Cannon and Ball
Cannon and Ball are an English comedy double act consisting of Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball. The duo met in the early 1960s while working as welders in Oldham, Lancashire. They started out as singers working the pubs and clubs of Lancashire and switched to comedy after being told comics earned an extra £3 a night.
TV and film
Their first TV appearance was in 1972 in the variety show The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club before landing a performance on Bruce Forsyth's Big Night, although their segment didn't make it to broadcast. In 1979, LWT offered them their own series, The Cannon and Ball Show [1] which premiered in ITV on 28 July 1979. Further series followed each year through to 1988, along with Christmas and Easter specials.
In 1982, they appeared in a feature film, The Boys in Blue,[2] based loosely on the classic Will Hay film, Ask a Policeman.[3] The Boys in Blue was regarded critically as weak in comparison and was their only cinema outing. It surfaced on DVD in 2004.
They also featured in a comic strip Rock On Tommy, which was published in the magazine Look-in.
Their popularity coincided with the rise of so-called "alternative comedy", with its emphasis on more socially relevant and political concerns. As time passed, Cannon and Ball's popularity began to decline, though they were not the only comedy act to suffer as comic tastes shifted. During the 1980s, Greg Dyke, the then Head of Programming at ITV station TVS and later to hold a similar position at LWT expressed a concern that northern comedy shows may not suit southern tastes.
By the 1990s, the duo were seeking a change in direction and appeared in their own sitcom Cannon and Balls Playhouse, the spin-off series Plaza Patrol [4] and their game show Cannon and Ball's Casino. Plaza Patrol saw them play security guards in a shopping mall. Despite relatively high viewing figures for a midweek sitcom no further series were produced.
In more recent times, they have continued to find success as a comic duo in theatre and pantomime, along with numerous cameo appearances on TV. In late 2005, they appeared in the British reality TV series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and Coach Trip in January 2012.
In recent years, they have admitted that, during their hey-day of huge popularity in the 1980s, they were barely on speaking terms and would avoid each other completely when not on stage or rehearsing.[citation needed] These tensions - which lasted for years - were later resolved and the two are now extremely close once again.[citation needed]
The pair revived a touring version of the theatrical farce Big Bad Mouse, originally a highly successful vehicle for Jimmy Edwards and Eric Sykes in the 1960s and 1970s. The latest incarnation of the show featured Cannon and Ball in the starring roles, supported by Allo Allo’s Sue Hodge as Lady Chesapeake and newcomer Emily Trebicki as secretary Miss Spencer. The show opened in Hull during May 2008 and toured six other cities, before ending in August at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, to mixed reviews.
Also in 2008, the pair's career continued as they appeared again on TV as the faces of Safestyle UK, a Bradford based double glazing firm.
The pair are devout Christians and published a book called Christianity for Beginners.[5] Ball became a born-again Christian in 1986 and Cannon in 1992, their conversion having a lot to do with the re-kindling of their broken friendship. They now regularly feature in their own gospel and "an audience with..." show in churches around the country.
In 2010, they were panelists on BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show Act Your Age radio series.
Catchphrases:- "Rock on Tommy", "You little liar", "I piggin' hate you, Tommy", "Aww, look at it", "I'm all excited".[citation needed]