The city of York doesn’t forget – as the Grand Opera House paid a special tribute to Long Boi the duck last night (Wednesday).
York’s favourite duck Long Boi, who died last year and was honoured at a service held at the University of York last month, has the last quack with comedian Ed Gamble.
The comedy star performed at the Grand Opera House York last night – and the theatre left him a special surprise in his dressing room…
It was a sign taped to the dressing room mirror that read ‘The ghost of Long Boi will haunt you forever, Gamble. #YorkRemembers #NeverForget’. It also featured an image of the famous duck and a speech bubble with the words ‘Watch your quack’.
It was prompted by the accusation that the comedian had eaten the legendary York duck.
Ed Gamble posted the sign to his Instagram story with the message ‘Lovely welcome in the York dressing room’ – which prompted a response from BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James, one of Long Boi’s biggest fans.
“People are wise to [Ed’s] bad behaviour,” Greg James said this morning (Thursday) on his BBC Radio 1 breakfast show. “By bad behaviour I mean eating Long Boi the duck.”
Greg went on to shout out the Grand Opera House on his radio show, stating that the sign in Ed Gamble’s dressing room was “nothing less than he deserves.”
In response to the sign, the University of York also replied to the Grand Opera House’s Instagram post to say “Thanks for having Long Boi’s back (or quack)”.
Long Boi’s memory was memorialised in a life-size bronze statue, in a special ceremony last month that featured star-studded tributes, acapella singing, and a touching eulogy from Greg James himself.
Long Boi went missing last year, and was declared dead in May 2023.