Was saddened to learn that Ray Alan had passed on. As a child I'd always be delighted to see him and Lord Charles on TV.
I doubt today's kids care much for vent acts, save for the tedious Achmed the Dead Terrorist on YouTube, I remember when it were all fields round here etc etc </rosetintedspectacles>
I thought Lord Charles voice and laugh is what made it special..he didn't come over as a scary puppet..as those puppets do give me the creeps..a good fun character
I rememeber him doing the channel 4 A to Z of cartoons.loved seeing that..
Ray Alan also had his kids' TV pairing 'Tich and Quackers' who starred in, if memory serves, TV Comic for a time.
He seemed a nice bloke, a sort of blond haired cousin of Leslie Crowther.
Sadly, now that his sunny persona has gone, I fear that my abiding memory of vent acts will tend solely to the 'dark side' and unnerving thoughts of Maxwell and Sylvester.
The aforementioned Maxwell and his puppet Hugo. Sylvester being the other vent act that Hugo taunted Maxwell with plans of abandoning him for, with tragic results all round.
I saw Ray Alan live, years ago. He was brilliant and very, very funny. The stand out moment was Ray donning a white glove, wiping lipstick around the thumb and finger and sticking two beadss on his knuckle - and made a brand new character come to life. he was a genius. I got his autograph too.
