Comedy legends Tommy Cannon & Syd Little reunited ahead of Tommy’s solo tour at the age of 86

Tommy Cannon and Syd Little were the much-loved straight men to the late Bobby Ball and Eddie Large in the comedy duos Cannon and Ball and Little and Large who, at the height of their popularity, attracted over 40 million television viewers between them.

Syd Little met up with Tommy to wish him the best on his new tour ‘Rock On Tommy’ which tours the UK in October and November 2024 - and comes to the Adam Smith Theatre on Saturday, November 2. Ticket details at onfife.com. Tommy, now aged 86, is set to recall his legendary partnership on his solo tour where he will be joined by a number of special guests as well as screening classic clips from their TV shows.

The duo last met at Bobby Ball’s funeral in 2020 - he passed away aged 76 after contracting covid, as did Eddie Large who died in the same year aged 78.

He said: “It was hugely emotional to meet up as we have both had such very similar lives – both starting out in the social clubs across the country as unknowns working in comedy duos, myself with Bobby and Syd with Eddie.

“People tagged us as rivals through all those years, but we were all really great friends, and we fully understood the parallel life journeys we had all travelled. Working class lads packing theatres, cabaret venues, seaside venues and pulling in 20 million TV viewers each week.”

Syd, how aged 81, added: “Tommy going out on his very first solo theatre tour at the age of 86 is truly remarkable and I know that Bobby would be urging him to keep their fantastic legacy alive across the country – I so wish him well.”

The duo shared their experiences of losing their comedy partners, and Tommy said: “We both felt the hours spent together was special – talking and listening really does help. I really would encourage others that are finding loss a struggle to chat it through. It will be the fourth anniversary in October of Bobby’s passing and it’s still to this day really painful.

“It will be great to finally now move forward and relive so much of it on the tour and I have also included a selection of my favourite acts to be with me on stage through the tour – I can’t wait to get started,” said Tommy.