Ken Dodd exhibition opens at museum he inspired

The museum whose name was inspired by legendary Liverpudlian comic Sir Ken Dodd is hosting an exhibition celebrating the life of the funnyman who died eight years ago.

Happiness! The Ken Dodd Exhibition opens on Wednesday at Showtown, Blackpool's museum of entertainment.

The star's widow Lady Anne Dodd said: "He called Blackpool 'Showtown' and I'm thrilled that the fact they've called this Showtown, they say it was inspired, the name for it, because Ken always used to say Blackpool, that's the show town of Britain.

"So it's nice to think that his connection is there."

The exhibition, which was first displayed at the Museum of Liverpool, features his flamboyant costumes, tickling sticks, rare memorabilia, original notebooks, props and interactive experiences.

It runs until 2 January.

Dodd said a lot of the items on display are from her personal collection but were collected after the Liverpool exhibition had come to an end.

"People have left items, some people we know actually, who left lovely items," said his partner of 40 years. The couple were married 9 March 2018 two days before the comedian died.

He was known for his comic creation the Diddymen who allegedly came from the Liverpool suburb of Knotty Ash.

One of the original Diddymen puppets, Dicky Mint, is feature in the exhibition.

He is also a favourite of Dodd's widow who brought the puppet personally to Blackpool.

"I said I'd rather bring him up personally myself. So Dicky Mint is the most important part.

"I mean whenever we travel anywhere, he was on every show. Dicky Mint is the puppet he used to talk to, talk to himself as he said."

In the seaside town's 60s and 70s heyday, Blackpool was the comic's spiritual home.

He would play a gruelling summer season to packed houses of 3,000 twice nightly from April to November.

Dodd used to be in the wings noting her partner's jokes and the way they were received by audiences.

She recalled: "Ken used to say 'they rock with laughter, they're sitting there and you build your jokes up'.

"I heard him describe to a radio chat interview 'they lean back and and they laugh and then you get to the end of the tag of a few gags that are running together and they sort of rock backwards and forwards' and he could feel this movement."

She added: "That's how Blackpool was to him."

The comedian was instrumental in the 1970s in the campaign to save The Grand Theatre - a smaller venue in the seaside town that Dodd played one night stands at later in his career.

Dodd said: "Even if it was just a visit to just a one-nighter, Blackpool was Ken's real love for performing."

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