Known as ‘the squire of Knotty Ash’, he was influenced by fellow Liverpool comedians Arthur Askey, Robb Wilton and Tommy Handley and his act relies on the rapid delivery of a huge number of one-liner jokes.

In a long career, Ken Dodd has had many recording hits, charting on 19 occasions in the Top 40, and his song ‘Tears’ topped the UK charts for five weeks in 1965, selling more than one million copies and becoming one of the UK’s biggest-selling singles.

He is known for the length of his shows, and during the 1960s he earned a place in the ‘Guinness Book of Records’ for the world’s longest ever joke-telling session: 1,500 jokes in three and a half hours (7.14 jokes per minute). More recently, he appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in 2006 in front of Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Corn-wall. He was honoured by the British Comedy Awards with their highest accolade, the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contribution. The show starts at 7pm and tickets are available from the box office on 01422 351158.