From Blackpool to Play School: Johnny Ball on his days as a 'bag of nerves' comic
An emergency at Butlin's gave the children's TV presenter an early break. He recalls his shaky start as a standup and what he learned from Bob Monkhouse and Les Dawson After spending the summer as a Redcoat, I arrived at Butlin's Metropole hotel in Blackpool. As I walked in, the entertainments manager asked, without hesitation, "Can you do an act?" "No," I said. "Shit," he said, and the tale unravelled. The summer Re…