I see so much of human activity as an attempt to fill up the hours, days and weeks with anything that stops us thinking about how short life is, that sometimes I forget the simple joy of shared being. I heard a story on BBC Radio 4 which made me smile and I thought I would share it with you.
The London Palladium is an international known and respected variety theatre in the heart of London to which, from the fifties, many major American stars were invited, sometimes with surprising results as Mickey Rooney left early he was so badly received and Danny Kaye stopped the traffic. To this stage in front of some two thousands or more people and the royal family Bob Hope was invited, already a great star he had taken to using cue cards which were written in large type and placed along the entire front row.
British comedy stars have never had much respect if it is the difference between getting a laugh at someone’s expense or not and Tommy Trinder, a well known British star had to introduce the acts. He came on in rehearsal and announced Bob Hope saying, “A great star who does things like this’. He then read the entire set of cue cards.
Those backstage well remember Bob Hope begging Tommy Trinder not to do that as, ‘that is all I’ve got’. I find Bob Hope far more funny than the mean minded Tommy Trinder but this once,I thought that a brilliant piece of comedy