Long unseen Ken Campbell video

Ken Campbell, who died on Sunday, August 31st 2008, was a great man and a real friend to The Fame Formula. Not only did he help me launch the book at the beginning of August, but much of his inspired work echoed the work of some of the great publicists detailed in the book; most notably Jim Moran, whose mission to turn cliched phrases (such as needle in a haystack and bull in a china shop) on their head was an inspiration to Ken. Like Moran, Ken often did things more for the thrill of doing them than the publicity they generated; for example, after Trevor Nunn’s production of Nicholas Nickleby for the RSC, Ken sent out a host of letters to actors and directors, with Nunn’s name faked at the bottom, inviting them to join him in the newly formed Royal Dickens Society. Some refused, some graciously accepted. All of them wrote to Trevor Nunn to say their piece. Trevor Nunn grew apopleptic and called the police and Ken, finally, came out from the shadows and admitted that it had been him.

The exclusive video below, which was only seen once before I uploaded it to the net, is a guided tour, conducted by Ken, of the art and artistic processes of Doris, his parrot.

To read obituaries of Ken Campbell from The Telegraph, The Stage, Michael Billington and The Guardian click on the links.