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Rock With Laughter
Posted Friday, November 18, 2005
The ‘Rock With Laughter’ gigs in Birmingham were a big success because Jasper Carrott provided the audience with a diverse bill of fare that did not outstay its welcome.(we all did between 15 and 20 minutes and were told off if we went over).
The big surprise of the run was Bobby Davro –I’ve known him since 1982 when I was in summer season in Great Yarmouth with Cannon and Ball. Bob was working with Larry Grayson, something like third on the bill. I never got to see him because we were always grafting at the same time, but all reports said that he was a likeable guy who sang and told jokes and threw himself about with great energy. He had a pretty good TV show where he did lots of impressions in the eighties, on a Saturday night on ITV– (I used to enjoy his music parodies which were not like the ones we did on Three Of a Kind or The Lenny Henry show. Bobby’s parodies were always him in the studio dressed as Elton John or George Michael and the lyrics would inevitably go “ I’m George Michael” cut to bespectacled, straw hat wearing Bob “ I’m Elton John!’ and the song would proceed from there.) and some good sketches. However, that show came to an end after three or so series and Davro has found himself doing cabarets, corporate gigs, whatever he can do to get by. When Bob arrived at the N.E.C as the ‘surprise’, I think there was a bit of ‘how come he’s the surprise? What? They couldn’t get Jimmy Carr?’ going on, but after a blistering performance that blew the Birmingham crowd off their feet and scooped most of the reviews for the opening night, those nay-sayers were having to stick their snooty nays up their bottoms. Bobby’s methodology on stage is always to hit them with something big at the beginning, in this case Ozzy Osbourne singng a parody of ‘Paranoid’ (try saying that with a mouth full of boiled sweets-YOU CAN’T DO IT)-great lyrics of course … ‘I am Ozzy Osbourne..’ I think the first line went –anyway (Oh come on Bob, I’m just funnin’ )..lots of walking around a la Ozzster, shaky hands, the gurning face –result ? The audience pissing themselves. So the true embodiment of the whole ‘Rock with Laughter’ ethos was the Davmeister.
Bill Bailey is a genius, he was on and very excellent of course, did a stunning piece of material about there being a ‘scale of evil’. He had very big and plastic Synth Guitar (from Argos, price 2 and 6 a week for five years) with each note on the tonic scale given to an evil despot, you know, Hitler -Doh, Pol Pot-ray, General Pinochet was me …Mugabe –Fah and so on, Thatcher was in there and I think Dave Lee Travis, I was in there at one point (although I’m not evil per se ). He also did the Kraftwerk version of the Hokey Cokey which has to be seen to be believed- pretty damn funky too in an electro boogie kind of way.
Carrott M’C’d and did it with an effortless charm that belied all the work he was shovelling in behind the scenes;
making sure everyone was alright, providing cups of tea, talking the video operators to hook up two big screens backstage so we could all watch England come back from the dead and wallop Argentina….that was a good moment-when Owen scored the winner, Davey (my road manager) leapt into my arms! Ahhh –he’s only little.
I had a good time on the show, and did the Blues singer Low Down Hound-Dog, to open with –then did ‘We’ve come a long way –ending with Barry White sings Shakespeare’ and Awards ceremonies, Mr Lister, and Len in the 70’s. It was weird doing this stuff again because the spread of it is massive –the Blues singer’s from ‘Live and Unleashed’, (the eighties) We’ve come a long way –from ‘So Much Things To Say’ -(the noughties) Awards ceremonies is from the general smorgasbord of gag sequences that aren’t from a show, they’re just amusing and Len in the 70’s is from ‘LOUD’ that we toured in the 90’s. The luxury of knowing that you had material whatever the demands of the gig was reassuring-and for the most part, everything went well. I had to cut ‘We’ve come a long way’ after two nights, because I couldn’t get amongst the audience…seems to work better when I can talk to the people.
Lenny Barker is a valued collaborator on the last two series of The Lenny Henry show, a funny guy and also a talented musician. His sons have got themselves a lil’ country band, and they’ve made a couple of CD’s and have residencies where you can hang out and line dance (or whatever it is country punters do.) and stuff. I’ve listened to both of their CD’s and they are a good band …for more info go to their site: www.barkerband.com you won’t be disappointed.
My thanks go out to Neil Gaiman for making public his adoration of the Lenny Henry comedy stylings …big respect. If you want see the article in question go to Neil Gaiman’s web site and there’s a blog about the reading that I presided over as host, co reader and interviewer. It was big fun, and dig this- headline books have just sent me a signed special edition hardback of Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, in its own case! Very cool indeed, thank you so much guys.
I’m off to Dublin now to do the Late Late show. Gay Byrne used to be the host but now it’s Pat Kenny. I think it will be interesting. I’m going to have a very nice time on that show.
I had some good news this week, the BBC commissioned the script for this new comedy drama that I’m writing with Kim Fuller, cue much drunken celebrating until, in a spew bedecked haze, we both realise that we actually have to write the pigging thing. AGGGGHHHHHHHH. Perhaps we shouldn’t celebrate until we’ve done a few drafts, eh?
Wish us luck. .
I hope you’re enjoying the site …good work eh?
Big love
Len
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