cOMEDY cARPET
At the centre are five strips of material belonging to morecambe and Wise, Ken Dodd, Les Dawson, Frankie howerd and Tommy Cooper. Other people get quite large areas, but we used drawings, maps I guess, which gave us areas to incorporate material and contributions from diverse talents.
At first sight, people may think the Comedy Carpet has been printed but in fact it has been an incredibly intensive and skilful process to create all the letters. Tell us about how it was made?
The Comedy Carpet is made from granite and concrete, we spent many months researching and testing the concrete to get it right. It cannot be vibrated - the usual way to get rid of air bubbles - and on top of that we wanted it nearly as hard as the granite, not asking a lot!
There are over 150,000 letters of all shapes and sizes and each is 30mm thick though you only see the top surface of each one.
What has been the reaction of the comedians to the Carpet so far?
We have tried to take comedians along with us and only a tiny handful haven't been forthcoming. very diverse entertainers have been really enthusiastic - from michael Crawford and the Krankies, through to the Fast Show comedians - too many to list.
Ken Dodd has been on the carpet to read his own strip and, whilst he thought it was a little bit saucy, gave it the thumbs up.
What are your hopes for the Comedy Carpet?
That people feel it belongs in its spot at the front of The Blackpool Tower and that it can reoccuringly raise a laugh or smile. Comedy in all its guises is a big part of who we are; it has its own history and a very important place in that history is Blackpool. We have over a thousand comedians listed around the edge of the Carpet - I hope it does them and those following them justice.
The Carpet is part of Tower Festival headland – a brand new events space in the resort, which will host huge events with a capacity of 20,000 as well as a brand new low-carbon-emission wedding venue with breathtaking views across the beach and sea.
DON’T FORgET, YOU cAN ORDER YOUR OWN cOMEDY cARPET gUIDE FOR £2.99 AT
WWW.vISITBLAcKPOOL.cOM/SHOP
LOcAL KNOWLEDgE
The best place to catch a comedian in Blackpool is at the Winter Gardens and the beautiful Grand Theatre for some fantastic one-nighters – from old favourites to new blood, there’s a whole host of laughs to be had.
H
www.visitblackpool.com H 13
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