“I’ve been lucky, but I’ve worked hard,” is how Ian Richards sums up his showbusiness career so far.
You could be excused for not having heard of him. As he admits, “I’ve not got a huge media profile.” But Ian is in demand as one of the country’s top after-dinner speakers and unless you’ve been to one of the corporate events where his funny stories and big, booming voice command the liveliest of audiences, you might not know much about him. Yet Ian is at the top of his profession.
He was born in Diss and grew up in Norwich. His father hoped he’d be a solicitor, but at 15 Ian began helping a local mobile disco. This quickly moved on to him DJ-ing a few bookings himself and he realized the money was good. More importantly he had the skills to do it and do it well.
“I had two racing bikes but sold them and bought my own disco gear,” he remembers.
He got some bookings at the World’s End pub in Mulbarton, south Norfolk and – here comes the lucky bit – the manager of the Samson and Hercules nightclub in Norwich happened to be there and offered him a job straight away. There, he made a name for himself in the venue’s Flixton Rooms, where he packed them in with his Motown and Northern Soul.
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Denne historien er fra June 2020-utgaven av Let's Talk.
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STOP ME AND BUY ONE: Nigel's on the way with his 1981 Bedford
It’s something we all recall with delight. “Mum, it’s the ice cream man!” Let’s Talk’s motoring man David Clayton meets someone happy to be the owner of a Bedford ice cream van. Bring on the Strawberry Mivvis, choc ices and 99s ...
Beautiful Hill: Normandy Origin For A Name Meaning
Let’s Talk’s surnames expert Derek Palgrave, from Suffolk, researches three more of our readers’ names, the first of which probably stems from the geographical presence of a beautiful hill.
Words of wisdom about a hobby so many of us love
Let’s Talk’s gardening expert Charlotte Philcox has been trawling through some books to find words of wisdom from so many people about gardening and farming. Here she shares just a few.
Vicki remains so positive despite missing her panto
For actress Vicki Michelle, Christmas usually means performing in panto. But, due the coronavirus pandemic, this year will be different. Vicki speaks to Rachel Banham about her plans for the festive season, her outlook on life and her fond memories of filming in East Anglia.
Two centuries on Thomas would be DELIGHTED WITH HIS SUCCESS
He was a man without sight but with such vision. Derek James remembers Thomas Tawell who died 200 years ago.
TURNING 50
Here at Let’s Talk we recognise that our magazine is targeted at those aged 50 and older. So we hope we are always fair to our readers and to the older generation in general. But it seems many believe other media and businesses do not treat older people in the best way.
THE CHASE COULD BE ON FOR a Norfolk home for Bradley Walsh
He is one of the most popular celebrities on television at the moment. He’s a comedian, singer, actor, personality and probably the best quiz show host doing the rounds. David Clayton looks back to when Bradley Walsh came to Cromer.
The calendar is rolling around to the WINTER SOLSTICE
Claire Manion, of Norfolk-based Broadsky Astrology, looks at how we have always honoured the winter solstice, our shortest day.
PEACE, GOODWILL AND PROSPERITY must surely follow
In view of such uncertainty hanging over the rest of this year – and possibly well beyond – it was hard to come up with a suitable offering for December in his usual style, says Keith Skipper. So, he has decided to settle for a festive story set in 1951, that he wrote some time ago.
Friends
Readers of our short stories don’t have to have long memories to recall work by Anne Maxwell, who had a previous short story entry published in the summer.
