Comedy legend Ken Dodd's widow set to start a giggling memories tour of the UK in Shrewsbury
He was a true legend of comedy with his "tickling sticks" and the Diddy Men of Knotty Ash.
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Now the widow of Ken Dodd is set to start a tour of the UK in Shrewsbury to reveal some never before seen secrets of the man behind the laughter.
Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn, is the first stop on Lady Anne Dodd’s summer Giggle Map Tour of the UK with The Real Ken Dodd. The Man I Loved.
A spokesperson for the show said: "This is an exclusive documentary film revealing for the first time the private man behind Britain's greatest comic genius.
"Not yet broadcast and produced over four years, the film takes an in-depth look into Doddy's private world, exploring the many secrets of his comic talent, revealing never-before-seen home videos, stage performances and extracts from some of the thousands of Ken's diary notebooks which he's asked his wife to burn after his death."
Lady Dodd had to wrestle with her conscience for some time before finally agreeing to keep Doddy’s notebooks for posterity.
He famously kept a record of which jokes worked best where and adapted his act accordingly.
In one of Paul O’Grady’s final interviews, he talks of how big an influence Doddy was on his comedy career and how he was inspired by his imaginary world of the Diddy Men.
Stars including Harry Hill, Lee Mack, Miriam Margolyes, Johnny Vegas, and Sir Ian McKellen explore their passion and memories of Ken in what is described as a candid, insightful film which takes you backstage behind the red curtain to reveal a far more intriguing man than the public or even his wife ever realised.
Narrated by Miriam Margolyes, a long-standing fan and friend who got her first big break working with Doddy, the fly-on-the-wall cameras follow Lady Dodd as she wrestles to preserve Ken’s enormous comic and musical legacy.
Witness Lady Dodd as she embarks on a four-year odyssey to establish Doddy’s lifelong dream to build a British Comedy Museum and begins to understand that if his dream is ever going to happen that is now her job. Ken Dodd died in March 2018 at the age of 90.
Along the way Dodd’s legacy helps create a new Shakespeare Northern Globe theatre and ensures that Ken has become the first comic to have a national museum exhibition celebrating his 70 years bringing “Happiness” to audiences across Britain.
Full of his greatest comic performances, the film lifts the veil on the secrets of the Squire of Knotty Ash and is a must-see for all Doddy fans.
There will be two performances of the film at the Walker Theatre at Theatre Severn on Sunday, June 23, with a question and answer session with Lady Dodd.
Tickets are priced at £16.50 for a three hour show, two intervals and a Q&A.
