Denis Norden - Bournemouth Daily Echo

WITH HIS huge
horn-rimmed
spectacles and
tongue-in-cheek
delivery, Denis Norden is the
master archivist of showbiz
blunders and cock-ups.
The clipboard-clutching
presenter of TV’s It’ll Be
Alright On The Night will be
making a rare appearance at
the Regent in Christchurch
on June 18.
I caught up with Norden,
87, for a chat about his
upcoming show and his pioneering
days of TV and radio
comedy.
“For half of the show I’m
being interviewed by
Samantha Norman who is
Barry Norman’s daughter.
The other half is questions
from the audience and it’s all
based on my six decades of
working in the salt mines of
comedy,” says Denis Norden.
I ask him if he’s prepared
for any difficult questions
that might come his way
on the evening.
“I don’t know what
people will ask, but I’ll
cope. From previous
experience, people are
fairly kind in their
questioning and I’ve
not been asked to
reveal any dark
secrets about my sex
life.”
Denis’ impressive
career stretches
back to the theatre,
the golden age of radio
and the early days of TV.
Along with his partner in
comedy, the late Frank Muir,
they created Take It From
Here for the “wireless” and
Whack-O! for TV, both starring
Jimmy Edwards.
And why the clipboard?
“I’m basically a writer and
I carry a clipboard because I
don’t know what to do with
my hands.”
● An Audience with Denis
Norden takes
place at the
Regent Centre,
Christchurch, on
Thursday, June
18.