... No gag wasted with Connolly Blackpool Billy Connolly Things have certainly changed since Connolly's first Blackpool visits, when he arrived by motorbike, and camped and drank in Marton. These days, home is Los Angeles, the world is his oyster and stand-up comedy tours are presumably his pocket money. Not that Connolly has entirely kissed his roots goodbye. Lord knows, if he tells us once I'm ...

... BMHS Central Conference Centre When you consider the word 'amateur' or 'semi-pro', most the atricals for some reasons turn up their noses. This line of thinking is a complete mistake. Amateurs are amateurs and many of their performances are better than pro fessionals. They work harder for a start and have more enthusiasm which is more than you can say for the average pro. And they usu ally ...

... The Doc and Big Mal Croydon For the young and unsporting, The Doc is Tommy Docherty and Big Mal is Malcolm Allison, both soccer players of past repute and subsequently even better known as managers of many top clubs in the sixties and seventies. They had a reputation for being flamboyant, outspoken, and opinionated, so it is appropriate that they should wind up on stage as an entertaining ...

... Beef and Lamb in a Stew Preston If it is true that the new wave of comedians are the rock stars of their day, then perhaps it is only fair that sporting figures are encouraged to step into the vacuum and become comedians. Heaven knows, some of them have attempted to become pantomime stars, so why not go the whole hog. hire a string of theatres and extend the long lucrative after dinner speech ...

... Leah Bells' Fabulous Fifties and Swinging Sixties Torquay Leah Bell may be only four foot ten inches but she explodes on stage and into the hearts of the audience with her dynamic personality. This lady sings, dances, chatters and creates, within moments, a rapport with her audience. By the second number the clapping and arm waving of the audience confirmed that this show was going to be a ...

... Fats Waller Tribute Purcell Room This is an annual event, conceived as a tribute to Waller's melodic longevity and as an opportunity to celebrate St Valentine's Day. Quite why romance and tuneful bonhomie should be aligned is obscure, suffice it to say that it does make for a pleasurable concert format. Instrumentation replicated the Waller rhythm line-up of trum pet plus tenor sax/clarinet ...

... Driving ambition LOOK WHO'S TALKING BY LISA VANOLI At the moment, Julie Graham is probably best known as the bubbly brunette in the Peugeot car adverts a la Thelma and Louise. Although these ads have made her a household face Graham, 28, has been in the business for ten years splitting her time between TV and stage work. Last year she spent six months on location in the north east filming the ...

... Rhythm Town Bournemouth After ten months of preparation, musical director Neill Crawford finally unveiled his concept Rhythm Town at L'Odeon--a smart 150 seat jazz nightclub. Crawford has assembled an impressive eight piece band that swings with cohesive panache, fronted by a two girl/two boy vocal group. Right from their How High the Moon opener, it was obvious that Rhythm Town has acquired ...

... The Good Old Days Lewisham This proved to be a competent though unexciting production which seemed as dated as the time it set out to celebrate. Brian Eames, with the oft- repeated at enormous expense line, held the acts together and also tried some comedy magic, but without the natural gavel thumping gusto of a Palace Theatre chairman. Whimsical waggery came from John Inman, looking plumper ...

... Tenor Madness Hampstead The basic idea behind this new band is simple enough. You take three jazz tenor saxophonists, team them with a first rate rhythm section, compile a book of swingy arrangements, light the blue touch paper, and sit back expectantly. Each of the saxophonists, Spike Robinson, Bobby Wellins and John Barnes, has a distinc tive voice. Each knows the ins and outs of their ...

... The Glitter Band Harlow This was an evening of pure nostalgia for those days in the early seventies when Gary Glitter was leader of the gang and making regular appearances on Top of the Pops. Then the Glitter Band was his backing band, later going on to work on their own and having chart successes with such numbers as Angel Face, Just For You, Let's Get Together Again and Goodbye My Love. A ...

... Old friends say a fond farewell to the Paris By LISA MARTLAND The air was heavy with nostalgia as Radio 2 finally bid Farewell to the Paris (R2, Saturday March 11), the BBC theatre where such memorable programmes have been recorded over the last 55 years. Host Bob Holness, who many of the celebrity guests had great fun sending up, introduced the two hours as a celebration of six decades of ...