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Wyn Calvin & Tony Jo: Jimmy remembers old friends 150 150 mhamer

Wyn Calvin & Tony Jo: Jimmy remembers old friends

I had the great pleasure of working with the, “Welsh Prince of Laughter”, in Panto back in 1983 @brumhippodrome sadly now no longer with us, the late Wyn Calvin, (here pictured far right in his role as Dame), R.I.P. old friend!

Jimmy Cricket has paid fond tributes to two fellow entertainers and friends who sadly passed away recently.

The Northern Irish comic recalled performing alongside the late Wyn Calvin in the 1980s.

Wyn’s death at the age of 96 was announced earlier this week.

“I had the great pleasure of working with the ‘Welsh Prince of Laughter’ in Panto back in 1983 @brumhippodrome,” said Jimmy. 

“Sadly now no longer with us, the late Wyn Calvin, (pictured far right in the above photo in his role as Dame).

“R.I.P. old friend!”

Wyn got into showbusiness after World War Two and went on to appear in more than 50 pantomimes, often as Widow Twankey.

He served with the forces’ Entertainments National Service Association and played to troops all across Europe.

Wyn, originally from Narberth in Pembrokeshire, was a founding member of Cardiff’s Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital Charity.

Laurel and Hardy

He was known for his performances in concert halls and repertory theatres.

His career included successful runs on radio as Tommy Trotter, in a show called Welsh Rarebit on BBC Wales.

He also made music hall appearances and shared a stage with legendary comedy duo Laurel and Hardy.

Read more about Wyn on the BBC website here

A bright light went out in Blackpool today with the passing of performer/manager/producer Tony Jo @hrhents Tony spread laughter and happiness everywhere he went, he will be sadly missed by his family and many friends in the world of Showbusiness! R.I.P. big guy you were the tops!

Jimmy has also paid tribute to Tony Jo, a former member of award-winning comedy band The Grumbleweeds.

Tony (pictured right with Jimmy) died on Sunday 23 January following an 18-month battle with cancer.

Jimmy said: “A bright light went out in Blackpool today with the passing of performer/manager/producer Tony Jo @hrhents.

“Tony spread laughter and happiness everywhere he went.

“He will be sadly missed by his family and many friends in the world of Showbusiness!

“R.I.P. big guy you were the tops!”

Tony was a celebrated after-dinner comedian.

His work meant he rubbed shoulders with sporting legends like George Best, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst and Alan Ball.

Tony was a winner of the After Dinner Speaker of The Year Award three times.

In addition, he wrote for shows including You’ve Been Framed and Stars in Their Eyes.

Read more about Tony on the Blackpool Gazette website here.

Also from this website: Frankie Whittle: From Butlin’s to Blackpool’s Music Hall Tavern

Happy St Patrick’s Day folks! 150 150 mhamer

Happy St Patrick’s Day folks!

Belfast-born Jimmy Cricket has wished everybody a happy St Patrick's Day.

Belfast-born Jimmy Cricket has wished everybody a happy St Patrick’s Day!

The famous funnyman donned a green bow-tie and his trademark hat in a special celebratory poster (above).

It was posted on social media.

Millions of people around the world mark the day on 17 March every year.

It is a celebration of Irish history and culture.

And it is a national holiday in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, which is known as the Emerald Isle.

St Patrick’s Day: Everything you need to know (an article from the BBC website).

Watch: Happy St Patrick’s Day message from Jimmy (from 2020) – from this website

 

The day I ended up in court facing a hefty fine… 150 150 mhamer

The day I ended up in court facing a hefty fine…

True story! Going back decades here is this months @leponline column, here I'm sharing my humble beginnings in the world of showbusiness, which doesn't get much funnier than this! 

Jimmy Cricket was once summoned to court for not doing something he didn’t even know he had to do!

In the 1970s, before he was famous, the Northern Irishman fell foul of the TV licensing authorities.

He revealed his story in his Lancashire Post column.

Jimmy posted on social media: “Hi folks! True story!

“Going back decades here is this month’s @leponline column.

“Here I’m sharing my humble beginnings in the world of showbusiness, which doesn’t get much funnier than this! #savevariety”

His column said: “I’m going back a bit now – 1973. I was in my mid-20s and trying to eke out a living as a comedian in the Northern clubs.

“My girlfriend and soon-to-be-my-wife May and her sister Margaret did a sing­ing act under the name, The Tweedie Sisters.

“We both landed a week’s booking at the Norbreck Ho­tel in Blackpool. However, it didn’t quite turn out that way.

“Oh, the girls had a great week finishing their act to tumultuous applause every evening.

“I, however, didn’t make it past the Sunday. To be honest I was a bit rough round the edges, and when I didn’t get too many laughs on the opening night, the hotel manager fired me.

Disbelieving glance

“So while the girls trav­elled back and forth to Black­pool every night, (Margaret’s boyfriend Graham had a car), I sat alone in the flat we all shared in Stockport trying to figure out a new act.

“It was on the Tuesday night that the doorbell rang. I’d barely opened the door when a guy pushed past me.

“I followed behind him in hot pursuit calling out, ‘Hi, what is this?’ until he stopped with a jolt in the middle of the living room and, pointing to the corner, shout­ed: ‘Have you got a licence for that television?’

“I explained that my fian­cee had ordered it from a lo­cal shop a few weeks before.

“Then I naively enquired: ‘Doesn’t the rental cover the cost of the licence?’ He threw me a disbelieving glance, wrote something in his book and marched straight out the door.

“A summons duly arrived a few weeks later for me to appear in court, where I paid a hefty fine, not for some­thing I did but for something I didn’t know I had to do.

“Don’t get me wrong folks. I’m a big fan of the BBC. What’s not to like about it?

“They do the best period cos­tume dramas. They give us uninterrupted coverage of top sporting events and the best movies, and their news coverage is the envy of the world.

“Just like the National Health Service it’s a quintessential British institution and I couldn’t imagine life without it.

“I just hope they have nicer people driving their detector vans these days than the guy I got in Stockport.”

Also read: The first time I met Bobby Ball

The Lancashire Post website

Blackpool Big Night Out: Relive it on BBC’s iPlayer 150 150 mhamer

Blackpool Big Night Out: Relive it on BBC’s iPlayer

Blackpool Big Night Out in on BBC's iPlayer

Jimmy Cricket and a host of other top entertainers have featured in a special programme about Blackpool – and you can catch it on iPlayer.

The 74-year-old Northern Irish comedian has performed at the popular Lancashire seaside resort many times over the years.

In the BBC documentary, he talks fondly about his feelings for the coastal town.

Blackpool is described as the beating heart of British entertainment.

The Lancashire coastal town launched the careers of Morecambe and Wise, attracted stars as big as Frank Sinatra and is still the spiritual home of the likes of the late Sir Ken Dodd, Cannon and Ball and many more.

Jimmy Cricket is among those interviewed on Blackpool Big Night Out

Jimmy tweeted: “Hi folks, here is a link to the BBC’s nostalgic look at this great seaside resort.”

He says on the programme about Blackpool: “I remember arriving and seeing the trams.

“There were people advertised on the trams, like Cilla Black and Val Doonican.

“And you think, you’ve arrived when you’ve got your name on a tram – this is incredible.

Blackpool Big Night Out on BBC's iPlayer“I remember once doing the south pier and actually saw my name on a tram.

“I thought ‘I must get on here!'”

The programme went out on BBC Two on Monday 27 April 2020 at 9.45pm.

You have just 11 days left (until 27 May) to watch on the BBC iPlayer.

Watch it here

Jimmy features about three quarters of the way through the hour-long programme.

Also read: From the archives – Norman Wisdom and Ernie Wise

Jimmy Cricket is seen performing on Blackpool Big Night Out

David Bell: ‘Legendary maestro of TV variety’ 150 150 mhamer

David Bell: ‘Legendary maestro of TV variety’

The late great David Bell whom my generation of fellow performers had the great pleasure of working with! David was gone too soon!

Jimmy Cricket has been delving into the archives again to fondly remember those with whom he has worked.

With the coronavirus pandemic meaning no shows for the foreseeable future, comic Jimmy has been looking through his old photographs.

And he found the picture above of the late David Bell, who was one of British television’s best light entertainment producers.

Award-winning David died aged 53 in June 1990 at his London home after being ill for several months.

The Scotsman worked for Scottish Television, the BBC and London Weekend Television (LWT) during a very successful career.

He worked with many big names in television, including Benny Hill, Bruce Forsyth, Dame Edna Everage and Elton John.

Hawick-born David was the man behind most of the ITV royal variety shows.

As controller of entertainment at London Weekend Television, he was in charge of many of ITV’s most popular series.
These included The Stanley Baxter Show.

Jimmy tweeted: “Going through archives, and here remembering the legendary maestro of Variety and sketch shows on Television…

“The late great David Bell whom my generation of fellow performers had the great pleasure of working with!

“David was gone too soon!”

Read how the Herald in Scotland reported on David’s death back in 1990

From this website – Golden memories: Performing in front of Princess Diana

 

Team Cricket just miss out on final two of BBC TV show 150 150 mhamer

Team Cricket just miss out on final two of BBC TV show

Henry Kelly and Jimmy Cricket are two of the contestants in the Ireland-themed edition of Pointless

Jimmy Cricket and his team partner Henry Kelly just missed out on reaching the final two of a BBC TV quiz show.

The pair were among four teams on BBC One’s Ireland-theme edition of Pointless on Saturday (14 March).

The programme went out on BBC One at 6.05pm.

It also featured Foster and Allen, Pauline McLynn, Vogue Williams, Clodagh McKenna and Anna Haugh.

Radio and television broadcaster Henry (pictured above with Jimmy), presented Going for Gold from 1987 to 1996.

There was a jackpot of £2,500 which would go to two charities chosen by the finalists – but only if they guessed a pointless answer.

Jimmy, who came up with a particularly good answer of ‘Hale’, and Henry did well in the first round.

And they just missed out on getting any further by only a few points in round two.

Author and actor Pauline McLynn and model and media personality Vogue Williams were the eventual winners.

They beat folk music duo Foster and Allen who finished off the show with a rendition of ‘Maggie’.

Pointless is a quiz in which contestants try to score as few points as possible.

Watch the programme here

To do this, they must come up with the correct but obscure answers to general knowledge questions.

All the questions asked were previously to a panel of 100 individuals in a pre-conducted public survey.

Alexander Armstrong hosts the show with help from Richard Osman.

The programme first aired in 2009 and has had 22 regular series, plus 11 celebrity ones.

Belfast-born Jimmy, who now lives in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said before the show he really enjoyed the experience.

“Well folks, what a fun show to be part of,” he said, though he clearly could not reveal the result beforehand.

Find out where Jimmy is performing and his other forthcoming shows by viewing all his tour dates on this website.

Don’t miss Ireland-themed edition of BBC’s Pointless 150 150 mhamer

Don’t miss Ireland-themed edition of BBC’s Pointless

Henry Kelly and Jimmy Cricket are two of the contestants in the Ireland-themed edition of Pointless

The BBC TV edition of Pointless featuring Jimmy Cricket is on Saturday (14 March).

The programme will be broadcast on BBC One at 6.05pm.

The Ireland-themed edition also features Foster and Allen, Pauline McLynn, Vogue Williams, Clodagh McKenna and Anna Haugh.

Radio and television broadcaster Henry Kelly (pictured above with Jimmy), who presented Going for Gold from 1987 to 1996, is another of the contestants.

Pointless is a quiz in which contestants try to score as few points as possible.

‘What a fun show to be part of’

To do this, they must come up with the correct but obscure answers to general knowledge questions.

All the questions asked were previously to a panel of 100 individuals in a pre-conducted public survey.

Alexander Armstrong hosts the show with help from Richard Osman.

The programme first aired in 2009 and has had 22 regular series, plus 11 celebrity ones.

Belfast-born Jimmy, who now lives in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said he really enjoyed the experience.

“Well folks, what a fun show to be part of,” he said.

“Will be televised on Saturday 14th March, let’s make it a date everyone!”

Find out where Jimmy is performing and his other forthcoming shows by viewing all his tour dates on this website.