Johnny Ball, 86: 'Cancel culture is FRIGHTENING - there was nothing taboo in our day!'

His versatility became evident from the get-go, swapping the booze-filled comedy clubs for a spot on BBC television as the new face of its children's programming just a few years after first stepping foot onto the stage.

But despite the juxtaposition of being kids' teatime favourite as well as an edgy, finger-on-the-pulse comedian, Ball has enjoyed a career without blurring the lines and marring one path with the other.

Sadly, the same can't be said for other comics who've taken to the stage to follow in Ball's footsteps, with barely a week going by without the newspapers being filled with reports that a comedian has come under fire for something they've said or a joke they've reeled off as part of an act.

Cancel calls are now a scourge on the world of comedy and have become an all-too familiar occurrence, in no small part exacerbated by the advent of social media.

Ball has managed to escape its clutches, but just ask many of the comedians who'd have been working the scene pre-millenium, and it'd be a safe bet to say their material wouldn't wash today.

Now in his eighties, Ball has taken a step back from the rigours of the comedy circuit, but he has returned to the spotlight with the release of the first of two autobiographies.

Speaking to GBNews.com about his memoir, Ball explained exactly what he thinks about the ever-changing attitudes of comedy audiences and why cancel culture has become a "frightening" aspect of a performer's approach.

"(Comedy) always echoes the times, and you need to meet the audience on their terms, which is their present-day thinking," Ball conceded. "You do need to do that.

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"That's the worry for me about modern comedians is how do you toe the line?

"People say so many things that are taboo, but there was nothing taboo in our day! It never occurred to us to go beyond a certain level.

"I never, ever swore, not one word, but I did find ways to be cheeky and then apologise.

"(Cancel culture) is frightening. People aren't thinking," Ball went on before delving into some profound words from his father that he feels bear relevance today.

Ball explained: "When I went into the RAF, I was 18, and I was eventually leaving home, going to the big, wide world, right?

"And my dad took my hand on the station at Bolton as I got on the train, and he thought what to say to his son, right? And he said, 'Always do what's right', and that's it. And that is the sum, top, middle, bottom of both sides, always do what's right.

"When it comes to things like religion, I say religion is here in your heart. It's not to do with any rules and regulations of a particular religion, it's in your heart.

"And if love is in your heart, then you'll be nice and decent to other people, and hopefully, they'll be decent to you.

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"That's the way to progress for young people. That's what I believe.

"I do try to be philosophical because I always have been philosophical, and I try that, and comedy is the root of it. You've got to have an angle. You've got to have something that's funny, and you've got to have a funny attitude to life."

But it's not just adapting to so-called progressive audiences that has changed since Ball was a familiar presence on stage.

In his book, Ball speaks fondly about taking part in quintessentially British customs growing up, namely heading to the pub with his father and his friends.

But Ball conceded: "(Britishness) is getting washed away! It's getting washed away. The kids don't go to pubs because they're expensive now, and so they all drink from department stores, and they drink at home, and that social mixing isn't there anymore! Not as much."

The first of Ball's autobiographies, titled My Previous Life in Comedy, chronicles the star's life up until the early 1980s. Elsewhere in his discussion with GBNews.com, he explained exactly why he wanted to put pen to paper.

"Well, about four years ago now, I was asked if I knew anybody who could do a talk on the history of Blackpool summer seasons," Ball began when asked why he felt now was the time to share his memoir.

He continued: "Blackpool in the 1950s... 40,000 people went to the theatre every night in the summer and 42,000 people went every week to the opera house alone, where usually it was George Hornby or something like that.

"I couldn't find anybody (to do the talk). All the people who talked about it had fallen off the perch. Blackpool had closed down by 2000 because people had discovered the Mediterranean and the sun, and it was no longer fashionable.

"So I did the talk myself, and it went so well that that's built to other talks and other things and other shows. And I thought, 'Why don't talk about my own career?' So I started talking about my own career."

He referenced a programme he took part in with his daughter and BBC Radio 2 star Zoe Ball, lauding it as a "tremendous" influence on his decision to start putting pen to paper.

"I did a show with Zoe that was tremendous, and so I thought, I'm going to write this down. So I wrote it down.

"The second (book) will be out in about a year's time, and that's called Stories That Must Be Told. This one ends in about 1982."

But what did writing the book teach Ball? "I discovered that I love talking comedy again, and then suddenly I'm talking about my own shows, my own act and and realising things that hadn't occurred to me," he replied.

"Like when Roy Orbison did the one club he ever did in his life in the UK, they rang me and asked if I would warm up for him. So I warmed up for him.

"And the Bee Gees only did one when they opened up the Fiesta Sheffield, which was then the biggest club in Europe... and they got me in under the Bee Gees!

"I was really well thought of in the clubs, but I didn't want to do it on television. I was not like Max Miller, but similar to Max Miller in that I would be saucy and cheeky because that's what the audience wanted. But I couldn't transfer that to television. Neither did I want to."

Johnny Ball - My Previous Life in Comedy is available to purchase from all good stockists now.