KEN DODD tells JENNY SCOTT about his feelings following the death of Bob Monkhouse - and looks forward to a visit to East Lancashire

IT'S a case of one comic legend saluting another.

For 76-year-old Ken Dodd is in the midst of preparing a heartfelt tribute to his friend Bob Monkhouse, who died last month.

"He was a wonderful entertainer," said Ken, who was due to deliver his eulogy to waiting TV cameras in the Liverpool Empire.

"On one hand it's very sad to be doing this, but on the other hand it's a great pleasure.

"The more you think about people like that, the more you stumble across little facts you didn't realise.

"The thing I've only just realised about Bob was that he was always Bob Monkhouse - he never hid behind a mask.

"His personality was so sparkling, that was enough."

Ken too has a personality that's hard to ignore although, unlike his friend, he is famous for delivering his jokes in a number of different guises.

This, he says, will be the style of his Blackburn show, which will be a variety act in the true sense of the word.

"It's like a kaleidoscope of different kinds of comedy. There'll be singing, lots of funny faces, ventriloquism and a troupe of Diddy men," he said.

"We'll have a live singer, a theatre band and one of the best musicians in the country, who practises all kinds of strange and wonderful tricks.

"We'll have old songs, new songs, new jokes..." he added, before pausing. "No old jokes. There's no such thing as an old joke. There are some jokes you can bring back after a decent period of rest and they're brand new again."

This kind of versatility is not unexpected from the man who has had 25 top 20 hits, including Tears which kept The Beatles off the number one spot in 1965.

"It was a gentle, sing-along sort of song," said Ken. "That's probably why it did so well - it was a bit of relief from the bang bang, boom boom era. I kept them at bay for 18 weeks."

You'd think the present-day entertainment industry would welcome a similar change of pace, but apparently not, according to Ken.

"Television has gone very downmarket," he said. "They don't have the variety shows any more. They wouldn't know how to do them.

"I ask my audience at every show what they think about television. The roar of disapproval is unbelievable."

Fortunately for Ken, he doesn't need a TV audience to confirm his popularity. This year he celebrates 50 years as a professional entertainer and, he claims, although many things have changed in that time, the public's appetite for comedy remains as strong as ever.

"Age doesn't matter, unless you're a cheese," he said. "People seem to think the people who come to my shows are all from the older generation, but in fact I get people of all ages.

Ken is at King George's Hall, Blackburn, on March 6. Tickets: (01254) 582582.