Spring tour, featuring Cannon and Ball, Harper, Little Albert and Barricade.
Tour Dates
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Saturday 5th March | Warners, Bodelwyddan Castle |
| Friday 11th March | Preston, Charter Theatre | |
| Saturday 12th March | Corby, Willows Arts Centre | |
| Sunday 13th March | Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside Theatre | |
| Friday 18th March | Margate, Winter Gardens | |
| Saturday 19th March | Retford, Majestic Theatre | |
| Thursday 24th March | Skegness, Embassy Centre | |
| Friday 25th March | Scarborough, Spa Theatre | |
| Saturday 26th March | Blackpool, Grand Theatre | |
| Sunday 27th March | Rhyl, Pavilion Theatre | |
| Monday 28th March | Blackpool, Grand Theatre | |
| Wednesday 30th March | Shrewsbury, The Music Hall | |
| Thursday 31st March | Billingham, The Forum Theatre | |
| Friday 1st April | Whitley Bay, Playhouse | |
| Saturday 2nd April | Warners, Corton | |
| Friday 8th April | Southend, Palace Theatre | |
| Saturday 9th April | Mansfield, Place Theatre | |
| Sunday 17th April | Leeds, City Varieties | |
| Wednesday 20th April | Croydon, Ashcroft Theatre | |
| Thursday 21st April | Aldershot, Princes Theatre | |
| Friday 22nd April | Peterborough Broadway Theatre | |
| Saturday 23rd April | Warners, Cricket St. Thomas | |
| Sunday 24th April | Stockport, The Plaza | |
| Sunday 1st May | Torquay, Babbacombe Theatre | |
| Thursday 5th May | Crewe, Lyceum Theatre | |
| Friday 6th May | Dudley, Concert Hall | |
| Saturday 7th May | Blackburn, King Georges Hall | |
| Sunday 8th May | Eastbourne, Royal Hippodrome |
Programme
Cannon and Ball
Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball are one of Britain’s funniest and most successful double acts. In a career spanning 40 years they
have achieved a string of honours that includes them among the all-time greats of show business.
On television they have starred in their own series practically every year since 1979. They have also ‘guested’ on all the major
shows including Wogan, Parkinson, Sunday Night at the Palladium and several Royal Variety Shows. They featured in a BBC
documentary Funny Business based on double acts, which also included footage of comedy legends Martin and Lewis,
Laurel and Hardy, and Morecambe and Wise.
To add to their pedigree, they remain the only act to have won three separate National Club Awards and be named as the
Variety Club Personalities of the Year. Their feature film The Boys In Blue, in addition to it’s cinema success, has gone on to
become a video best seller. The boys have also been subjects of This Is Your Life!
During the 1970s they built a strong reputation around the UK cabaret club circuit for being a great live act. They also toured
extensively in the hotel circuits of Australia and South Africa. Tom and Bob have broken records in theatres all over the UK,
including London. In 1981 they played a six-week season at the Dominion Theatre. Every seat was sold before the show opened
and in 1988 their pantomime Babes in the Wood broke all previous pantomime records at the world famous London Palladium,
where Cannon and Ball created the record for the largest box office amount taken in one week in British Theatre history.
Rock with Laughter 96 fulfilled Tommy and Bobby’s ambition to star in their own rock ‘n’ roll spectacular, their first summer
season for producers QDOS.
After an extensive autumn tour and a trip to Israel, the boys played The Chinese Policemen in Aladdin at the Theatre Royal,
Newcastle and again at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton.
They have appeared on many major TV shows including The Des O’Connor Show, Noel Edmonds’ House Party, Talking Telephone Numbers and The Generation Game. In the spring of 1999 they appeared at various theatres across the country starring in An Evening at the Music Hall whilst continuing their tour of An Audience With.
The boys played full houses at their summer season in 1999 at the Blackpool Grand Theatre, the season was one of the most succesful summers Blackpool has ever had!
The 1999/2000 pantomime season saw the boys play the Regent Theatre, Stoke on Trent, in a production of Cinderella, co-starring Melinda Messenger and Britt Ekland.
The early part of 2000 saw the boys starring and touring in various shows throughout the UK’s theatres. Summer Season 2000 featured successful Comedy Bonanza shows at the Blackpool Grand Theatre and The Princess Theatre, Torquay for 10 weeks and later included Sundays at the PavilionTheatre Bournemouth. Pantomime 2000/2001 saw the boys star at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford.The 2001/2002 pantomime season saw them starring in Aladdin with Tricia Penrose at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham.Tommy and Bobby appeared at the Comedy Bonanza, Blackpool Grand Theatre throughout the summer of 2002 and went on to star in Dick Whittington as Captain and Captain’s mate at the New Theatre Cardiff. The following year they starred in summer season at the Brittania Pier, Great Yarmouth and Weymouth Pavilion Theatre. They hit a new record-breaking high in 2003/2004 at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, with Peter Pan for one of the longest-running seasons in the UK. The boys played Yoo and Smee, two bumbling pirates, much to the annoyance of the evil Captain Hook!
Tommy and Bobby returned to our television screens early in 2004 with the BBC1 series Revolver, a comedy sketch show that brought together a whole host of talent that we all know and love, such as John Inman, Leslie Phillips and Honor Blackman.
This summer the boys teamed up with The Grumbleweeds as they performed at the Blackpool Grand Theatre with the hugely popular Comedy Bonanza, they also appeared at the Brittania Pier, Great Yarmouth, the Futurist Theatre, Scarborough and the Embassy Theatre, Skegness.
Even after 40 years of making people laugh, Tommy and Bobby are still enjoying every minute and are looking forward to entertaining for many years to come.
Barricade
Craig and Jonathon make up one of the most exciting vocal/comedy duos to hit the entertainment scene for a long time. Vocally they encompass all styles and era’s from ballad to pop or swing to Motown you can be assured that it will be performed in their own inimitable way!!! Comically they have been compared to some of the great comedy double acts of the last century Their appeal covers all age groups, adored by the younger audience, mothered by the more mature female, and they simply astound the male audiences by their sheer talent They are the ultimate act for all occasions and age groups.
To date. Barricade have already had some TV exposure and were the outright winners of HTV’s “Moon & Stars” Following this they have for the past four years, worked the length and breadth of the UK, appearing on the Holiday Park and Club circuits, corporate clients include: Hilton Hotels. M&S and Coca Cola/Schweppes to name but a few. They were invited to appear with the ‘Buck Ram Platters” at a Variety Club of Great Britain Dinner, this was so successful that Joe Longthorne asked them to support him on his forthcoming Theatre Tour. Very successful overseas engagements followed, and have included Jersey, Majorca and three tours of Cyprus. December 2002 they saw the New Year in performing at “The Silverton Resort”, Las Vegas, followed by a theatre tour back in the UK with ‘Johnny Casson’. Summer 2003 saw them in Spain topping the bill at the “Benidorm Palladium”. Summer 2004 has seen them cruising with P&O. Currently they are in rehearsals for ‘Funny Guys’, which is Cannon & Balls new theatre show.
“Barricade are a real golden nugget of a comedy act with a strangely endearing quality that just sticks in the mind. The two guys in the line up click instantly and when the showbiz fairy waves her wand the results are usually magical acts like this one. If only those from TV land were watching a little more closely when acts such as Barricade hit the stage ”
Harper
Rob & Darren – HARPER – are two brothers who are building a reputation in the world of show business. The lads have always been involved in entertainment. They virtually grew up in theatres and were fed comedy and music from a very tender aye (their father is Bobby Ball out of Cannon & Ball fame) so it was inevitable that the lads would soon be treading the boards.
After finishing Drama School the boys went their separate ways, never thinking of performing together. Robert soon turned his hand to becoming a comedian/singer and worked all over the UK in holiday camps and theatres. Darren fell in love with music and soon had his own band that went on tour to Israel, Germany, Los Angeles as well as the UK.
The lads joined forces for one night at a charity event at The Bistro French in Preston.UK. in 2002. Such was the response of the audience and the great time the brothers had performing with each other, they decided to get together permanently as a double act and, what better name could they have decided on but their own surname (HARPER).
Since that day HARPER have gone from strength to strength. After appearing at the Showcall Showcase, the Stage newspaper wrote the lads were “One of the highlights of the evening’ The boys were asked to perform at the legendary North Pier Theatre in Blackpool with Joe Longthorne With their reputation growing and growing they toured with Joe Longthorne and supported one of Britain’s funny men, Freddie Starr. They also appeared on tour with their friend Johnny Casson.
Being brothers. Harper show a natural bond together on stage that is irresistible. With their powerful voices and their roguish but lovable sence of humour you can’t help but be
bowled over by these two entertainers. As soon as they hit the stage you’ll be spellbound by the amount of energy they put into their show. There aren’t that many double acts around who deliver such a knock out show as these two boys.
In 2003 the boys toured all over the UK and even traveled regularly over to Spain to appear at the Benidorm Palladium. The lads ended the year on a high by appearing in the famous Alabama Showboat Christmas Show in Blackpool.
Harper are now busier than ever. In April 2004 the lads were featured on ITV’s Granada Reports and were then asked to appear at Blackpool’s Opera House in the show ‘Laughter In The Air’ featuring the one and only Peter Kay. The boys have also been working for P&O on their cruise ships – The Aurora and The Oriana. HARPER have had a very hectic summer. As well as
working for Park Resorts and Pontins, the lads have been busy filming a TV pilot called Funny Guys.
HARPER are now busier than ever and 2005 is already proving to be another successful year.
Little Albert
Lancashire lad “Little Albert” has been in show business for over 45 years and his work has taken him all over the world. He has extensive experience in films, stage and television, playing anything from comedy to horror. His film credits include:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Willow
Never Ending Story
Labyrinth (with David Bowie)
Albert has appeared in many major theatres nationwide including the London Palladium working with stars such as Nat Jackley, Jewell and Warris, Arthur Haynes, Ken Dodd, Tommy Cooper, Norman Wisdom, Cannon and Ball, Peter Kay in Pheonix Nights. Albert now lives in Blackpool with his wife Carole. They have two daughters; Julie and Donna and two granddaughters called Ellie and Megan. Albert is now looking forward to working with the Funny Guys!!
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