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Ken Campbell

On 8 Apr 2011 at 10:18am Madame Bovary wrote:

BBC Radio 4 has just finished a serial reading of a book about Ken Campbell, who died in 1908.
Way back in the 1970s I have happy memories of his Roadshow - a real trailblazer of black and anarchic humour, and of his cameo appearance in Fawlty Towers, in the episode where he suspects something is fishy about Sybil's non-appearance, and keeps digging. Later, I saw him at All Saints in Lewes, and did not think he was at his best.
Did anyone else see that performance, or has anyone any memories of other Ken Campbell shows?

On 8 Apr 2011 at 10:19am Madame Bovary wrote:

Whoops. Of course I meant he died in 2008!

On 10 Apr 2011 at 12:24am Miscell Any wrote:

I saw Ken Campbell at the All Saints! I had never herd of him and simply went on recommendation from a friend. I thought he was a tour de force! Incredible energy. I must say I was most impressed and greatly amused. But I cannot compare this performance to other performances, since this is the only time I saw him life.

On 10 Apr 2011 at 1:12pm Madame Bovary wrote:

Miscell Any: Thanks for your comment. To my mind, Ken Campbell put life into the theatre at a time when it really needed it. It must have been gruelling to work for him, but an excellent training nonetheless. The performance we both saw was not him at his best. I thought him lacking in focus and, surprisingly, the jokes weren't up to his usual standard. Perhaps he was feeling ill. All the same, a great gift to the theatre who must have been an inspiration to many.