That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Joe Pasquale

Episode Date: May 27, 2024

Comedian Joe Pasquale joins Gaby Roslin for a good ole natter about joy and happiness. Joe has been performing comedy for over thirty years, and has learnt a lot along the way. He's also an actor and was once crowned King Of The Jungle. He chats to Gaby about touring, his escapades during Dancing On Ice, why loved playing Frank Spencer and the time Barry Manilow singled him out in a room for a chat. We hope you enjoy this joyful chat as much as we did recording it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Pasqualee. Gabi. 40 years of cack. 40 years of cack, that's me. I hate it when you come on a show and you start plugging stuff. No, no, no. No, I love the title of it

because that's not how you see your life, surely. No, not my life, my act. The act is 40 years of cack. Yeah, because you're not your 41? Yeah, I started when I was one year old. No, I actually never took it seriously. I never took the business seriously. I don't take myself seriously.

Don't take life seriously. And it's cack. And I actually say it's cack. And when people at the beginning of the show, I say, listen, you've paid money to come and watch four years of cat condensed into two hours, right? And I've been doing it so long now, it's like full enough a log for me, and it changes every night now. I've got to the point. You don't do the same routines.

No, I don't do the same. I have a table of props, and now I just let you go out and just a busket really, and it's great. I really love flying on the seat by the seat of pants. You really do that? Yeah, really do. No, I have it. A table of props, and then just see what happens? I ask you audience, what should we do now?

What should we talk about now? and that's what happens now. And it's great. I think what happened was COVID changed everywhere I looked at it, right? I know it's two years ago now, so it's a long time ago now. But that period of time was quite a dark time for me, really. I actually, I wouldn't have a little bit mad

because I live on my own. I lived on me out, particularly then. I ran every day. I ran about 10 miles. I got really, really super fit. Yeah, that's what you look very well. But I ran, I ran, ran, and it was like Forrest Gump, you know, when that just kept running,

and that's what I kept doing every single day. Run, Pasquale. It was that. And then at the end, when, I couldn't do the act, well, I couldn't do what I do, which I'd done for the best part of 40 years now. I thought, who am I? What defines me, right? Because I dare say you worked all the way through it, didn't you? I was lucky, but we had one, I had one of those key things because of doing radio.

Of course, right. Well, I didn't, I didn't have any of that malachia. I did a couple of gigs on telly, couple of telegigs, but live work, which is where I, you know, which is where I thrive, where I really want to do still. And I don't feel I'll ever stop doing it. But without using that part of my personality, all it was Netflix, eating ridiculous stuff and running. That was all I did. And then, oh, what's it, Lee Mead. Remember, you know, Lee?

Yeah, yeah. So Lee phoned me up. He said, listen, right towards the end of COVID. Lee Meade, as in the singer. Yes, the singer, that's it. Yep, yep, Joe Ziffel. Not Lee Mac. Not Lee Mac.

Not Lee Mac. Lee Meek. How could they get confused? Because they're both called Leam. Oh, I suppose there's easy mistakes to make. That's about it. So Lee phoned me up. He said, look, I've got a gig at the Palladium, and it's the first one back for me.

He said, do you want to come and do it with me? So I said, yeah, if you want me to. And I immediately said, yes, I'll put the phone down. And then I thought, oh, blind me, I haven't done it for two years. What happens? Not that I couldn't remember what I used to do, because that was always a bit flaky anyway. But what if I couldn't remember who I used to be when I was out there, if that makes sense? That part of my personality hadn't been used for two years.

And I thought, what happens if that bloke don't turn up and I have to do it, right? And then, because that part of your personality, because you're not this person. I am the same. You are. Well, I am, but you know that part that extension of you. I don't do stand up. That's a whole... You ever tried it?

Absolutely not. Never will. Would you never do it? No. No. What is you have to be yourself. The whole thing is once you, but it takes a long time to find out who you are on stage. To take that person on, right? So anyway, so I got to the gig, I thought, this bloc came turning up tonight.

It's going to be me doing it. And if I have to do it... Were you very sweaty? I was very sweaty and I was petrified. It was like the first gig I'd ever done. And I thought, if this is the last gig I ever do, right, because it's terrible. At least it'll be the London Playdium. Yeah.

And I went out. As soon as soon as... As soon as the light came on, I walked to the microphone, it was like putting a coat on, and it just appeared. He just turned up without me asking for it. I went, oh my God, he's here. And it was like it was taking the Superman emblem on my chest, and he turned up, and I just did it. And I went, oh, he was here, and he didn't let me down. That's actually really moving, Joe.

It's a really strange thing that while I was doing it as well, I had those out-of-body experiences. I was looking at myself doing it going, this isn't me doing it. This is someone that's been locked up for two years doing this, that's actually, and it was a revelation. And now I remember what that feels like, and every night I go out there, and I take that with me, that memory of it. And I think it was, who was,

Jim Carrey says, right? He was doing, there's a great documentary called Andy and Me when it was a documentary on when he did the film, Man on the Moon, about Andy Kaufman. And he actually says in it, in his early days, he discovered it, he was laying in bed one night finger,

what is it that I want to do in my act? Then he realized it shouldn't be what I want to do. What do the audience want? What do the audience was? And what he decided, what he came to, was what the audience want when they're seeing him, not just him, any comic, any show you see, could reply to anything you see in entertainment. What they want is to be free of concern for that amount of time that they're watching it. So if I can give them that freedom of concern

for that hour, then the only way to do that is for me to be free of concern. So that's what I take with me. I try and be free of concern. I don't worry about it. I don't think, are they going to laugh? They're not going to laugh. Just do it and let it happen. It's one of those experiences that's quite a spiritual thing if you're really looking it that way. It's a way of communicating. And that's what I never saw it as a communication before. Not until after COVID, then you realise that it doesn't happen if they're not there, doesn't happen if I'm not there.

And then I don't know what it is I'm communicating, but there is some sort of communication going. I'll tell you what it is. What you're doing is exactly what, I love that documentary, by the way. But you're doing exactly that. You're letting us switch off from the worries and the woes and the troubles. And you're letting us into your world.

And it's great. Your world is crazy. Yeah, by the same token, it is a symbiotic relationship. But I need it as well as much as they do. And I don't get that if they don't get it. Yeah. You know, and basically it's a really selfish thing to do because it's for me, primarily for me. No, it's a two ways.

Yeah, it is, but I only do it for me first and then they get something out of it, and then it gets sometimes back to me. And it's a sea sort of thing. You only get it if they're there and they only get it if you're there. Not just me, but it could be any other person. But it has to be another person doing it. But is it only now that you've realised this? I don't since the end of COVID.

Because before it was getting, I've done it for so long, and the touring was getting, harder and harder and harder. I don't mean the gigs itself, but the physical touring, getting in the car, getting something decent to eat, trying to find somewhere to stay, because everything's, you know, show business on tour, it's great. It's not, you go to travel lodge, you get a sandwich from the garage and a boiled egg in the morning, get to the next gig, and a two-hour drive will take you six hours now. So those things, the hard part of the touring, the gigs, I'd do for nothing. It's the travelling that's really hard. But you don't just do that because you're an actor as well.

Yeah. It's funny that you go straight to the gigs. So in your head, you're a stand-up and then an actor. Yeah, I don't even class myself. I'm an actor. I'm a stand-up pretended to be an actor when I've ever done acting. I love acting. I really enjoy doing it. But you've done so much now.

Yeah, but I'm always playing myself though. I'm never like, they're never going to give me a baddie. I'd be like noddy with an headache. It'd be terrible. Imagine me doing that. But yeah, I love the parts. I've been really lucky, like, the parts that I've played were in the big shows. Were like in the producers, did Leo Blumen.

Just an amazing show. And I grew up. But you weren't you in that? No, but it's all part of, it is me, but it's not. Spamelot. Did you do Spamal? Yeah, did play King Arthur. That was great. Yeah. That was fantastic.

I did that on and off for two years, which was one of the best things I ever did ever. Because once again, I grew up watching Monty Python, and my dad hated it. He wouldn't let me watch it. Why? He said it was going to bring down society because it was so radical in the days. Because I was, yeah, I was born in 61, so that was in the 60s when it was at his most high. And then when he got to work, he did shift work. My mum said, it's on tonight, you can watch it, she'd let me watch it.

But my dad never let me watch it, yeah. And then once again, I did Frank Spencer in some others to have them. Yes, I saw that as well. That was just brilliant. It was a gift to do that. But it was, they couldn't have cast anybody else but you. Let's be honest. Yeah, one of the things is what happened there, because I was doing Spamelot at the time,

and the director, Guy Anzworth, he had written the script. It was an original script for it, as you probably know, if you remember from it, and he said, have you thought about doing some others to have them? And at the time, I was wiring a plug in the dressing. and spam a lot and I plugged it and it blew up and he went, you're like Frank Spencer and a little light bulb came in his head

do you want to do Frank Spencer? No, that was how it came about. So then he said, we'd have to get the rights. So we phoned Raymond Allen, who's the original writer, still owned the rights to it, lived on the Isle of White,

phoned him up and he said, and he said, a lot of people have tried to put it on stage before but I've always said no. So he said, why have you said no? He said, they always want to put the wrong person in. So he said, it all depends on who you want to play Frank, and he went,

and it was silence at the phone. I could hear it because he was on speakerphone. you're not going to believe this. He said, I've been watching Joe for the past 20 years. Whenever we come to the Highland of White, I sit in the front row. And he said, you can have the rights for nothing. Well, he had the rights of £1,000 it cost us for the rights to some others to have them. Wow.

Are you going to do more? Possibly, we don't know. So it was a heavy show to put on. And also, I'm getting older. And I do, I do remember I had to fall down the stairs. You had to do a lot of, well, you had to do a lot of Frank Spencer. Yeah, and it was particularly, we had a stuntman come at the end. I had to fall down the stairs and knock every banister out with my,

Winkle, basically, on my crutch. And we had a stuntman come in the very first day to show, so how to do it. And he went, what you do? He just put your leg in there, kick that one out, slide down there, put all your weight into it, and just go down. He said, make sure you break at the end, put your feet down to break at the end. Otherwise, you're going to lick the last one there, and it'll hurt you bad.

So I went, okay. Anyway, he did it. I'll show you how to do it. He did it. And as he got to the end, he went, oh, like that, right. And he started to get up, right. And I went, oh, yeah. I said, do you write yourself?

He went, yeah. And he went, you'll be all right. I said, I'll be all right. I said, I've got to it under and 86 times. You've done it once. He went, you'd be all right. So anyway, but we started the show. So were you all right?

Not the first few weeks, I wasn't, no. So what happened was, it was a bit in the show, as you may remember, I had to lose my trousers. After the first two weeks, my inner thighs were black and blue. They all that had been done over by Mike Tyson. It was terrible, right? And I have to walk back in my pants. And the audience were going, oh, my God, look at his legs.

Look at his legs. There were terrible bruises. Not just like a bruise. You know when you get that severe bruising where you get internal bleeding on the muscle? That's what it was like, right? Because it was night after night after night. And in the end...

Not just from taking your trousers down. No, no, it's literally hitting the banisters on the way down. Oh, see, I'm sorry, I thought you meant you had black and blue legs from taking your trousers down and then you had to fall down the stairs. No, that was why there was black and blue from that way. So I started putting on face all that makeup, you know, the like spot cream that you put on to cover my legs, right? Yeah. And it was...

Yeah, that's it, concealer. And of course it was just going off all over the costume, so you can't keep doing that. Only you. So in the end, I had to wear... And Frank Spencer. Yeah, and Frank Spencer. In the end, I had to wear these great big American football shorts

in the second half, right? Put them on the interval. No one noticed, no one ever clucked it at all. In the second half, my legs were really muscular. No one noticed it. No one noticed it at all. And that was the way we got around it. Yeah.

That is just... Only you, Joe. Nothing is... And I mean this in the nicest possible. Nothing is simple in your world. It's never simple. I don't know about you. Because are you inequity?

Oh, yes. Right, okay. So when you get quickly for, when you join, right, you have to put a tick in, you know, the things, all the skills you've got, don't you? Oh, can you all swide, yeah, I can all right. Yeah, I can all right. I skate, yep.

Can you parachute jump? Yep. I ticked every box in mine. I tick everything. I scuba dive the lot. And I thought, well, if I can't do these things and I get a job that's relying on scuba diving, normally you get back to.

I'll go and learn that, do it? Yeah. But sometimes you don't get a lot of time in between to learn, do you? So anyway, I put ice skating down. And they phoned up said you wanted to dance your ice. You ever done dancing on ice? No, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you.

I know you did, this is great. This is great story. You could love this, right. So, have you had Tawlandine in? You must have you. No, not on here. Have you interviewed them? Yeah.

Right, so, okay, this is great story. And Chris knows I tell this story as well. So I get the job and dancing at ice. I'm terrible. I'm really bad. They knew I was bad, but it didn't book me for ice skating, right? They booked me for whatever reason they booked me for. So I get on the show.

Is your Joe Pasqualee. Well, obviously. Obviously, yeah, so that's probably where they booked me. So I'll get the job. I lost six weeks. Don't ask me how to last six weeks. Then you go on tour. You get the tour.

This is great. And then you're doing 30,000-seat arenas, you know, at Wembley and at Birmingham and Glasgow and all over the country where you've got massive arena. And you're probably not in a travel lodge for that one. No, not in travel. They'll put you up in nicer ones. Yeah, yeah. And you also, you haven't got...

You get something to eat. Yeah, because you have to have a sandwich and a day in the morning, right? So you get there. And then after the first show, and Chris and Jane are hosting it as well, right? So they say to us afterwards, we're going to keep the same format every night for this show. So once you've done your skate, you go up to the platform, the judges are there,

Chris and Jane will ask you how that went for you. Whatever you say on the first night, we want you to keep that for the rest of the tour, okay? Because Chris likes to know what people are going to say. And as you know, I don't do the same thing. So one night I'd get up and talk about my murking. Next night I'd be talking about Superman. Next night I'll be talking about Batman or Spider-Moe.

Whatever it is. And you could see Chris's face. I'll get near to him after about a week going, oh God, he's coming. It's him. He's him. You can see his panic on his face, right? I really liked me.

We got on really well, but he just didn't understand me, really, I think, and a lot of it. So at the end of each show, he'd come into the dress room, all the boys, you've got boys in one room, girls were in the other, he'd come in, and all the pros that stand up, I'd like to attend. Oh, Chris is in the room, come and get out there, and you stand to attention, Chris is in the room, and he'd walk along the line, everybody would be in the line, he'd go, ice bath tonight? Would you like an ice bath tonight?

Ice bath? Ice bath, and he'd get to me, and he'd go, oh, and then you'd go past me, and I go, what about me? and you go, you don't work hard enough for an ice bath. So what do you mean? It's for proper athletes, not like you. So I went, oh, I'm like that. And then, so every night they go for an ice bath.

And I didn't know what's going on in this ice bath, right? So this went on for weeks and weeks and weeks, right, ice bath tonight. And everybody got, oh, poor Joe. And then after about three weeks in, right, ice bath, ice bath. And he goes past me again. He comes back and he went, would you like an ice bath tonight? So, bloody right, I would. I'd love an ice bath.

All right, then. Make sure you keep your pants on. I said, well, Chris, I'm not going to take my pants off, really. I'm not going to do that, mate. Well, make sure you keep your pants on. I said, okay. So I said, where is it? Because I've never been before.

I don't know where they do it. And this is at Wembley Arena. And then in the shower room, got big, huge area of a shower room, under the showers in there. And then they've got this huge inflatable swimming pool, basically. Room for about 30 people in there. And I go in there, and everybody's in there,

drinking champagne, having cannape's a lot. And they're all sitting there. That's not the idea of an ice bath. Their ice bath is you meant to get in and go. No, no. Well, that's what they are, but it's full of ice. It is an ice bath still, but they'll drink in champagne. Yeah, right?

That's what they're doing. So showbiz. Yeah. This is a showbiz ice bar. That's exactly what it is. Okay. Right, have an ice bath. And they come and everybody, cheers.

We, Joe's here. I'll go in and I take my dressing counter. I'll pull my pants up as high as I possibly could. And he goes, oh, God, look at the state of him. And as I get in, he said, where are you going? So I'm getting between you and Jane. No, don't get in between. I said, no, that's where I'm going, because, so I want to go.

He went, well, don't make waves. And as I get in, I slip over a bit, and I hit the shower button, and the shower goes on to Chris. He went, I'll turn it off, it's cold, it's freezing. I said, you're in an ice bath, Chris. What do you mean? He's freezing. He's in a bath of ice. Stop it, stop it, stop it.

Save the champagne. So I'd get the champagne out of the way, and I slide into the water. Don't make waves. He treated me like I was six, right? Admittedly, I was acting like I was six as well. So don't make waves. Don't make waves. Don't make waves.

I don't want it on my chest. I don't want it on my chest. Don't make waves. And Jane is laughing and he's going, don't make waves. And I slide in. Now I'm at a certain age now where my bladder isn't as strong as it used to be, right? And it's course. Oh, I just had a feeling that's where it was going to go.

Of course. That's what happened, right? I couldn't hold it. I've never done an ice bath. Yeah, normally you'd get away with it. You get away with that, no problem at all. No one knows. But they used to the...

Sorry, there's 30 people drinking champagne in an ice bath. Canapes. And canopase. Yeah. And you wee. Not only that, but the... Oh God, no, no, you didn't. I'd had a barroca.

No, I'd had a barocca, didn't have a poo. Oh, I'd had a barroca. Oh, so it was right, right? Neon. Black current one, right? Oh, okay. And James goes, oh, he's weird, but she wasn't saying weed like that. And everybody got out as quick as it.

It was like the scene from Jaws. You know, when they're not getting out the water, right? Everybody was scrambling out. And in the end, I was the only one left with a glass of champagne, not the drinker and a little can of paste in all this orange water. It was amazing. Only you, Joe Pasqualee, could that happen to it? And he never asked me to go in the ice bowl.

ever again. Are you still friends? Oh yeah, no. We never fell out over it. I think they all fairly quite amusing in the end, but yeah, they didn't. They probably think you did it on purpose. Yeah, but I didn't know. It was just literally, you know. It just came out. I'm at that age. But also, your whole sort of the act and the everybody is known, as you say, it's 40 years now.

Yeah. It's always been, it just happens, doesn't it? It just does happen. I think life just happens and you have to go with it. Have you always been, well, you like that because you said your dad did shift work and you were watching Monty Python. Yeah. What were you like as a child that, were you like this as a child? I think I was.

I think what happened was, this is, I can't remember who said about this. I think it might have been Jimmy Carl. I listened to Jimmy Carl's audio book, Look Wild ago, and I think he's right. He said, you show me a comedian, I'll show you somebody that was depressed in their life, right? And what happened for me, if, I don't know, I can't apply this to anybody else other than me and Jimmy, because he said it itself, was my mum was suffer from depression a lot. And I took it, and so I've got two older sisters and a younger brother. as well. So I was, I'm 60, near 63 and my sister is one year's, five years older, one year's 10 years older, and then my brother's seven years younger. So when I was seven, I was a baby, and there was a 12 year old

and a 17 year old that had to deal with. So I was the one that was left in the corner, you know, let him, I could look after myself, where there's a lot of problems with the teenagers and the baby. So I was the one that looked after herself, really. And then my mum had a car accident, became epileptic and then she'd become very depressed and was in and out of hospital on psychiatric wards and all that sort of stuff and I took it upon myself to be the person to cheer her up that was my job that was my job to make her laugh and so coming from school and that's okay what have I got to do and sometimes she'd be having an epileptic fit and I'd find her on the floor and all sorts of stuff was going on in those days when you were little

yeah when I was a teenager then by the when that happened that's a lot to deal with yeah it's a heavy load yeah but it's not a heavy load yeah but it's not everything It's your mum. Yes, your mum, but, you know, it's one of those things that you get used to, you know, you only know what you know. Yeah, and there are a lot of care. There are a lot of young carers out there. I couldn't say I was a carer. No, but you weren't, because you were doing, you were making her feel better by trying to make her laugh.

Yeah, if you look at that way, yeah. And so what I do, I would literally make it my job coming from school and make her laugh. And I did that right up until she died, which was 25 years ago now. I was my mission whenever I was with her was to make her laugh. And I think that's what, where it all started from from me. And I remember, as I get older, I got better. it to make her laugh better because you know she just went and roll her eyes and then I got it and like okay what's gonna make a line and I'd dress up and all sorts of stuff and then I remember one

day I knocked on the door and I said look Aiman Andrews is here you're not gonna believe he's around the corner and then I came in dressed up as all the family I did this is your life on her and just did everybody and then it got to the point where I was doing so much extreme stuff you know I was really going for it and then she'd stop me I was have to come in she said don't say no do not do nothing yet don't do anything at all and she'd have to get a newspaper I got this from her. She'd have a weak bladder, and she would wet herself, and she would actually put a newspaper underneath her.

Okay, you can start talking there. And I'd make her laugh. I wouldn't stop until she wet herself. I loved it. So you make sure that she made her laugh so much that she wet herself, yeah. Not that I was great, hey, it's just that she had a weak bladder. No, it was because you made her love. You actually made her happy?

Yeah, that was the point. Yeah, I didn't mind saying this, because even though my sisters and my brother probably is, but she used to say that I was a favourite, and I was. Because you cared. And actually, I think you said at the very beginning about it's a two-way thing, but you said you're selfish. There's nothing selfish about making people feel better. Oh, yeah, because you get it yourself.

That's what you get from it yourself, though. I hear you, but you were always about the audience. It's always about the audience. Your mum happened to be the audience. Yeah, yeah. The audience, then suddenly in COVID, you didn't have the audience. And that's what keeps you going. Yeah, it is.

I don't know if I ever retire. I couldn't see myself every time. I think when Ken Dodd, because I was really lucky, I was brought up with geniuses. I was taken underwing by Bob Monkhouse and Ken Dodd and Deso. Those three alone were so instrumental in me. You worked with them? Yeah, all three of them, a lot. I worked with Bob a lot, and with Deb a lot, and with Ken.

Well, I did a week on the Big Breakfast with Bob Monkhouse. Yeah, we spoke about it a lot. We spoke about that a lot as well. He just couldn't believe he was presenting a show. But he had his book. book of gags. I know he did. The book of gags, right, it's not just one book.

You know it's about 15 books of gags. And Colleen Edmonds, he's right where I speak to, I spoke to this morning. I was talking, you must remember Colin. You worked on the Big Breakfast that week that Bob did it. Because he only did it for a week if I remember right. Yeah, he did a week. Yeah, because Chris was, I can't remember why Chris was off. Chris had a holiday off.

Chris used to have a bath in the morning as well. He did. Chris had a bath at the big breakfast. I don't mean at home. We all have a bath at home. No, he did. He used to come in and that was woke him up. Yeah, I know it did.

Yeah, because that was where I first met you was on the Big Breakfast. Do you remember that? That was, how many years ago was that then? Well, 31 years. Yeah, that was when I first met you then. Goodness, you didn't be doing it nine years. Yeah, I know. And I was only two because I'm 33 every birthday.

I was two years old. Yeah. But when you, so when, so Bob, we're going, let's go back to Ken first then. Bob, Ken and Des. Yeah. So what was, I did new faces in 1987, which is what, 37 years ago now, 36? Something like that. 37 years ago.

And Ken was on the panel. Now, in those days, it was very similar to, it was very similar to Britain's Got Talent. And I was one of those nutters, for one of the better word, that queued up. I was one of those blokes. And I didn't have an act just when I'm mucked about. And then in the afternoon, you would do the show.

Did you take your props? Yeah, I had a couple of props. All I had was a tiny little guitar and a big music case. And I get the little guitar out and sing a Spanish folk song called a moucher doogie. I sing a moucher's a doogie in the window. That was there. There were a few magic props.

Anyway, they watched the show in the afternoon. Yes, he did magic, didn't you? Yeah. So Ken was on the panel, and the judges would watch it in the afternoon. They would watch the rehearsal, and then at the night time when it was recorded, they knew what was going to go on, so they'd make their notes. They knew what they're going to see. Whereas, on Britain's got talent, what you see is what you get, you know.

So anyway, Ken had watched my show in the afternoon at rehearsal, and then I went into makeup, and then Ken came in having his makeup in as well, and I went, oh, my gosh, Ken Doddow was in awe of him. And he went, excuse me, son, can I give you a bit of advice? So I went, yes, of course, and I thought you could tell me to go home. And he pulled out a bit of paper. He'd written down every word I said. He'd written everything down, every move.

And he went, okay, well, tonight when you do this, take that joke out there, put that towards him. There's a better joke than that one. Move that one to the beginning. When you get the rabbit out, show it down your trousers, shake a leg, it'll come out of the poem. You get an extra laugh on that. Move that to there.

Don't do that there. He said, it's just not funny that. Don't do that. Do this instead. If you do all of that son, you'll win tonight. So I'm, okay, then. And I did everything, he said, and I won. Oh my word

And that was it And I stayed in contact with Ken through the end And he was amazing You know, he was incredible I mean I never saw him He would never see him work No He would do, he was well known for doing five or six hours

I was going to say he was famous for not going home Hours and hours I don't just mean a couple of hours I mean five six hours sometimes And I would do I remember one of my first seasons Was in Blackpool And I would do six nights a week

of Blackpool Grand And on the seventh you do the Sunday On the Sunday night You'd do a Sunday concert In Skegness From one side to the country with the other So I'd get in my car lunchtime, drive to Skegness, and on the Sunday that I was in Skegness,

Ken would do the Sunday night at the Blackpool Grand. So I'd drive to Skegness, do my hour and a half show, get in the car, drive back to Blackpool, and still get back to Blackpool at about one in the morning and still catch the last hour and a half for Ken Dodd. He really went on until 2.30 at the morning. About up past 1, 2 o'clock sometimes. Yep.

He was well-nove to do in six hours. Because he loved it? I don't know. I know the psychological... breakdown of that, I have no idea. For me, two hours is more than enough, you know. But did he, did, so you knew him personally? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So did he love what he did? Yeah, he loved what he did. And I think that's what kept him alive. It was only the last six months before he died that he stopped doing it. And I think he was 93 of him. Wow. Wow. To be like that, to carry on working to that.

And also, he wasn't, even towards the end, he wasn't going, oh, I'm just doing a couple of hours tonight. He was still doing five, six hours at the end. And Des as well, Desd. Des was amazing, wasn't he? You must have a desk. No, I met him a couple of times, and he was very kind and very sweet. He was very kind, very sweet.

He was, once again, he used to get all these new comics like myself and Bradley and Brian. Bradley Walsh, whatever happened to him? He's never on the telly. I don't know. He's never on the telly. I don't know. It's a strange business once he's had you spit out. So Bradley Walsh, Brian?

Conley. Brian Conley. I don't know. No, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. All this. Shane Richie.

I don't know. Everybody comes in. You've all just done a gig together, which we're going to talk about in a moment. But let's just finish about Des. So then Des, Des O'Connor Tonight was one of the best showcases ever for young comics. And not just for UK companies, he brought all the Americans over as well. And the people you'd meet on that show was fantastic. I remember I met Barry Manilow, right?

Barry Manolo. Have you ever interviewed him? I've seen Barry Manelot at the Albert Hall. Right, so this is great stories. So Barry's on the show. It would be magic. Well, my mum loved all these people. So I was, you know, once again, my mum, she loved it. All those stars, though, so I'd go in, wherever I was on the show, I'd get a picture with.

I'd take it back, well, let's me and Tommy Stores. Me and Barry Manlo, mum, and all that. And Barry was lovely. And then about 10 years later, I was doing Royal Variety show, and Barry Manolo was top of the bill on it, right? So I'm on, I was, you know, right at the other end to meet the Queen. You know, I'm on the far right, Barry's in the middle. And I'm in between. I've got Robson and Jerome on my left and Hank Marvin from the shadows on my right, right?

Barry Manlo's, we're all waiting to meet the Queen. What a line-up. Oh, it's just amazing. This sounds like some sort of extraordinary... It's incredible, right? Yes, dream. So Barry steps out a little bit, right? It steps out and starts waving up the end.

And I said to Robson's wrong, I went, boys, I think I'm Barry Manolo's waving at you. I went, you see? I went, yeah, look. And they looked at him and they went, and then I met him. He says, well, I think he's waving at you. He said, you know, waving at us. So what is it looks like. He said, no, he's not waving us.

We don't know him. So I said to Hank Marley, I said, I think Barry Manlo's waving at you. And he looked like, is he? So, he went, yeah, look, he went, I'm another bloke. Why's you waving at me? So I think he's waving at you. He said, no, he ain't waving me. I only met him once about 10, 12 years ago, and Daddard Gunny.

He went, well, I think he's waving, and he said, no, he ain't waving at me. And this went on for ages, and I actually blanked him. I turned the other waistlight, so I was a bit embarrassed. I thought, was he waving at him out. And then he stops away from morning. He shouts, Barry Marrylow. He goes, Joe, Joe? No.

He does, he goes, do you remember me? Barry Manel? How do I not remember your Barry Manlo? for God's sake, went, oh, thank God. Would you forget him who I was? So, no, I went, no, I went there to cuddle with him, and he was great. Oh, Mandy, you gave me. How could you say, could that?

Barry Manilow gave you a cuddle. Yeah, yeah. I think I'm most jealous about that. You really? Yeah, just Barry. I remember going to see Barry Manilow at the Albert Hall many years ago, and probably about 25 years ago, and I've never seen such hysterical old women in my life. They were all taking off their clothes and throwing them out.

Barry Manolo. I was watching them more than I was watching Barry. It's funny, isn't it? I mean, hysterical. Yeah, I know they do. They do go hysterical. Sort of crying and ripping their glow. Barry!

Coach loads of them leaving. So they all turned up fully dressed. They're all coach loads of them leaving, half undressed. Torn tights and no bras and pants down on the stage. It's amazing. The effect that people, it has on people. Has anybody ever thrown off their bra and thrown it to you? I don't know.

I've ever had that, no. I've had someone throw a Mars bar at me in Panto before. A Mars bar? Yeah. Did it hit you? Yeah, it hit me in Mars bar. And then a couple of bald sweets. Yeah, it did.

A bald sweet. It was a humbug it was. It got me there. Ow. Yeah. Some kid I was in South Wales doing a tour in Panto in the early days. And you just loved it. Panto's extraordinary.

I've done two in my life. One was with Gordon K. Okay. And I can't actually repeat the words that a child, a little boy in the front row. I'm not going to say the words. Okay. And he just went, that beeping beep is actually a bloke.

It's a bloke. Why is he wearing a dress? That beeping old beep. And I just thought, carry on. And I just, with Mark Curry, and we just carried on singing. And Gordon Kay then turn around and said, let's put it politely,

shut up, you little carp. The fish. That's what it was. I've never experienced anything like that in my life. And I came on stage and thought, I'm going to go back and do breakfast. Do the big breakfast. Well, I love it.

I've been doing it for like 40 years, no. And I just, how do you cope with it? It's madness. This is mad. It's 12 shows a week. And I don't do the same thing ever twice. Because it's relentless.

And you have to find a place where you can give a performance because you run any from three weeks or six weeks. And people pay the same sort of money at the beginning of a run. and the same money at the end of a run. And if you're absolutely naked after doing 70 shows, right,

in the space of four or five weeks, you haven't got the energy. So I always say, because I directed a lot as well. So I always say to people at the very first day rehearsals, find a place where you can perform this 78 times in the next month. Okay, because if you start up there, in two weeks' time, you'll be so tired, you won't be able to do that. And they pay the same sort of money at the end.

They deserve the same show at the end as they do at the beginning. That's so, Savage, so our lovely friend, Paul, O'Grady, who I miss. Paul was a genius in Panto. Well, he was brilliant. But he used to ring me at 1.30. Yeah. And it would be 1.30.

Gap, gap. Why did I say yes? I know. Every time he says, I've never going to do it again. He always did, though. Yeah. I told you not to do it. No, gab, gab, gab.

But you have to, that's a brilliant tip for everybody. But surely it should be like that with any show. It should be. But normally, you know, Western performance, people look down and those are Western performers. The stamina you have to have to do a show for a year, in the West End, something like Wicked or that sort of. If you've got one of those lead parts,

even just, not just, if you're in the ensemble, you're covering everybody in that. You've got to know what you're doing for a year and that sort of show, and you've got to work your bum off on that. And in Panto, it's even more because you're not doing eight shows. You're doing 12 shows a week. Sometimes 13 if you're doing three on a Saturday. And you have to find a place where you can pull it out the hat

every single time. Otherwise, people have paid, you know, they're not cheap the tickets anymore. You have to give them value for money. And so you have to find a place where you can do that. And it's hard to do. But this year in particular I worked with Rob Rinder. Oh, isn't he just wonderful? He's probably the funniest man I've ever met in my life.

The most intelligent man I've ever met in my life. And the funniest as well. And I had a blast from day. We both got really on the day one of rehearsals. We both got real bad chest infection. And we got through five weeks of rehearsals in the show. And every single day we pulled each other through it. And it was just the best fun I've ever had in Panto.

Oh, he's going to. He's running across the Sahara. I know he is. Yeah. I spoke to him the other day. and he's just incredible man. He's a really good man. People don't know how clever that man is.

You see that persona on telly, there's a lot of deep ball to there. But he's also a very good friend. He's a great friend. He's a great bloke, but he's so intelligent. He really is. You've met them, I mean, Savage loved you. Paul O'clock.

I love Paul as well. He loved you. Yeah, he was great. We're a great man, he was so. When people meet, everybody knows you, Joe. All ages know you. Everybody loves you. that I hope you know that

it's funny because I just think because I know you get worried about oh I hope I've got the next job and I've got the next job and there you were with Bradley and Brian and Shane and you guys the four of you have been very close

for so many years and there you were doing a show together which is wonderful I hope you're going to do more of those but I hope you know how everybody adores you Joe well I don't know it I'm telling you I'll take it

I'll take that but yeah what happened with Brad and the boys was he phoned us up. It was literally a month before we did the show and said squeaky, because they all call me Squeaky. Squeaky, you working on the 30th of September? April, April, 30 for March then. So I went, no.

And then Brian wasn't working, Connolly, and Shane Richie wasn't working. He said, look, Petula Clark should have been doing the Palladium and the family up and said, do you want to do it? So, to be honest, I do, but I don't, he said, I haven't really done stand up for 17 years. Why has he been busy? Yeah, I don't know what.

I think he was on a holiday. I don't know what he was doing. And then Shane said, look, I haven't done stand-up for 20 years since I've been in these tenders. So he said, look, this way, if we all four of us do it, there's no heavy lifting for anyone. He said, you fancy doing it. And we've been talking about doing it for years. Anyway, it's probably the best night of our lives on stage. Did you sing together as well?

Yeah, what happened was we did 10 minutes all together, the four of us all together at the beginning. Then we did 10 minutes each, the second half, it was about an hour, all four of us all the time, all out there, all the time. And we couldn't say rehearsed it. We met up every Wednesday for a month before and we were rehearsed. We go to blow coming back. We had Barry Robinson on the piano with us. And we sang a couple of songs. And then all we did was just reminisce every Wednesday.

And then when we got to doing the show, oh my God, we haven't really rehearsed this, have we? So no, let's go and wing it. And we winged it, and it was the best night wherever. So you've got to do more, surely. Yeah, Brad's looking at trying to put it on tour next year. Fingers crossed. Oh, how's wonderful.

Yeah. So I just got to wait and see, yeah. Joe, thank you. It's an absolute joy. Sorry, I've just kept talking all the time. I talk so much. That's the whole idea of a podcast. Is it?

Oh, okay. Thank you. Yeah, if you didn't talk, it would be... Yeah, it wouldn't be good, would it? It wouldn't work. No. Have you had people that don't talk? No.

Because we only want people that spread joy. Okay. Who are joyful people and you are one of them. Thank you. Thanks for having me. All you do, it's wonderful. Thank you.