"THERE'S not enough laughter these days" according to notoriously blue comic Bernard Manning.

The mouth from Manchester managed to bring the house down last Friday (Oct 19) at the Variety Club of Great Britain's tribute lunch to TV entertainment legend Johnnie Hamp at Blackpool's Winter Gardens.

"Whether it's blue, black or green it doesn't matter as long as people don't take you seriously," he added. "And I've a lot to thank Johnnie Hamp for after he started me on the road as a £10 comic. God bless you Johnnie."

And Bernard was just one in a long line of celebrities to stand up and pay tribute to the man who brought The Comedians, The Wheeltappers and Shunters Club and Criss Cross Quiz to millions of viewers as head of light entertainment at Granada TV.

Tony Jo and Graeme Grumbleweed called him "a true gentleman", Johnny Moore described him as "a nice uncle you went to and he listened" and Coronation Street's Bill Roache said: "I'm glad to say I've known him a long time."

But charity was also the name of the game on Friday and chairman of the North West Variety Club of Great Britain, Keith Train, thanked Johnnie for his "caring, honest and genuine approach and his unstinting support of the Variety Club charity over the years. He has made the lives of a lot of disadvantaged children a lot better."

During a fundraising auction, Blackpool's North Pier star Chubby Brown bagged a big cuddly lion for £100 and the Queens Hotel's Pat Mancini a signed Tina Turner T-shirt for £70 plus a prized England v Germany programme signed by Michael Owen for £130.

The auction raised an impressive £1,600 with more to come when the monies from the whole event and various pledges are totted up.

Johnnie himself thanked everyone for coming and jokingly added: "I didn't know I'd done all that!"

Event organiser and Variety club barker Marina Efstathiou said: "I am very grateful to everyone for their generosity and support, in particular the celebrities for committing their time.

"Johnnie Hamp is and continues to be one of the great entertainment innovators of our time. It is rare to find such humility and sincerity in someone who has achieved so much and as a great supporter of the Variety Club of Great Britain, it was appropriate that his contribution to the entertainment industry should be acknowledged."