artists, he could sing (including a No1!), was a ventriloquist and most of all a superb Comedian who didn't need to tell dirty jokes to make people laugh... And he gave you your money's worth!


 


RIP Doddy, you will be sorely missed in this household...


 


How tickled we have been!


 


 


"My job," he once told the Daily Telegraph, " isn't to educate people or even do politics, I've got to make people feel good, I want to make them happy."


 


And, by Jove, he did!!


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Scouse humour - can't be beaten anywhere.

 

Many years ago Ken Dod's tax affairs where under investigation. I don't remember the outcome, but at the time one scouse wag painted on the walls of Liverpool's Walton prison "Appearing soon - KEN DODD" !!!

 

RIP Ken, you made many, many people laugh.

 

Brit15

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I am sure today Ken would want us all to sing his song "Happiness", because that is what he brought to many of us.

 

I've been whistling the tune ever since I heard the sad news, RIP Sir Ken.

Edited by Pannier Tank
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In these days of misery, it seems that its always bad news ,it must be great to have the capacity to bring joy and cheer people up. Ken Dodd certainly did that . And what finer epitaph could he have . He gave "Happiness" alright . We need more Ken Dodds

Edited by Legend
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Many years ago Ken Dod's tax affairs where under investigation. I don't remember the outcome, but at the time one scouse wag painted on the walls of Liverpool's Walton prison "Appearing soon - KEN DODD" !!!

 

Acquited

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I note that he got married on Friday...therefore depriving the Tax Man of any IHT :danced:

 

Talk about having the last laugh....first class!!!

 

 

It's interesting to read that he married his partner on Friday.  Almost certainly because of inheritance tax. It's the only area of UK law that does not recognise common law relationships.

 

edit: Polybear had the same thought as I did.  It would be good if this was more widely publicised.  It also affects beneficiaries of the surviving partner on their death as the IHT allowances of each marriage partner can be combined, giving a larger IHT allowance of £650,000 instead of £325,000.

 

RIP.

 

At the time of the tax trial, much of his fortune was reported to be in accounts / property in the IoM and other jurisdictions and, although acquitted, he did have a sizeable legal bill plus other taxes to pay. His Counsel was none other than George Carman QC (probably better known for his defamation work) who remarked that "Some accountants are comedians but comedians are never accountants".

 

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Before his TV fame, so back in the 50’s and early 60’s, he and many other comedians who would go on to become household names, worked the northern club circuit. My parents saw him many times at Patricroft Working Men’s Club.

 

They always said he was by far the best and funniest of the bunch.

 

One of those comedians who was just naturally funny, you couldn’t help but warm to him.

 

RIP Ken.

 

.

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