The Greatest Gift That I Possess.


I just wanted to write a little addendum to last night’s piece on Ken Dodd's death.

This morning, I listened to the 2013 documentary celebrating Dodd's life, titled ‘How Tickled I Am’ and found it both interesting and amusing in equal parts, but there was something he said right at the end of the programme that touched me enough to note down.

It was while discussing with clear joy what he did for a living that he exclaimed, “All the rotten jobs people have to do, and here's me, I have this wonderful job where I only see people happy; I only see them smiling. How wonderful is that?"

What a lovely way to put it; I’d never thought of a comedian’s job that way. For someone like Dodd who was a notorious workaholic who’d do five-hour-long shows as a matter of course, his level of commitment suddenly makes sense when framed like that; why would you want to stop, when you’re playing to a room filled with such delight?

It reminds me of something I’d tell myself from time to time when I used to do actor / muso work. It’s easy when you’re in the midst of a long tour or run to forget that for your audience, it’s a special night out. Going to the theatre isn’t cheap and is something most people seldom do, but when you’re in the show and you’re tired, it’s so easy to just phone your performance in.

Sometimes, just remembering you’re part of what's essentially a luxury item can be enough to make sure you don’t take what you’re doing for granted; it not fair to be unenthusiastic when people are paying good money to see you; it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve retraced your steps in a show, to the audience it’s something new and therefore shouldn’t just be thrown away. And if you’re part of something as popular as what Ken Dodd did (diddy?) there’s all the more reason to give it your all. I’ll try to keep that sentiment in mind in future. 

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