Ken Dodd on knighthood: 'Can you still go down the chip shop when you're a sir?'

Sir Ken Dodd has reacted to his knighthood in typically humorous fashion, asking: "Can you still go down the chip shop when you're a sir?"

The veteran comic, 89, finally received the accolade the New Year's Honours list after six decades in the business.

And in typical hard-working fashion, the funnyman, known for his unruly hair, protruding teeth and tickling sticks expressed his "pride and happiness" as he announced the news while performing onstage.

Speaking to the audience at the Liverpool Philharmonic on Friday (30 December), Dodd said: I'm very, very happy and full of plumptiousness. I feel highly tickled.

"I'd like to thank all the people who, for some time now, have been wishing this to happen – and now it has happened."

The Liverpool-born star began his professional career in Nottingham in 1954, the year after the Queen's coronation.

Known for his marathon sets, he once made it into the Guinness Book of Records for telling 1,500 jokes in three and a half hours.

Despite his age, Dodd continues to tour extensively. He embarked on a 39-date Happiness circuit earlier this year and admitted he would "like" a knighthood to "keep his ears warm in bed," report The Sun.

"You wait for the call. If you get it, you get it. There is no harm done," added the star, who received a

Now having finally received the accolade, Dodd made sure he remained humble when revealing the news.

He told fans. "You have to wait until you're asked and about a month ago I got a very surprising letter saying, 'Would you like to be a sir'? And if so, that I'd have to keep it secret.

"I think it makes you feel just a little bit special – not too much, but a little bit special."

Famed for creating the puppet Diddy Men that delighted children in the 1960s and put his hometown of Knotty Ash on the map, Dodd made clear the achievement did not mark the end of his career.

"I'm not going to hang my tickling stick up just yet. I go up and down the motorway like a human yo-yo and it's lovely. It's what I do."

The flamboyant personality also vowed to continue his charity work: "Showbusiness people are renowned for putting their time and their skills at the service of people who are less fortunate, for various charities, and I shall keep doing that."