Laughs expected at comedy exhibition

Reporter

Saturday 23 February 2013

FOR once, gallery chiefs are hoping for laughter from the critics after a new exhibition of paintings, sculpture and archive material of Scottish comedians opened in Edinburgh.

LAUGHTER SPECIAL: An exhibition showcasing Scottish comedy greats of the 20th century -- with images of stars including Billy Connolly and Rikki Fulton -- has opened at the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. One of the first visitors was comedienne and actress Dorothy Paul.

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Jody Harrison

Comedienne and actress Dorothy Paul, famous for her role in The Steamie, was on hand to welcome the first visitors to the National Portrait Gallery's Tickling Jock: Comedy Greats from Sir Harry Lauder to Billy Connolly.

The exhibition showcases the key figures of 20th century Scottish comedy, with images of 50 stars including Rikki Fulton, Stanley Baxter, Una Maclean and Ronnie Corbett, in a celebration of Scotland's distinctive contribution to the world of entertainment.Opening with a recording of Lauder's 1904 song Stop Yer Tickling Jock, the exhibition will include paintings, photographs, sculpture and archive material charting the comic traditions of the period from the age of music-hall, stage and gramophone through to radio, cinema and television. Exhibition curator Imogen Gibbon said: "We started off with the idea of looking at the history of entertainment in Scotland, as we knew we had quite a lot of material in our own archives. We didn't just want to concentrate on the comedy greats, we wanted to look at some of the comedy actors and variety performers, particularly in the first half of the 20th century, when a lot of them had a number of talents."We decided to finish the exhibition in 1975 to coincide with Billy Connolly's big breakthrough exhibition on Parkinson, but I'd certainly hope we could do at least another big exhibition covering the later years."

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Laughs expected at comedy exhibition

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