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Cannon and Ball appeared on this ITV talking heads TV show, which looked at comedy in four years: 1979, 1984, 1998 and 2003.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They appeared in the first two episodes, which were first shown on 19th and 20th April 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The first episode included a segment about Cannon and Ball, with archive footage.<\/p>\n
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Tommy: You started in pubs. Then you went to a working men’s club<\/p>\n
Bobby: Well, you learned your craft<\/p>\n
Tommy: and it was a yeah, it was like an apprenticeship. In them days as well, people from TV used to come out and see what was around. They\u2019d go to a club where you might be working and wouldn’t tell you they’d been in, but they were keeping an eye on you and all that business, you know.<\/p>\n
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While Northern working men’s clubs were providing fresh new comedy talent, one more established star was having a rare dip in form.<\/p>\n
Ladies and gentlemen, Bruce Forsythe<\/p>\n
ITV had poached the BBC’s biggest star in a bid to win the Saturday night ratings war. But the much heralded Bruce’s Big Night was Bruce’s one big flop and was axed after just a series.<\/p>\n
Desperate for a replacement, ITV offered the opportunity of a lifetime to a double act who’d been making a name for themselves on the club circuit, but were still waiting for their first big TV break.<\/p>\n
Robert Harper and Thomas Derbyshire first met in the early 70s whilst working as welders in Oldham.<\/p>\n
Tommy: He came up to me in the welding shop and he said, do you fancy making a double act? Now you gotta remember show business was the farthest thing from my mind. I wanted to be a footballer or a cricket player or anything to do with sport.<\/p>\n
Bobby: It still is the furthest thing from his mind. You watch him perform.<\/p>\n
Tommy: When we first started doing the comedy, nobody knew us, so he would join the queue outside. And then I would go on stage and start to sing a song and he\u2019d say \u201cHey, Tommy, it’s me, Bobby\u201d, like he was a big fan of mine.<\/p>\n
Bobby: That’s right. I think Tommy was the straight man because he was the tallest.<\/p>\n
Tommy: Well, I was the good looking one as well, you know.<\/p>\n
The step up from the club circuit to shiny floor Saturday night TV isn’t always an easy one, but Cannon and Ball proved an instant hit.<\/p>\n
Bobby: Amazing. We\u2019ve gone on television. Then I used to have buses stopping outside my house, it got crazy didn\u2019t it Tom?<\/p>\n
Tommy: Stop lying, Bobby. You went outside and stopped the bus. You were waving at the driver.<\/p>\n
Bobby: No, listen, no<\/p>\n
Tommy: You did. Tell the truth. Come on. This is your time to do it.<\/p>\n
Bobby: Alright, I did.<\/p>\n
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Bernie Clifton: You realise when you see Bobby, that charisma he had got that it just could relate to audiences, couldn’t he, got that cheeky grin.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t long before their one liners and mannerisms were entering the national consciousness.<\/p>\n
Bobby: We noticed everybody went on in mohair suits. Do you remember? So we said we’ll be different. And I went to an Oxfam shop and bought a baggy suit. But the pants kept falling down, so I\u2019d wear braces. Braces are like a bra strap, and if you’re moving, they come off your shoulders. So that came about like that.<\/p>\n
But they had a 70s pop star to thank for their most famous catch phrase.<\/p>\n
Bobby: Yeah, David Essex singing Rock On. Rock on. And one night I went to him Rock on Tommy. That’s how it took off.<\/p>\n
Tommy: Boom, every taxi driver and you name it, the world started saying Rock on Tommy.<\/p>\n
Sherrie Hewson: Their story is fantastic, to go from welders on the shop floor to the biggest show on television with the highest ratings as well. And they’re still doing it.<\/p>\n
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The second episode included two short segments where they spoke; one about Eric Morecambe and the other about Tommy Cooper’s death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Cannon and Ball appeared on this ITV talking heads TV show, which looked at comedy in four years: 1979, 1984,[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6545","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n