Ask: The Chuckle Brothers

Mar 16 2008 by Robert Weatherall, Sunday Sun

THE Chuckle Brothers are known to generations of children and parents for their wacky slapstick on television.

The double act is performed by real-life brothers Barry and Paul Elliot. They were born in Rotherham in the 1940s and are the youngest in a showbiz family of eight.

They have worked in pantos, clubs, cabaret, television, touring revues, circus and even an ice-show.

They won the first series of New Faces in 1974 and made several other TV appearances, but didn’t get a really big break until 1985, when they made 13 episodes of The Chucklehounds for the BBC.

Chucklevision followed in 1987. They have also hosted a gameshow called To Me To You, based on their famous catchphrase.

They are currently touring their production Indiana Chuckles and the Kingdom of the Mythical Sulk. They will be appearing at: Sunderland Empire, March 22, Grand Opera House, York, April 27, Civic Theatre, Darlington, May 28 and 29 and The Journal Tyne Theatre, Newcastle, May 30. For details on how to book tickets visit: www.thechucklebrothersontour.co.uk

HOW did you get into showbusiness?

Paul: We were born into the business. Mum and dad were in the business and our elder brothers were in the business. We put shows on in the back yard when we were kids. Barry left school when he was 15 and went off with a singing group for a year.

I was always playing football. I swore I would never go into the business but I got a bad injury when I was 14 and I couldn’t play any more. So when I left school we joined up as a double act.

WHAT is the secret to staying on TV for so long?

Barry: I don’t know. We started Chucklevision in 1987 and now it’s 2008, it has just gone on and on and on. We just keep going. For anyone 20 years old or less we have always been on television. We get a few generations coming to see the live shows now. We get grandmother, daughter and granddaughter.

DO you prefer working in TV or doing the live shows?

Barry: I think live shows are good now because you get the interaction with the audience which is great. Working between TV and the stage is so different so you don’t get a chance to get bored.

Because they are all different they all change and they are in different parts of the year so one project moves onto the next.

DO you find that people just don’t take you seriously?

Paul: It gets a bit annoying when the wife laughs at you when you are trying to say something serious. When the kids were younger and you tried to tell them off they sometimes just laughed. Professionally when we do our big famous Shakespearean roles such as Midsummer Nights Dream it can cause a problem if the audience start shouting To Me To You.

PAUL, you had a motorbike accident recently. What happened?

Paul: It was my own fault really. I should have had a helmet on. I was on holiday in my villa. The wife was taking the car in one direction and I had to go to in the other direction to pay a bill and I said I would take the moped. She set off and I went to get a helmet from the basement.

There was a power cut and I thought “I’ll never find it. I have never ever fallen off a motorbike in my life so I won’t fall off now” so I set off without a helmet. I was wearing a T-shirt and jeans.

I leaned a little bit too much around a bend and the bike went out from under me and I head-butted the tarmac. I had a few scrapes and I was soon back at work.

WHAT is your favourite sketch?

Paul: One of my favourites was Raiders of the Lost Bark. I also liked Barry Potty and his smarter brother Paul.

WHAT do you do in your free time?

Barry: We both go abroad we have places abroad. I used to play a lot of golf and we both follow Rotherham United.

Coming soon on ASK will be County Durham-born TV star MATT BAKER, so send your questions to us and we will pass them on. TEXT: Simply text ASK followed by a space, then your name, town and question to 84080. Messages can be up to 160 characters and cost 25p plus your standard network charge. WRITE: To Sunday Sun, ASK, Groat Market, Newcastle, NE1 1ED. Or email: ask.sundaysun@ncjmedia.co.uk