From the Diddymen to the Broken Biscuit Repair Works, Ken Dodd's imagination was both endless and infectious. Now an exhibition dedicated to the late comedian, is hoping to raise a smile for visitors. Many of the objects featured in 'Happiness!' have been loaned to the Museum of Liverpool by Ken's wife, Lady Anne Dodd.
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00:00 A laughter filled exhibition celebrating one of the UK's best loved and most
00:05 influential comedians Sir Ken Dodd is on display at the Museum of Liverpool.
00:11 How could we not put on an exhibition about the man who was voted greatest
00:14 Merseysider and everybody he's a bit like the Beatles everyone in
00:19 Liverpool has got a Ken Dodd story. From the Diddy men to the broken biscuit
00:22 repair works Ken's imagination was both endless and infectious and many of the
00:28 objects featured in happiness have been loaned to the museum by Ken's wife and
00:33 Lady Dodd. I am absolutely blown out of my mind it is quite incredible I came to
00:40 look at it yesterday but there are lots of final touches that have just gone in
00:45 and I thought it was wonderful yesterday but this just just so amazing. It is the
00:49 first major exhibition on a comedian in a national museum and is steeped in
00:54 Doddy's unique blend of whimsical physical surreal and theatrical humor
00:59 which transforms the UK comedy scene. He started writing in his notebooks at the
01:05 very beginning Lady Dodd has she suspects around a little over a thousand
01:09 she's still counting she's had a difficult relationship with displaying
01:13 them because Ken made her promise to burn them and she hasn't done that
01:19 because she understands the cultural importance of them but it's still very
01:22 difficult for her to share those with the public when that wasn't what Ken ever
01:26 really intended but they're not but you can see that in the notebooks he's not
01:30 writing stuff to share with the public he's writing stuff for himself so he's
01:34 writing comedy formulas that he thinks will work for him he's critiquing his
01:39 act and the really lovely thing yesterday was Lady Anne was looking through the
01:43 notebooks and she was reading stuff out and laughing to herself and and the
01:49 person who was interviewing her yesterday said he still makes you laugh
01:52 and she was like yeah every day so that was really lovely. Through never-before-
01:56 seen personal objects, film photography and of course many many jokes this Tati
02:02 Valeria's exhibition aims to raise a smile on the faces of visitors. He used
02:07 to say when you come into the show you're going to feel better when you go
02:10 out than when you come in I hope and I think that what I'm hoping is people who
02:16 don't know him at all but are being brought along dragged along maybe by
02:19 somebody who says oh I love Ken Dodger you'll have to see this one I don't know
02:22 it is whatever I hope that new people will come here and be infused with all
02:28 his comedy happiness and communication because he he loved we had a lot of
02:33 children would come to shows because their parents brought them and then they
02:36 grow up and and so I hope it I hope it perpetuates his memory not just as a
02:42 distant memory obviously a lot of it is our stuff and quite a bit is stuff that
02:46 fans have given to them and to see it all together it's absolutely incredible
02:52 it's wonderful it's like it is the story of his life really that's what's so
02:57 wonderful. Happiness is on display until the 3rd of March 2024