The comic Duncan Norvelle, whose catchphrase “chase me” made him a staple of British Saturday evening TV within the Eighties, has died aged 66. He had suffered from a chest an infection and sepsis.
His companion Lynn Trevallion stated: “His sort of comedy doesn’t occur anymore, he’s most likely final of the legends of true selection comedy, so many have handed now.
“He was a mild comic, by no means swore on stage. Sir Ken Dodd cherished Duncan, as a result of he stated he was like him, ‘, clear act’, and he invited Duncan on his eightieth birthday to be the leisure for him.”
A clip on YouTube of Norvelle showing on the impenetrable 80s quiz present 3-2-1 provides a flavour of his act. He sidles onstage sporting a mullet and blue tuxedo jacket, then flirtatiously gives the carnation in his buttonhole to a bearded man within the entrance row of the viewers, inviting him to “chase me”.
Although his act performed on the homosexual stereotypes of the time, Norvelle was heterosexual. He was a part of a era of comics, together with Cannon and Ball and Jim Davidson, who turned TV stars after reducing their enamel in working males’s golf equipment and selection exhibits.
They have been finally changed within the mainstream by a extra left-leaning, anarchic and political conscious crop of comics initially generally known as “various comedians” together with Ben Elton and French and Saunders.
Born in Horton, in Leicestershire, Norvelle rose to standup performances in venues together with the London Palladium and appeared on exhibits TV resembling Wogan, The Bob Monkhouse Present and The Keith Harris Present.
In 1985, he hosted the pilot episode for a relationship present known as It’s a Hoot!, which later turned Blind Date offered by Cilla Black.
“Within the pilot, Duncan hadn’t been capable of get the logistics, however Cilla was nice in any respect the army-like manoeuvres – flip left right here, look into that digicam, introduce this now,” Alan Boyd, head of leisure at London Weekend Tv, instructed the Guardian.
Norvelle had suffered a stroke in 2012 which left him partially paralysed, although he continued to carry out. “He acquired again on stage after his stroke and simply proved to everybody that he may nonetheless get a standing ovation each single time he did a present,” Trevallion stated.
“And he did hundreds and a great deal of exhibits after his stroke as a result of they stated he fairly presumably would by no means stroll or speak correctly, and he may speak completely.”
Davidson despatched his “heartfelt condolences” to Norvelle’s household, including: “Relaxation in peace Duncan. You have been, and at all times shall be, a correct comic.”
Comic Jimmy Cricket, one other star of the period, stated: “Duncan was a charismatic performer who thrilled audiences up and down the nation together with his model of humour and hilarious impressions, he was additionally a person of indomitable spirit! RIP previous good friend.”
Gary Bushell, the previous TV critic of the Solar, wrote: “So sorry to listen to we’ve got misplaced loveable comedian Duncan Norvelle. Angels are chasing him now.”