Double
Whoopee Party 
 The "twinned" tents of Laughing Gravy and Saps at Sea don't need much of an excuse to party, but, in jointly celebrating ten years since the International Convention in Birmingham and the launch of the Southend tent, a good time was planned for Saturday 31st May 2008. And that is exactly what we had. The emphasis was on live entertainment. We did find time to show the talkie version of Double Whoopee, clips from Jellied Reels, the Honolulu Baby Belly Dancing at the Laughing Gravy Tent's 15th birthday and the World Premiere of a new film Twice One. This stars the Saps' very own 8-year-old Alexander Rowland in the dual role of Ollie and sister Fanny and it was both very clever and very funny. The live entertainment included the 100 Pipers dance from Bonnie Scotland with Laurie and Ben Young (who else!) as Stan and Ollie and Del Kempster as Fin. Pipe Major Trevor Sharp was masterful on the bagpipes.  We were amused and mystified by the antics of the next act, A Right Charlie. Ace Chaplin impersonator Lawrence Anthony involved both youngsters and oldsters in his seemingly chaotic but very skilful act with balloons, jugs of water, and improvisation. Loads of raffle prizes, including a 21 DVD set, and extreme generosity resulted in over £200 being raised for the Statue Fund. Appetites were well satisfied with our grand buffet before John Ullah hosted more live entertainment in The Fez Factor. An array of "talent" performed before three hard-to-please judges. There were The Three Tenors (and the Nine Bob Note), making a further appearance after their Wigan "gig". Some amazing drumming came from Kevin Pullinger, a couple of the Birmingham lads sang Don't Laugh at Me 'Cause I'm a Fool, Dave Dearle made us all cry with The Curse of an Aching Heart, and several brave karaoke performers sang their hearts out. But the deserved winner was Mandy Finney, who wooed us all as Lola with Won't You be my Lovey Dovey? To celebrate the continuing friendliness of the two tents. . . Roger gave John a pair of Oliver Hardy socks (purchased in Debenhams!). . . John gave Paul and Roger commemorative medals. . . Paul gave Roger a framed Billy Gilbert autograph. . . And, when it was all over, Roger gave Paul lots of equipment and Laurie and Ben to take home in his Sapmobile. Our evening had begun with the screening of Channel 4's short documentary Film Fever, which chronicles the visit of the Brummies tent to Souffend in 2001. In seven minutes this film sums up so wonderfully well just what it means to be the Sons of the Desert. Mandy Finney says at the very end, "Some people think that being in a Laurel and Hardy organisation is a bit odd, but I am lucky, I have friends all over the world." With tent members from The Live Ghost, Men o' War and Helpmates, Peter Küppers, Michael Schmitz, Emiliya and Stoeva from Germany, Jason Liddiard from Paris and Liam Muldowney from Dublin, all joining us for the evening, Mandy's words came into my head. It was brilliant for the Saps to celebrate together with the 28-strong Gravyites, but to have friends with us who had travelled such a distance was unbelievable. Thank you to everyone who helped make this such a great event. Roger Robinson |
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