A top line-up of comic talent was in Bradford yesterday to launch the Alhambra's 90th pantomime.

Panto kings Cannon and Ball and Kulvinder Ghir from the hit show Goodness Gracious Me soon had passers-by laughing as they posed in their Aladdin costumes outside the theatre.

"Where did you get your hair permed, love?" asked Bobby Ball. "Did you stick your fingers in an electric socket?" quipped partner Tommy Cannon.

Cannon and Ball last played the Alhambra in Babes in the Wood in 1987. Now they play the Chinese policemen.

Kulvinder Ghir, 35, the genie in Aladdin's magic lamp, has never played in pantomime before.

"Haven't you? Never mind, we'll soon drop you in it," says Bobby..

Aladdin also features Sooty. But Liana Bridges, one of the little yellow bear's co-stars, was not at the theatre and so Sooty - the creation of the late Harry Corbett, from Guiseley - spent most of the time confined to a box disguised as a Christmas present.

Sooty has been top-of-the-bill in his own right at the Alhambra in the past. Yesterday, in one brief appearance on the hand of producer Nick Thomas, he asked if the petrol strike was still on.

Aladdin, which opens on December 15 and runs until February 3, is scheduled for 77 performances and is expected to attract 80,000 people or more.

Nick Thomas said he was delighted to be in the heartland of pantomime. "This year I think we are going to break records," he added.

Bobby Ball, who found God and became a Christian while at the Alhambra 13 years ago, told the T&A: "We honestly do love Bradford Alhambra."

Tommy Cannon, who became a Christian seven years later, added: "We love the business we're in. We're privileged to go out and make people laugh and take them away from their problems for a couple of hours."

John Cusworth, 25, who comes from Hartlepool but currently lives in London, takes the pantomime's title role. He last played the Alhambra in Grease.

"I think the Alhambra is the nicest theatre I've ever been in and I'm looking forward to coming back to the North," he said.