Well way back at the end of the 1950s I had Cyril Fletcher eyes or to be precise I felt Cyril Fletcher eyes on me.
I say it's the end of the 1950s as I must have been very young. The venue was Norwich Hippodrome. I remember nothing about the show although I assume I was with my mother and grandmother. Why they would take me to see Cyril Fletcher I have no idea. Perhaps they wanted to see him and there was nobody to look after me. Then again perhaps this never happened but I'm pretty sure it did.
For those not in the know, Fletcher was a strange looking man with piercing eyes. He was a kind of comedian who specialised in what he termed odd odes. He became popular on television through the consumer affairs programme That's life. That was the programme fronted by Esther Rantzen who must now be very old indeed. So I looked it up and she turns 83 this year. I thought she was older than that.
That day at the Hippodrome Mr Fletcher had his eyes firmly on me and it spooked me and I remember being taken out screaming. I don't remember any similar incidents with my own children but a few years ago we did have one with granddaughter Poppy. That's well before she became the diva and clever little poppit that we have today.
The venue was Great Yarmouth Hippodrome (perhaps this has all got something to do with the word Hippodrome.) From a very young age we had taken grandson Elliot to the Hippodrome circus and he loved it. So we decided one year to take them both. Poppy hated the noise and the music and the smell of oil when the Australian wall of death motor cycle riders were on did for her.
Consequently she started screaming and we had to take her out, miss the second half and pacify her with an ice cream until she stopped crying. She still remembers it but now laughs about it and it hasn't scarred or scared her in a Cyril Fletcher way.
Now aged eight she has voiced a wish to go to the circus again and this time I'm certain she will enjoy it. We will leave the ice cream until the end.
But what happened to Norwich Hippodrome I hear those of you not from Norfolk ask? Well in the words of the great Joni Mitchell. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
Yes they turned this magnificent building which once saw an appearance by Laurel and Hardy into a car park, thus showing that even the most historic and beautiful buildings can be destroyed in the name of progress. All that remains of Norwich Hippodrome is a blue plaque noting its former place in the St Giles area of the city.
If you don't come from Norwich and have never visited it, do come if you can. It's not on any tourist's itinerary because it leads to nowhere apart from the wonderful North Norfolk coast and the Norfolk Broads as featured in Life of Mars by David Bowie who sang the line.
"From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads."
Comedian/compere and overall nice guy Bradley Walsh has referred to Norwich as one of his favourite cities in the whole world which I feel might be stretching things a bit far.
But there is no doubt that Norwich is a beautiful city despite the city council' sacrilegious attempts many years ago to pull down its finest street. More about that in a few days' time.