Legendary cricket commentator and broadcaster, Henry Blofeld OBE, known amongst his many fans as Blowers and famed for his plummy tones and all-round good humour, invites you to join him in a brand new show, My Dear Old Things – coming to the Exchange in Sturminster Newton next month.
I asked him what made him head out on tour again – did he not think, at 83, he might be ready to retire from the rigours of touring?
‘I don’t know what you mean? I don’t recognise this word ‘retirement’. No, I shall never retire. I have a number of friends who retired at 60, and they were either dead at 65 or spend their days drunk and playing bad bridge. Not me. You can cut that one out, pretty quick. You’ve GOT to keep your little grey cells going. You can’t give up. If you retire, what do you do? Drink?
‘Doing nothing bores me to death. I enjoy what I do hugely.
I wondered if the audience need to be cricket fans to enjo… I didn’t even get the rest of the question out before Henry chips in: ‘NO! I hate the phrase “cricket fan”, actually. People will know me because of cricket, of course, but it’s not a cricket evening at all. It’s humour and anecdotes. The same way an awful lot of avid listeners to Test Match Special didn’t particularly like cricket.
Four years ago I did the Marigold Hotel programme in India. There were some splendid behind-the-scenes stories, but COVID came around and I couldn’t share them with anyone. So for the first hour I’m talking – I hope quite amusingly … I think quite amusingly, anyway – about the stories from India that couldn’t be seen on camera. And the second act is Test Match Special stories – there are some really funny ones to share. Hopefully everyone leaves just having had an excellent time!’
Henry will be appearing at the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne on 8th March, at The Exchange in Sturminster Newton on 16th March and the Memorial Theatre in Frome on 17th March.
