Tuesday, January 18, 2011

At Least I've Still Got The Truck...


Dressed in a teddy boy outfit with a pint of beer in hand and delivering variations on the same joke in a monotone style, usually starting with "I was walking down this road the other day", may not sound like an evening of fun...add in a few unique interpretations of some chart hits like She Loves You however and you have an evening with one of Britain's most unique talents in the person of Ted Chippington.

I first came across Ted Chippington via some tracks played by John Peel and at first thought what the hell is this...he either had audiences pained with laughter or completely bemused ...initially I fell into the latter camp but after buying his only album,Man In A Suitcase, I was firmly placed in the former....he was truly a one off neither fitting in with the alternative comedy scene or working men's club comedy...he was out on a limb and all the better for it...

Bizarrely he was championed by,of all people, Radio 1 DJ Steve Wright  who was very taken with Ted's cover of She Loves You and was largely responsible for Ted receiving some TV appearances in the mid 80's....after that he gave up on comedy to drive trucks in the U.S. of A....before returning to live performance in 2006...

He one commented that he only started doing his routine to "annoy people"..to a large extent he achieved his aim as he did face a fair amount of hostility during his shows but for the ones who got him he was an entertainer of the first degree....and a national treasure

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