NE Online Magazine Issue 42

Hi Chris and welcome to NE Magazine, for the few readers who must be living in a cave somewhere and don’t know who you are how about giving th em a quick l ow- down o n yourself?

- Hello! Can’t help but think I’m writing your interview introduction for you here, oh well… I’m a stand-up comedian from South Shields and I’m also a bit of an actor now and then… but mainly a comedian… that might not come across as well as it should in print form, but I am.

So there.

At the moment it’s hard not seeing you on the TV when we switch it on as you’re everywhere, but what has been the highlight for you so far?

- Not everywhere though am I? If you turn on QVC and I’m selling a frying pan, just assume you’ll find me floating face down in a river very soon. The highlight for me so far was probably being in Hebburn. Since starting comedy I always wanted to try my hand at being in a sitcom too so I was over the moon to do one with my mate and so close to my heart, and I got to work with Vic Reeves.

I know you had a bit of a crazy time with fans wanting pics and autographs when you were having a few drinks in a South Shields bar recently, how are you finding this, does it put you off going out?

- Not at all. Any person in that position who has been on TV or whatever and people want photos (I’m trying my best not to say celebrity here!) who pretends they hate the attention is a liar. You don’t go for a career on TV because you don’t want anyone to notice you. As long as I’m not eating or having a shit when you want a photo then it’s no problem at all… I meant, like on the toilet, not just in the middle of the dancefloor.

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Have you had any weird fan requests or incidents?

- Not really. The odd person will show up to a gig with my face on a T-Shirt, or bake me a cake, or send me a dead animal in the post but other than that it’s just photos and autographs. A little kid in Hebburn when we were filming asked me to sign his micro scooter… that was a bit weird.

As well as being a bit of a regular on Celebrity Juice, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and 8 out of 10 Cats you are now starring in the North East based sitcom Hebburn, how did that come about?

- My mate and fellow comedian Jason Cook decided to write a sitcom about the town he was from, Hebburn, and he actually wrote me a little side part which he named after me. But when it came to being made the BBC asked me to read for the main character, and when I got it, Jason took the part that he’d written for me! It came about so gradually that I didn’t really realise the enormity of being lead role in a BBC2 sitcom until I saw the advert on TV. I nearly passed out.

How has the response for Hebburn been so far?

- Overwhelmingly positive.

And we just won Best Drama at the RTS North awards too. And we’ve got a second series!

You are now embarking on your biggest tour to date, how do you feel about this?

- Yeah incredible! It’s an extension of my last tour, Feeling Lucky. I did 60+ dates in 2012 but the demand for tickets was so high and people enjoyed the show so much that I’m doing another 40 odd dates this year in much bigger venues. I can’t wait to get back out on the road.

Are there any venues on the tour that you are looking forward to playing or any you’re quite nervous about?

- The Theatre Royal in Newcastle. I absolutely can’t wait. I used to watch panto there when I was a kid. I’m

We l c o m e N o t e .

S p e a k i n g t o o u r Pa n t o s t a r s a t Playhouse Whitley Bay has really g o t u s fe e l i n g fe s t i v e a s t h e r e ’s n o t h i n g t h a t s a y s C h r i s t m a s l i ke Pa n t o . A b i g t h a n k s t o D a v i d K i r k l a n d fo r h i s h e l p p u t t i n g t o g e t h e r s o m e o f t h e c e l e b r i t y i n t e r v i e w s fo r o u r Playhouse special.

As always, if you have something you want to see in a future issue then d o n ’ t fo r g e t t o d r o p u s a n e m a i l t o wayne. groves@neonlinemagazine. com P l u s r e m e m b e r t o fo l l o w u s o n Fa c e b o o k , Tw i t t e r & I n s t a g ra m fo r our regular updates on events and competitions.

Till next time Ta ke c a r e Wa y n e

EDITOR & DESIGNER Wayne Groves wayne.groves@neonlinemagazine.com

O2 Academy Newcastle/City Hall www.o2academynewcastle.co.uk Sage Gateshead www.sagegateshead.com Ocean Beach Pleasure Park www.oceanbeach.co.uk Quasar Elite South Shields www.quasarsouthshields.co.uk For all queries or if you would like to feature or advertise in NE Magazine email wayne.groves@neonlinemagazine.com Unless stated otherwise all competition entries should be sent to win@ neonlinemagazine.com Plus you can catch up with us online for news, events, blogs, competitions and more at www.neonlinemagazine.com Follow us on Facebook - www.facebook. com/pages/N-E-Online-Magazine Join us on Twitter @NEOnlineMag1 And Instagram @neonlinemagazine

CONTRIBUTORS Peter Mann BSc Inside Mann Media & PR insidemannmedia.wordpress.com petermann78@hotmail.com Madhouse Media www.madhousemedia.co.uk SPONSORS Playhouse Whitley Bay www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk Cineworld Boldon www.cineworld.co.uk The Theatre Royal Newcastle www.theatreroyal.co.uk/

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{THIS} {ISSUE} P6 Nova Radio North East P12 Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri P18 Sam Fender at Beyond P24 Suzanne Shaw Hormonal Housewives P30 Even More PRICKS! P36 Jack & The Beanstalk P44 Cineworld Film Round Up P58 NE Artist Of The Year Lucinda Grange P65 Tommy Cox P68 The Drifters & Tina Treadwell P74 Northern Threads P78 Coming to Sage Gateshead P86 Dancing Down The Wicket 5

Hi Neil, welcome to NE, can you introduce yourself to our readers?

Thank you. I’m Neil Kipling, I’m 43 years old living in Wallsend.

Originally from Wales I came to study at Newcastle University as it stood out from the other 5 uni choices I had way back then.

For the past 15 years I’ve been involved in the music/media entertainment industry.

You are already well known as a

DJ, but more recently as a Radio DJ with Nova Radio, which has seen some big changes, tell us more about that?

Certainly I’ve been entertaining for probably 15 + years now from discos all the way up to event managing. I’ve been running Nova for three years now and I’m very happy that it has taken a great leap forward from being an online radio station to an FM station after merging with NE1FM.

So how did the big takeover come about?

NE1FM was struggling financially and gaps were appearing in the programming to the point where it was dipping below its key commitment level. By merging the high live programming level of Nova and FM transmission capabilities of NE1fm going forward I believe what I’m shaping will set up the station for the next 5-10 years.

What has been the biggest challenge for you with taking over and running a FM radio station?

Getting up to speed with more stringent broadcasting rules.

Sourcing funding and support for the increased running costs.

Running a radio station can’t be easy, or cheap, do you have any plans to make things a little easier for you moving forward?

Couldn’t agree more it’s very

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hard to maintain. Originally I was only going to commit to running things for a year. Three years on and its grown so much.

If you ask anyone who knows me they’ll tell you I’m always busy.

We are always on the lookout for sponsors especially now with the jump to FM. Staff wise I have a great team supporting me and all credit to the presenters, they all chips in.

Nova’s success is mainly down to them because they are all doing something they love and it shows from how quickly we have grown. We do need more people to take on larger responsibility roles within Nova. I’d love to get a sales/marketing position set up to bring in more revenue and get the Nova name out more.

Robson’s night owls. It was great to listen to whilst driving back from either my wife’s singing gigs or one of my disco gigs. Sadly because of the restructuring of radio in the UK his show is no longer on the mainstream local channel. I wasn’t happy with that decision and still run a save night owls page to try and bring more of the show back to the airwaves.

If you could have anyone on the show, both as a guest or a presenter, who would it be and why?

Alan Robson without a doubt he has been the backbone of local radio for me. Hence trying to support his comeback to local radio. Nova will continue to grow, someday I’ll catch his attention.

When you are not working on the radio what do you do in your

If someone reading this would like to get involved with Nova Radio, either as part of the team or maybe as one of its sponsors how would they go about it?

Any sponsors can in touch directly to me at neilkipling@ novaradio.co.uk or volunteers can message admin@novaradio. co.uk When it comes to Radio presenters who is your favourite/ biggest inspiration and why?

Back in Wales I used to listen to Atlantic 252 with my dad in the car whilst my mum and sister were getting the shopping. Its another true story feature always came on and we would listen to another tale of varying strangeness. Up here in Newcastle though the show I listened to most was Alan

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spare time?

Well I have a full time job, a disco/ karaoke business, I manage Nova.

Plus I have recently started an events company with local artist Junior Turner. So spare time is very sparse for me. I do enjoy movie watching with my family, going out for a beer with friends and happily loose hours playing games on my phone.

Tell us 3 random facts about yourself?

I’ve sang in Metro Radio Arena (it was at a vegan festival) I’m a big fan of science fiction.

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Weirdly the number 22 seems to appear all over the place for me. Not sure what the cosmic significance is.

What are your plans for Nova Radio as we finish off 2019 and head into 2020?

With the summer event season wrapping up things will slow down a touch. We will get the 2020 plan drafted up. We attended over 40 events this summer. I expect that to grow through 2020.

I’m hoping to revamp some of our social media and marketing

materials to get Nova more well known.

How can people listen to Nova Radio?

We have multiple ways.

• Through our website www.novaradio.co.uk • We have an app on Google play store • iPhones can use the tune inn radio app • You can ask Alexa to play Nova Radio North East.

How can they follow the station and it’s events?

Mainly through our Facebook page HERE. Nova radio North East 102.5fm Or our Twitter @novaradione or the website www.novaradio. co.uk

Two Blues ready for new Northern League campaign Bishop Auckland manager, Ian Chandler, has earmarked his squad for the upcoming 2019-20 Ebac Northern League campaign, blending in a mix of youth and experience.

New arrivals to the squad see that of Leon Carling, Denver Morris and James Fairley bring in the experience, the former of the trio shoring up the defence whilst the arrivals of Jamie Tumilty and Jay McLean bring a youthfulness up front.

Tumilty and McLean, alongside Chris Winn, and the attacking midfielders, will provide continued support for captain, and last seasons’ top scorer, Andrew Johnson.

Departures from the side who finished third last season have been something of a high profile nature, notably the triumvirate of Kieran Galbraith, Lewis Gibbons and Arran Wearmouth, alongside several others but the four-time FA Vase winner has set his goals for the new season.

“Last year was almost the perfect season following on from a very poor 2017/18 campaign,” began Ian. “We had built a new squad of young, hungry lads, with a sprinkling of older members, and that seemed to have worked very well.

“The new season will see us building another new squad with several players having left, all of whom contributed to last season so will be a miss; that said we welcome on board some rather familiar faces for myself and Brian (Rowe).

“In come Denver Morris, James Fairley, Leon Carling and Nathan Lawrence, also coming up from our under 23s will be Jordan Lee, and Aidan Hart is back from longterm injury.

“Expectations are now extremely high (after finishing third last season), but, in simple terms, I always try and do better than the previous year, that said the same as last season will mean promotion (the top three sides gain automatic promotion at the end of the upcoming campaign) and another successful season. “‘I do see a lot of teams spending big money and bringing in a number of high profile players,

or should that be players from a higher leagues, who maybe won’t appreciate the level of the Northern League.

“Regardless of who we play against, we will compete and see how things go throughout the season.”

BISHOP AUCKLAND SQUAD 2019/20 CAMPAIGN Leon Carling, James Fairley, Kyle Fryatt, Aiden Hart, Michael Hoganson, Andrew Johnson, Thomas Langan, Nathan Lawrence, Jordan Lee, Nicholas Liversedge, Jamie Marshall, Jay Mclean, Denver Morris, Callum Munro, Darren Richardson, Ryan Robinson, Connor Short, Jamie Tumilty, Christopher Winn

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Hi Colin, welcome to NE, can Kiki

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AN ACOUSTIC JOURNEY

Dee and Carmelo Luggeri take us on ‘An Acoustic Journey’ Allow Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri to take you on ‘An Acoustic Journey’ this autumn as two of the finest musicians conduct a whistle-stop tour of the UK. Beginning in Bury St Edmunds on September 28 the duo will then head to Brighouse, Cockermouth, Sale and Portsmouth in October followed by Tetbury, Portishead, Topsham, Beverley, Settle, Shaw, Horsham, Milton Keynes, and finally, Coventry, the latter taking place on November 30.

The UK tour, ‘An Acoustic Journey,’ comes a month after the duo had partaken in a twomonth soiree, a first-time tour, of Australia, places likes Canberra and Sydney, Newcastle and, Wagga Wagga among the calling points.

“We don’t usually go that far out to be honest, we just pack up a big car and travel around the UK,” began Kiki.

“It’s my first time in Australia,” continued Carmelo, “so it’ll be a completely new experience for me. I’m looking forward to the challenge and we hope that

music lovers will love the show – going there is kind of like starting all over again.”

Last year would see Kiki celebrate an impressive 55 years in the music industry, a period which has most certainly seen her cement her place as one of the most revered, and finest vocalists the UK has to offer.

The pair have been together since the nineties, the classicallytrained Luggeri, born of Italian parentage, having worked with the like of Bill Wyman, Andy Williams, and Chris Rea among others, went on to release their

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first album together, ‘Almost Naked,’ in 1995.

Since then the collaboration has been as solid on stage as it is off it, they regularly appearing at charity events and are supporters of The Born Free Foundation and have performed at numerous venues, large and small, across the United Kingdom.

“We’ve done almost every kind of show possible over the past 25 years,” smiled Carmelo.

“There some venues on the autumn tour that we’ve not played for years but I enjoy going to places and making days of it, I even take my road bike for early morning rides, so yes, you could say we’re looking forward to it.”

“We do what we love to do musically, and work to connect and engage with our audiences in an intimate way,” continued Kiki.

“I’ve gone from chasing the dreams and the big hits to just

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going out there and getting on with it with what has always been an eclectic mix of a show.

“The show is very much a musical journey, an acoustic journey, which we love taking and there’s a mix of our original music, some hits of my own, and some covers.

“We have done a slowed down version of ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ for a while now, just myself, vocally, which is great fun to perform that way.

“It’s a differing mix of music that is performed without compromising any artistic integrity.”

A highlight of their time would be their appearing on The Old Grey Whistle Test Reunion with the legendary, ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris, alongside artists old and new, from Dave Stewart to Wildwood Kin.

by Kiki and Carmelo, alongside songs from artists like Kate Bush and Frank Sinatra, and Kiki’s own, extensive, yet stunning repertoire from ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ to ‘Amoureuse’ and all that was in-between.

Although not coming to the northeast, Kiki and Carmelo will be in Cumbria, and Yorkshire, during the October/November tour, with dates in Brighouse (October 10), Cockermouth (October 11), Beverley (November 14) and Settle (November 15).

It is very much a musical journey, an acoustic journey, of their respective, intertwining careers where, “Really, if you could bottle up the magic from all the shows, then it would be like magic.”

Website https://www.kikiandcarmelo. com/

Stories which Whispering Bob would be proud of will resonate throughout those portrayed

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Sam Fender. If you don’t know the name yet then where have you been hiding for the past 10 months? After winning the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2019 Brit Awards he has had a very busy year indeed, one that has seen him sell out a series of dates including several gigs here in the North East where he will be playing at the O2 Academy, all selling out so quick that extra dates were added and have also sold out.

If that wasn’t enough, September saw the release of his debut album, Hypersonic Missiles, which went straight to #1 in the official UK Album Charts outselling the top 5 combined. Not bad at all for a local lad.

Not forgetting his roots, Sam was keen to give back to the North East and more importantly, to his fans, as he knows he would not be riding so high without them. So

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in September he teamed up with David McGovern, the owner of Newcastle’s Beyond Vinyl to make his album launch something to remember.

David wanted to host a midnight launch and listen party for Hypersonic Missiles, this meant customers would be the first people in the UK to pick up a copy of the album and they could even listen to it in the shop as soon as midnight struck and the album officially

went on sale. Sam loved the idea so much he even agreed to pop in and sign copies of the album for Beyond’s customers ready for them going on sale. Beyond’s customers were given the option of pre-ordering a beyond exclusive, but with no picture or descrip-

tion what would they get? Well those that were brave enough to gamble took home the exclusive picture disc…signed by Sam and the band, which you could not get anywhere else at all. What an exclusive that is!

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Sadly Sam would not be able to attend the midnight launch as he was already booked to be in Germany, but he didn’t let his fans down, in true Sam Fender style all of the people who queued up in the cold ready for midnight were treated to Pizzas and Kebabs courtesy of Mr Fender‌what a guy.

The album it itself is brilliant, so if you are one of the few people in the North East who did not actually pick up a copy on its release, then do yourself a favour and go out and get one. The exclusives sold out but Beyond Vinyl still have copies left on various formats, so pop in, pick one up and help support both a local lad and a great local business that keeps putting on great events like this for its customers.

You can buy your copy from Beyond HERE You can followBeyond on...

Facebook - @beyondvinyl or @beyondeventsncl/ Twitter - @beyond_vinyl Instagram - @beyondvinyl

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Images from Beyond & Lee Connor

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CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO AND FOR TICKETS

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I can think of worse ways to spend a wet Thursday afternoon than chatting with the wonderful Suzanne Shaw, ahead of her appearance in the show Hormonal Housewives at the Playhouse in Whitley Bay. Suzanne rose to fame on the TV show Popstars when she won and went on to be in the record breaking band Hear’Say, since then she has starred in Emmerdale, The Bill, even winning ITV’s Dancing on Ice, as well as being a panellist for Loose Women and appearing in numerous shows all over the UK, such as The Rocky Horror Show and Chicago to name only two. Time to find out more…

Hormonal Housewives, tell us a bit about the show? Why should people come and see it and what can they expect?

Well it’s definitely a great night out for the ladies, that’s for sure, and obviously gentleman are welcome too, we are not too scary. It’s about three girls talking about their stories through years of hormones really, from being a teenager all the way through birthing stories to menopause and becoming an OAP. So lots of different stories, which is great as we have lots general conversations between ourselves and with the audience, we do lots of sketches and we do

welcome audience participation.

So what kind of participation, what can the audience expect?

I mean there’ll be lots of cheers and shouting and stuff, almost like a grievance really and we say to the audience “have you ever felt like this? And I’m sure these ladies in the room have thin days and fat days and you know, things like that, we just make it conversational so we get lots of cheering and joining in, especially like when we do a few dance routines and get people dancing in the aisles.

So will you be singing?

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where’s the pasta?” and “where have you put this?” and “can I do that?” so yeah it isn’t quite the break you want but it’s not going to be too painful.

So what’s your favourite part of being in a live show?

I think it is the reaction from the audience, I mean, if you have an office job, you don’t come into the office getting a round of applause, and it’s just lovely as a performer that you get that acknowledgment at the end of the show…and during the show as well. And with something like this there’s just so much comedy in there I really can’t wait and I’m really looking forward to getting my teeth into it all. I like the audience enjoying it really, when they are laughing along with the stories we have to tell.

No, no singing for me in this show, but a little bit of dancing, you know, I do get my dancing shoes on, especially at the end of the show where we all have our inner icons, and it all kind of comes out as an inner girl crush, I don’t want to give too much away and spoil the end.

Suzanne did give enough away for me to guess her icon correctly but I have left that part out of the interview, but trust me, you really do not want to miss out on the icons finale as it sounds like it will be so much fun.

So is it good to not have to sing for this role, is that something a bit different for you?

I mean, I do love singing, you know my first love it was on the stage and acting really so its always good, I love live performances, I love touring with shows, but yeah it is a nice change to give

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the vocals a rest and just do a bit of comedy.

Well the thing is you’ve done pretty nearly every show out there!

Yeah (Suzanne Laughs), You know I’ve still not decided what I want to be when I grow up , it’s either an actor, a singer or a dancer, Ive not decided so I thought I’d just do a little bit of everything.

So how is family life going to be for you with you being out on the road as its quite a long tour for you?

Yeah it is always really tough, but I’ve not been out on the road for a couple of years now so actually it’s going to be a nice little break for me. The good thing is with this tour I will actually get home quite a bit and we do have school holiday week off, so it’s not too gruelling. It is tough being away from the family, especially when they are ringing you saying “Mum

You are only going to be in the North East for the one night but have you been to the North East before, not for work but to actually enjoy yourself, maybe a night out?

Yeah lots of times, well a good friend of mine is Joe McElderry so

I’m hopefully going to be seeing him while I’m up there, I’ll hopefully be getting him along to the show, he’s offered for me to stay at his house so hopefully we’ll get a night out together as well. So yeah, I’m looking forward to seeing him when I’m up there in Whitley Bay. Yeah it just makes it more fun for you if you can actually enjoy your time in a place rather than just work, sleep and off to the next place.

Well actually there’s a lot of places that I’m going to where I’ll get to see some friends that I’ve not seen for a while, so a lot of my friends are coming to the show so it’s really nice to be able to get to see people whilst I’m on the road.

One thing that a lot of people do know you from is of course Hear’Say and a lot of bands at the moment seem to be reforming, is this something that maybe on the cards for you guys?

Well I mean, you know we’ve got, what, eighteen months until our twenty year anniversary, so who knows, it would be great to do

something. I don’t think we would ever get back together, but I think to celebrate twenty years would be good to do something. Everyone’s doing their own thing now and everyone’s been successful away from the band, you know, we were only together for a tomato season so, we’ve done a lot more away from the band than we did in the band (Suzanne laughs) so who knows, I think it would be nice, but I’d have to try and persuade the other members.

over Christmas, so that’s going to be really nice and I’ve never done my own show before I am really actually looking forward to doing something different.

So have you got any plans for after the tour?

Yeah I go on my first cruise ship doing my one woman show, so I talk about my career and do some songs so I’m having a year of panto this year so instead I’m going to Saint Lucia which is lovely,

So there you go folks, the lovely Suzanne Shaw will be at Playhouse Whitley Bay on Monday 21st October for Hormonal Housewives so make sure you get your tickets for what will be a fantastic laugh out loud entertaining night. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Well it sounds like it’s going to be a great end of the year for you with the show and the cruise, we wish you luck and look forward to seeing you at the Playhouse.

Thank you so much, thank you for taking the time, I look forward to seeing everyone there.

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Throughout pre-season the Two Blues had lined up ten, primarily local, friendly matches which saw Darlington (July 15), Middlesbrough U23s (July 20), and Sunderland U23s (August 1) bringing sides to Heritage Park for ‘prestige’ friendlies as well as a local fundraiser against old rivals Willington (July 18).

Billed as being ‘A fundraiser for Richard,’ the two sides met to raise funds towards neuro-rehabilitation of former Bishops, current Willington Chairman, Richard Tremewan, who suffered a left haemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain), affecting one side of his body, earlier this year.

Looking ahead to the new season Bishops Chairman, Steve Coulthard, added: “We’re really looking forward to this season with a number of new players arriving and contending for slots in the team on top of those staying so there is a real competition for places.

“Ian (Chandler) inherited a few players at the beginning of last season but this time around he’s

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freshened the squad up with players of his own choice and, after a good season last season, where we finished third, we are hoping we can go one better and gain promotion.”

It was expected that goalkeeper Nicky Liversedge would make a return to the first team follow-

ing a recurring injury which kept him on the sidelines in the latter stages of the 2018-19 campaign, both he, and a returning central defender Leon Carling (pulled on a Two Blues jersey during the 2016-17 campaign under Steve Riley) are looking forward to what is a slightly different prospect of a season.

The Northern League will see no fewer than three sides gain promotion come the season’s end next April, and the League Cup takes on a new format with the opening rounds being replaced by an intriguing group stage.

In recent interviews with bish-

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PRICKS, PRICKS, PRICKS everywhere as local actress take show on the road again!

Having enjoyed a hugely successful, sold out tour back in the spring, Darlington actress, Jade Byrne, takes her one-woman, biographical show, PRICKS, back on the road again this autumn.

Far from content just touring her play of life dealing with Type 1 Diabetes prior to the summer holidays, Jade has launched her own range of PRICKS products

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over on etsy.com whilst spending the summer not only holidaying with family and friends (can you class hen do’s as holidaying?) but she has also penned her first children’s book.

Is the world ready for Daisy Donald? Find out more in the next (December) issue after which Daisy will already be tearing up the bookshelves, and pulling apart living rooms following her release on November 14 – World Diabetes Day.

Before Daisy though, it’s a little more PRICKS, not as many as the springtime PRICKS, but PRICKS all the same, including some more PRICKS in Jade’s home town of Darlington with the Hullabaloo at the Hippodrome hosting PRICKS on October 14, slap bang in the middle of a PRICKS mini-tour (although two of those show are private outings).

Of the upcoming, October tour, the final appearance will see Jade be a key-note speaker at this years’ Children with Diabetes Confer-

ence in Daventry between October 25-27 whilst performing to the public in Bournemouth, Darlington and Guildford.

“I’ll be the key-note speaker (at the conference) on the Friday, talking to adults about Type 1 Diabetes.

“It’s a truly huge honour and, instead of actually ‘giving a speech’ I’m going to be performing my play which is fantastic.”

As the conference is the culmination of the two tours Jade will have traversed this year, add in that she was also announced as a ‘celebrity ambassador’ for the JDRF, and a DEXCOM Warrior, it is the former she still finds somewhat amusing…

“I still find the ‘celebrity status’ with the JDRF hilarious because, to me, I’m not one.

“I’m really proud of it though and thrilled to have been asked as I love raising both awareness of, and fund for (Jade raised over £1700 during the spring tour), Type 1 Diabetes and the charity itself,

whilst becoming a DECOM Warrior, that’s another privilege and

I’m over the moon that they asked me.

“In fact, when I performed PRICKS at TADTalk2019 in London, that is what I wanted to come from my going there, or maybe it’s just the name.”

So, now you see that Jade is both a ‘celebrity’ and a ‘warrior,’ not bad going for a young lady who, along with her stage accompaniment, Dennis the Menace, celebrates her thirtieth dia-versary early next month – yes, diabetics ‘celebrate; the day in which they were diagnosed and it’s most likely that Jade could well “eat a cake, a whole bloody cake.”

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Mind you, there’s no cake on the tour (sorry), but there are plenty of laughs, and tears, that much is guaranteed; after all, when Jade first set out on this particular road, her mind-set was to not only educate the masses, but to produce something which she would want to go the theatre and see over and over again herself.

Sat now, looking back on the success of PRICKS over the past couple of years, never in her wildest dreams did she think that her show, her PRICKS, would be not only as warmly received but also wanted across the British isles, Europe, and even the Americas – 2020 promises to be fun and games galore.

“If you’d asked me a year ago whether I thought I’d be taking PRICKS on its fourth tour, I’d have probably laughed.

“But here I am and with another two tours booked in for 2020 too.

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to more towns and spreading the word far and wide.

“It teaches the audiences so much but not like a lecture, you don’t even realise how much you’re learning because you’re too busy laughing, or maybe crying.

“I’m so happy that PRICKS continues to educate people through entertainment with the main emphasis always being on entertainment.”

Not to be missed, whether here in the north-east, or anywhere across the UK, and beyond, PRICKS is one of those shows that will certainly leave you wanting more, and you’ll enjoy, whilst being thoroughly educated, every second of it.

Tickets for PRICKS at The Hullabaloo at the Hippodrome, Darlington, on Monday 14 October CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Keep up-to-date with all things “I am thrilled to be taking PRICKS PRICKS via the website HERE

www.prickstheplay.co.uk/ CLICK HERE FOR FACEBOOK CLICK HERE FOR TWITTER with merchandise on sale from www.etsy.com/uk/shop/PricksProducts

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NERG is the biggest retro gaming event in the North East, held at Gateshead Stadium over the course of 2 days, this event is as big as it gets for retro gamers or just the big kids re-living their youth playing the games they used to play, after all, they don’t make them like they used to. 2017 will be the fifth year of NERG and it will be a big one. With 100 video arcade machines, 35 pinball machines and 60 consoles and computers this really is an event you do not want to miss!.

The event is held over the weekend of 1st & 2nd of July.

Entrance is £15 per day or £25 for the full weekend. Children aged 5-13 years can also get in for only £10 on the Sunday.

All the machines are set to free play so once you pay the admission fee, it’s free gaming all day., so no need for those pockets full of change.

CLICK HERE TO TICKETS ONLINE.

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PURCHASE

or you can pay on the day if the event hasn’t sold out.

More details can be found at w w w.northeastretrogaming. com Machines are announced on a regular basis through the social feeds so make sure you keep checking to see what games will

be there, though with so many we are sure your favourites will be there.

CLICK HERE FOR FACEBOOK For Twitter - @NERGOfficial

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If there’s one thing that makes it feel like Christmas is Panto! It’s something that families all over the UK look forward to, the traditional family trip to the Panto, where adults become kids again joining in with everything without a care in the world and the kids lap up every second of it mesmerized by the costumes and effects used to bring some of our favourite stories to life.

This year the Playhouse in Whitley Bay have played a blinder, not only is local panto legend Steve Walls back, but we see the return of Daniel Mawston aka Dame Patsy alongside North East X Factor star Molly Scott and last but not least Britains Got Talent Champions Ashleigh & Sully who are all appearing in Blue Genie Entertainment’s Jack and The Beanstalk.

We were lucky enough to spend the day with the full cast as they met up with local businesses who are supporting the show, including Andy Dixon from Whitley Bay who recently won over the infamous Dragons to secure a £50k investment for his brand Oatein on BBC’s Dragons’ Den. The cast also had a visit from the talented pupils of Marine Park Primary School who had done some fan-

tastic pictures of some wacky and wonderful beanstalks amongst other pictures. Sitting there with the cast all in costume chatting away with each other, having a laugh and taking selfies is quite a surreal experience.

I have to say the highlight has to be sitting in the empty Playhouse auditorium stroking Sully whilst chatting with Britain’s Got Talent Winner Ashleigh Butler. Sully is

Seeing the cast all in costume really gets you excited for Panto Season to begin and we can’t wait.

They spent the day doing photoshoots, interviews and loads of promotion ahead of the show which opens on the 30th of November, click here for tickets but be quick www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ venueartist/442552/1408787

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just the cutest most well behaved dog ever, he sat there the whole time enjoying being stroked and fussed over, if only every interview was this much fun. Ashleigh had mentioned that they very nearly didn’t make it that morning as there was a high speed pursuit on the motorway which held them up, making it an even longer day for both her and Sully, but she was looking forward to being here in the North East, saying “I love Panto, for me Panto makes Christmas now, because I’ve done it for the last 7-8 years, so it has

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kind of just become part of my life and just something that I do and if I didn’t do it, I dunno, I think I would be bored” ‘Panto is hard work, it’s like for 2 weeks we are full on and when you put a show on you have to be so enthusiastic and such a big character, so it is hard work but it is good fun as well’ When asked if she had ever done Panto in the North East she replied ‘I’ve been to Whitley Bay and performed here twice when I was

touring both times with The Wizard Of Oz, so I have performed here before, but not a long run like Panto. I do tend to go quite north though, last year I was in Carlisle, I’ve done Darlington, so I do tend to go up north, but they are always the best audiences, they definitely love their Panto’ Ashleigh will be meeting up with everyone ahead of rehearsals to plan out how much time Sully will be on stage and to make sure he is wowing the crowds with his tricks rather than standing still, but with shows being on several times a day it will be a case of a fine balance between working and resting for everyone’s favourite pooch, though she did say that resting

will be the main thing they both do once Panto has finished as they will need it as it is tiring but it’s worth it because it is so much fun.

I asked what she was most looking forward to about doing the Panto and she said ‘Just getting to know everyone really, I’ve always been really really lucky with my cast, that I’ve had a great cast, that we’ve got on with each other, we’ve had a good laugh. Your cast having fun and being friends definitely helps the show as we spend so much time together that you have to just get on with it, so getting to know everyone, the cast and getting to know how they play different roles and stuff like that as everyone plays everything different, even though I’ve done Jack and the Beanstalk a few times now it will be a completely different show, so it will be good fun’ But the part she’s not looking forward to ‘Getting up early, I’m not a morning person, I had to be up this morning for half five, I did not like that’ she says laughing ‘getting up early, that’s about it to be honest. When I come north and do Panto in the north, normally the weather isn’t the best either, so early mornings and rain and I’m not a happy person, but that’s about it, everything else I’m

looking forward to’ For my final question I did ask what advice she would give to anyone that might be interested in performing on stage like she does, maybe even performing with animals and her advice was great, so if you are interested in a

future on stage then take note, as Ashleigh says… ‘Experience to be honest, start small, go watching panto’s and stuff like that, getting a feel of it. Panto is so different than any other theatre performances that we do, it’s completely different. First and foremost you have to project everything, you have to be a huge character, like everyone on that stage has to be a huge! What I love about Panto as well is that I can look into the audience and see families, as there’s not many things now where a whole family can enjoy it together, from kids to mum and dad, to grandparents, stuff like that. So definitely going along and watching as many pantos as possible’. So there’s some sound advice from Ashleigh for you all.

Next up was a quick chat with Panto newcomer Molly Scott, who

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most people will know her from when she appeared on ITV’s The X-Factor, sadly Molly was walking around with a limp after damaging her knee recently. This will be her first ever Panto performance so you can understand her being nervous, as she knows this is a different kind of performance to what she is used to, but she did say that the X-Factor has helped to open up a new door for her, with a different way to singing, so she is excited. When asked how life was after X-Factor and if life had changed for you she said “yes, like you can’t just walk down the street, if you know what I mean, but it’s all settled down now. It was literally like going from one of the most watched tv shows in the world to just going back to normal life straight away, because if you were going to get signed or anything, you had to wait 6 months, so it was just plummeting from being so high to being so low, so that was kind of hard, I had my struggles a bit, but you just pick up don’t you really and now I’ve got this so it’s exciting” I asked what the best things were about doing X-Factor to which Molly replies ‘It was the platform you get of it really and obviously performing to 2 million people every Saturday, it’s what every

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little girl dreams off when they are younger isn’t it, so yeah it was amazing. Going across to America and singing in front of Whitney

Houston’s song writer and everyone, it was just amazing, you have to pinch yourself at times’.

When asked if she would change anything about her journey so far… ‘I’d probably try and stand up for myself a little bit more, because I thought the producers and everyone knew best, so I just let them pick my songs and everything, but I just wish I could go back and say no I want to sing this or do that. So that’s my advice to anyone wanting to do the show, to stand up for yourself a bit more, because when I was, I thought, if I ever go on X-Factor I want to do this, I want to have all of this pro-

duction etc, but when I was there I was a bit, nervous thinking they know best, you don’t want to put your opinion forward but really you should” In her time after the X-Factor Molly told us she had been teaching children music at a school that’s close to her heart, saying ‘When I was younger, I always thought there was no other way apart from singing and music, so even if I didn’t become a singer in the public eye or within panto or musicals or something like that, then I had always wanted to teach music to other people so that I was still doing something I loved. So going into this school to teach the children, I just love it, it’s amazing.

They are all so lovely and they all want to learn about music and I was like that when I was a kid, so it’s nice’ After the Panto is finished Molly has got a few gigs lined up, including some of the Pride festivals so next summer will be a busy time for her, but until rehearsals start she is planning to rest up and heal so that when it comes to the start of the first show she is fit and raring to go as she cant wait to perform for everyone

A massive thank you to David Kirkland, the Playhouse team and Blue Genie Entertainment for the invite and for looking after us.

Also a big shout out to Smooth Radio North East, Nova Radio North East 102.5fm, Newcastle Chronicle and all the wonderful local businesses who called in to support the panto including Di Meo’s Ice Cream, Pantrinis, Hotpotz Ceramic Painting Studio, Escape Boutique, Let the fun be FIN and the wonderful We Are Whitley Bay.

Tickets are available now from the Playhouse box office and online from Ticketmaster HERE

Jack & the Beanstalk will run at Playhouse Whitley Bay from November 30 - January 4.

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We have double the fun now as we have teamed up with Cineworld Boldon and the new Cineworld Dalton Park to give you a quick run down on a few films that are coming soon and really have got us excited.

Plus make sure you check out their Facebook page to keep up to date with their daily competitions and updates. Boldon and Dalton Park

Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil 8 October 2019 Running time: 100 minutes Maleficent is back. Get ready for a whole new adventure with Maleficent and Aurora as they face new threats to the magical land of the Moors.

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Ed Skrein, Angelina Jolie, Michelle Pfeiffer, Lesley Manville, Harris Dickinson, Juno Temple Director: Joachim Ronning CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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The Addams Family 25 October 2019 Running time: 100 minutes Get ready to click your fingers!

The Addams Family is back on the big screen in the first animated comedy about the kookiest family on the block. Funny, outlandish, and completely iconic, the Addams Family redefines what it means to be a good neighbour.

Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll with Bette Midler and Allison Janney Director: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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Midway 08 November 2019 Running time: 120 minutes MIDWAY is the epic, real-life saga about an undermanned American fleet and the brave Navy leaders and pilots who triumphed, against the odds,

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over a powerful adversary.

With democracy and freedom at stake, these U.S. brothers-in-arms conquered the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway, a most stunning clash by air and sea which marked a heroic feat of naval warfare and pivoted the Allies toward victory in the Pacific Theater

during WWII. Cast: Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas Director: Roland Emmerich CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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Frozen 2 22 November 2019 Running time: 100 minutes From the Academy Awardwinning team—directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, and producer Peter Del Vecho—and featuring the voices of Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, and the music of Oscar-winning songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ ‘Frozen 2’ opens in UK cinemas this November.

Cast: Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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Jumanji: The Next Level 13 December 2019

Everything you know about Jumanji is about to change…

Gillan, Awkwafina Director: Jake Kasdan

Running time: 120 minutes

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Karen

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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Unlimited Card Love Cinema. Join the club - £17.90 a month. You will receive...

Preferential Discounts Unlimited members get 10% off all food and drink bought in-cinema at any time of day, every day!* Plus, you’ll also receive discounts for all nonfilm screenings such as Live Opera in HD, Live National Theatre, Live sport in 3D and live gigs etc. (All discounts subject to terms) Get access to Exclusive advance screenings

As an Unlimited member, you can be among the first to see great movies at our special screenings. Just keep an eye on our Unlimited newsletter for your invitation.

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Coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8 the region’s Lucinda Grange (formerly of Hartlepool, now New York City) saw some of her finest work, from the project ‘Backwards and in High Heels,’ included in the Donna Karan – Urban Zen exhibition in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

Beginning on March 8 and running through until April 7, Ms. Grange’s most prized project, entitled as ‘Dancing with the Stars’ included in the exhibition ran by the ArtLead Her platform, a vision founded by Mashinda Tirfere.

Supporting and promoting only female artists, ArtLead Her aims to help level the field in the art world, where the gender bias is very strong and, being part of what is Women’s History Month will help envelope that consensus.

Speaking of her prized project, ‘Backwards and in High Heels,’ Lucinda said: “It is a quote in reference to Ginger Rodgers.

“Fred Astaire, her male dance partner, would get more fame, fortune and attention than she did, yet she did everything he did, backwards and in high heels.

“This project started with two selfportraits on the Chrysler Building (Midtown Manhattan, New York) and gradually grew as I photographed women I know and admire in places you wouldn’t expect

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to see anyone - let alone a woman, looking strong and extravagant in a dress!

“The aim of this project was to question stereotypes women are often subjected to, and instead highlight the strength and power

of these women.”

To be included within the exhibition, for Lucinda, is something she is excited about and follows immediately after her solo exhibition, ‘City Cross-Section’ which was held at the Lyle O. Reitzel Contemporary Art Gallery and finished late-February.

In the new exhibition at the Urban Zen Lucinda exhibited an image, ‘King Woman,’ which depicts Ingrid Silva, lead dancer for the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

“In this picture, Ingrid is on point on the ladder of a water tower on a NYC rooftop.

“Ingrid grew up in Brazil, a very humble beginning, and now she’s the dance company’s top dancer, traveling the world, following her

passion.

“She is now performing to crowds of thousands despite the many obstacles that have been in her way.

“Not only is she Brazilian, she is also black and petite, very far from those who one might expect to see as the lead dancer.

“Her sheer willpower, dedication and determination got her all the way from living in Brazil, to being one of the top dancers in this city.

“My aim was to capture the feeling of this inspiring person and her story in this one single image.”

Women’s History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the U.S. the U.K. and Australia, coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8.

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{2019} {2019} {Artist} {Artist} {of {of the} the} {Year} {Year}

Lucinda Grange takes us up high with an amazing, overground experience The second of a two part feature with the NE Online Artist of the Year The Summit In the second of our underground/overground two-parter, north-east urban photographer, and NE Online Magazine’s Artist of the Year, Lucinda Grange, presently residing among the delights of New York, takes us on an amazing, overground experience.

In the next issue, the December one, Grange will be going all festive – oh yes she will, but for now, let’s travel to Ancient Egypt and the famed Great Pyramid – here’s what she told our esteemed journo, Peter Mann….

“I’ve had the joy of seeing much

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{Lucinda {Lucinda Grange} Grange}

of the unseen parts of the world; crawling through the labyrinth of tunnels beneath our feet, seeing how our city functions.

“Sitting on the wings of the angel of the north, watching the world go by; but, when you ask me to talk about heights only, one thing springs to mind.

“The Great Pyramid.”

easy to see why.

Tourists across the globe have travelled to Egypt for years, and will continue to do so, in order to witness such immense beauty, even climbing the monstrosity.

“Until the 80s, it was possible to slip the staff some money, and climb the pyramid, even during the day.

Also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, or the Pyramid of Cheops, Giza’s Great Pyramid is the oldest, and largest, of Egypt’s iconic Pyramid’s (Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure the other two) whilst also being the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World.

“Despite it having once been a tomb for a long lost people, it’s been climbed many times; by famous adventurers, photographers and travellers.

Dating back to the Fourth Dynasty (Dynasty IV), or the Golden Age of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was deemed the height of the pyramid-building age and, looking at the feats they accomplished, it’s

“So I knew I was to be very far from the first person to climb this, the last standing wonder of the world … but I also know I’m very far from the last to do so.

“You can find images of people having picnics up there.

“I don’t have many pictures to show from here, but there’s lots to say, and I hope you find it an interesting one.”

Lucinda did just that, with a friend, and what a story she has to tell from when she scaled the Great Pyramid – here’s her story….

“My friend (who will remain unnamed) and I had not been in the compound that long when an announcement was made that the site was being closed prematurely, and the people there were being ushered out.

“We found ourselves walking a few steps behind a security guard, heading to a place to hide until nightfall.

“The security guard lifted his arms to let a cool breeze wrap around his body, exposing the gun clipped to his side.

“We looked at each other. We both knew things were different here this wouldn’t be like anything we’d climbed before.

“We were in Egypt, Giza to be precise. It was the height of Arab Spring. The people being ushered out were tourists, and the compound was the location of the Great Pyramid.

“Getting away from the security guard, we swiftly took a path into the tombs (big rectangular piles of stone) on our left, scrambled up the side of one of them, and hid between an enormous slab of stone and the rest of the tomb, providing shelter both from view and from the sun.

“It wasn’t yet 3PM, we were in for a long day and an even longer

night; we would likely have to wait until 3AM for this.

and whispering the rest of the time.

“I watched the shadows move up the stone of the tomb as the sun got lower. We dipped in and out of sleep and conversation for hours.

Not your usual type of sleep or conversation though. The type of sleep that’s so light, it’s almost like heavy paralysing day-dreams, where you’re lying there waiting, then you’re spotted and being chased by armed security, but with a sudden gasp, your mind takes you back, and you’re lying there again.

“As the noise in the street lessened, other sounds came from the darkness: many gunshots, the first we’d heard since arriving here.

“And then the sun was gone.

“The whole country was in a severe state of unrest. With this in our minds, we lay in silence and darkness listening to every shot, until they finally became less frequent and stopped.

“From where we hid, we could partially see the Great Pyramid through a gap between the tombs in front of us, we could also see a slither of the road in front of the Great Pyramid.

“Through the gap, we watched security guards doing their occasional rounds by car, motorbike and foot.

“They never appeared to have a pattern; which would make knowing when to climb that much more difficult.

“As night fell, the surrounding area grew more still.

“We could hear everything with total clarity: a car outside the perimeter, dogs barking in a nearby alleyway.

“Over the rows of tombs, we heard a security patrol on foot, crunching sand and stone under his feet with every step, as clear and loud as if he were passing right by us.

“I found myself holding my breath whenever we heard a foot patrol,

“It was the evening of the 19th of August 2013, and just being out of our hotel was illegal at this time of night.

“There was a military enforced curfew of 7PM, punishable by immediate arrest, or, it was rumoured, being shot on sight.

“It was 1AM; there were no street lights here, we could only see by the light from the full moon.

“We decided it was as good of a time as any to make a move.

“We needed to be silent; just as we could hear everyone else moving, they would be able to hear us.

“We came out from behind the stone slab, using every foothold with care as we climbed from the top of our stone hideout, and regrouped to plan a route.

“We exited through an opening in the tombs, and used this vantage point to see when the coast was clear.

“Beyond the tombs was a stretch of desert fill of deep pits deep enough to cause a severe injury if we fall down one.

“Using only the little light of the

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night sky, we ran across the clearing, avoiding the giant pits and any large stones laying randomly across sand, and climbed down an embankment wall onto the narrow stone road that security walked.

“We crossed the road, jumped over the chain fence, climbed down a second embankment wall, crossed the large open space, and then hopped, at last, onto the Great Pyramid of Giza,.”

If going through all of that wasn’t enough, then you’d hope the climbing of such an iconic piece of history would be worth the wait, albeit a tiring one.

“Each block that built the pyramid was roughly the size of a fridge.

“We quickly climbed up a corner to get a view of what was going on around us, and didn’t stop until a third of the way up, scrambling to be out of reach of the headlights of passing security vehicles.

“As we got higher levels were all

different, some chest height, and we’d have to pull ourselves up, scraping our bellies and knees on the stone, and some were just below waist height, and with a giant step you could move up to the next level.

“We had aimed to climb quickly, but also silently. I couldn’t help but feel that they were mutually exclusive.

“When I moved too quickly, my footsteps sounded deafening and the half empty bottle of water in my bag sloshed like a tsunami.

“But to move slowly enough to be silent would increase the time we were exposed.

“The patrols could do a round at any time. Every footstep, every crunch of sand and stone underfoot, felt like the last one before capture.

“It wasn’t long before the summit was in sight, as we got closer we climbing at the same speed to

reach the flat top at the exact same time together.

“We counted to three and touched the highest point at the same time, before turning to take in the view.

“There was a full moon, and Cairo lay flat below us, the city lights looking like a sea of fire flowing over the desert.

“The atmosphere at the 455-foot high summit was different, it felt relaxed. We soaked it in. Despite the revolutionary turmoil that surrounded us, this place felt a world away.

“We were there for a little over two hours before we packed our cameras to repeat the gauntlet in reverse.

“The photography felt rushed and messy, but I didn’t mind. This wasn’t about producing images; it was about the experience, the journey to get there. We’d managed that, now we just needed to get down the pyramid, out and back to the UK safely.

“Climbing down was a battle, trying to make slow, calculated movements, when gravity just wanted to pull us down.

“Each time I put my foot down on the stone below, I imagined slipping, falling, and hitting every level below me as I tumbled down the 51-degree slope of the pyramid.

“The descent was like a gradual reintroduction into the world below.

“We were worried about security patrols, which could come at any time.

“On the lower third, we would be

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visible, even if we lay flat on the stone. We’d be like targets on a child’s arcade game, with nowhere to hide.

“We moved swiftly, apprehension and nerves getting higher as we got lower. Finally we dismounted the pyramid and crossed back to our home for the night. We shimmied up the side of the tomb, removed our bags, and sat hidden behind our slab once again, trying to fall asleep.

“After a few restless hours, barely sleeping, the sun began to rise behind the Pyramid. We had come up with an escape plan: we called it the “camel theory.”

“Once we saw a camel, we were safe to go. There are no camels without tourists, and no tourists without the site being open to the public.

“We lay there, watching and listening as the traffic slowly built up, from occasional motorbikes to foot traffic. But there were no camels, not yet.

“Hours passed, and we were growing restless, when at last we glimpsed a lone camel pass by on the road. We grabbed our gear and climbed down, weaving through the tombs. We found the camel, who was soon joined by another.

From here we could see all the way the safety of our hotel, just a straight length of road away, past the mysteriously smiling Sphinx and through the security gates.

“Having never been on camel, I persuaded my friend to join me in asking how much it would cost.

“That’s when we were told that the site was still closed, and security was not too far behind us.

“Without time to haggle, we jumped on the camels with their owners and escaped over the desert, where security vehicles couldn’t follow us. It was a wonderfully improvised end to the adventure—a getaway on camelback!—though I didn’t feel completely at ease until we touched down in Europe a day later.

“I must say this wouldn’t have been possible without my friend that reminds unnamed, without him, I’d have been in my hotel each night, watching the Great Pyramid from the window of the hotel room. Thank you!”

Seeing that story, reading it, in words, takes myself back to when

I was told it, not quite as detailed, during a fascinating talk in which Lucinda gave my Journalism Diploma class a few years back.

Fascinated and inspired that day, we’ve been friends pretty much since. I’ve followed her work, shared as much as possible on socials, and had the pleasure, over the past twelve-eighteen months, to be able to produce incredible articles about who she and what she is.

She is Lucinda Grange – Urban Photographer, and friend!!

Facebook www.facebook.com/ lucindagrangestudio/ Twitter twitter.com/UrbanFox Website www.lucindagrange.com/

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PDC to rename Junior trophy in honour of former Director, Tommy Cox Ten months on from the passing of PDC (Professional Darts Corporation) co-founder and director, Tommy Cox, a trophy is to be renamed in his honour.

The sports organisation North Shields’ Cox, alongside Dick Alix, launched in the early nineties, went from strength-to-strength, launching careers of many a star to take to the oche.

Tommy, also a member of the PDC Hall of Fame, passed away in November last year and now the PDC’s Junior Championships are to rename their trophy after the company founder.

Spending over two decades as Tournament Director, and some 25+ years’ service to the PDC as a whole, Tommy contribution is immense so, to have the Junior Darts Corporation name their trophy ‘The Tommy Cox Junior World Darts Championship Trophy’ is an immense honour to Tommy’s son Danny, and the Cox family.

Speaking of the announcement Danny said: “On behalf of the whole family we are honoured that the JDC have decided to name their World Championship trophy the ‘Tommy Cox Junior World Darts Championship Trophy,’”

“He (Tommy) devoted his life to the sport and it is, I’m sure everyone would agree, a much better game for his involvement.

tomorrow shall set out on their darting journeys by competing to lift the trophy that bears his name.

“It is fitting that the champions of

“He was a huge fan of the JDC and all it stands for and we would like to thank (JDC Chairman) Steve Brown and his organisation for this outstanding gesture.”

The early rounds of the Junior World Darts Championship will be held in Gibraltar, on The Rock, in early September as part of the festival of darts whilst the finals themselves will take place in December at ‘Ally Pally’ Alexandra Palace in midDecember.

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When you think of Bare Knuckle Boxing I’m sure most people will think of travellers fighting in car parks or some of the call out videos, both of which you often see popping up on youtube and facebook. What people don’t realise is that over the last few years a company called UBBAD have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring BKB out of the shadows and into the mainstream.

fight defeating Cowboys Michael who was undefeated in 200 BKB fights. There have been a few occasions where Terrill was due to face current UBBAD Champion Michael “The Real Deal” Ferry on other promotions but it has yet to happen, hopefully now that they are both signed to UBBAD there’s nowhere to hide and this eagerly awaited fight won’t be far away. It will be a fan favourite fight when it happens seeing as Ferry’s fans think there is no competition left for him to face, whilst Terril’s fans think Ferry is ducking Terril because he knows that he will lose his title and has been avoiding the hard fights to keep it. With this kind of talk there can only be one outcome and that is for the fight to take place, which will be great news for neutral BKB fans.

They already have some top level fighters on their books, but in recent months they really have pulled out all of the stops with signings like North East fighter Michael Terrill, who is a Champion Kickboxer and who this year won his first ever Bare Knuckle

Another of the big name signing is former UFC fighter Melvin Guillard who is a well-known striker and a massive household name to be added to the UBBAD roster.

He will be taking on the winner of the upcoming Jimmy Sweeney and Dann Henry-Welsh fight. Sweeney

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COMING TO

THE DRIFTERS bring major 100+ Playhouse on Saturday 12th October. date UK Tour to WHITLEY BAY The Drifters will be back on tour in the UK with a brand-new show performing all their classic hits from the last six decades. Following the phenomenal success of their 65th anniversary tour in 2018, they’ve added further live shows for 2019 including one night only at WHITLEY BAY

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The legendary group have previously been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, listed among the greatest artists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine and have produced an incredible list of hits - including; Saturday Night at the Movies, Come on Over to My Place, Stand By Me, Under the

Boardwalk and many, many more!

Following their 65th Anniversary year, The Drifters are back on the road with a line up hand-picked

by Tina Treadwell herself - President of the Treadwell Entertainment Group and owner of The Drifters name.

Tina’s father started the group with Clyde McPhatter and brought

in several greats thereafter such as Johnny Moore and Ben E King.

Her mother Faye was later responsible for bringing the group to the UK and overseeing hits such as More than a number and Kissin’ in the back row.

After the passing of her parents, it was down to Tina to continue the legacy of The Drifters name. Now, following the group’s 65th anniversary year in which Tina announced a brand-new show with

over 60 UK tour dates, the band are continuing to add further 2019 UK tour dates due to phenomenal demand, along with further international tours and other projects, soon to be announced.

Tina, who previously worked for Disney as an executive producer and casting director, believes this current line-up is one of the best to date and looks forward to the upcoming concert tour. “I am very excited that following our

65th anniversary year we have a new show for the fans who we invite to join us in celebrating this incredible and everlasting story of The Drifters.”

See The Drifters live at Whitley Bay Playhouse, Saturday 12th October. Tickets are available via the official tour website www.thedrifters.co.uk or at www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk, or call the venue box office on 0844 248 1588.

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Tina Treadwell - The Driving Force Behind The Drifters As president of Treadwell Entertainment Group, Ms Treadwell develops and manages the careers of groundbreaking talent through the management arm of her company. Recognized for her work as a talent executive (who helped launch the careers of young stars on Disney), she travels both internationally and domestically speaking about careers in film and TV. She also develops and produces film, tv and theatrical projects for her clients through collaborations with leading directors and producers.

She produced and cast the world premiere of Les Wieder’s Sojourner: The story of US abolitionist and early Women’s Rights Advocate Sojourner Truth. It received 7 NAACP Theatre award nominations and won best ensemble. Ms Treadwell was nominated for best producer and music director. She also produced (along with actor / producer Douglas Sills) Oliver Goldstick’s critically acclaimed musical, Dinah Was (starring

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Yvette Freeman of ER fame). She shared a nomination for both an Ovation Award and an NAACP Award for Best Musical. Dinah Was continued Off-Broadway to rave reviews.

A Modern Cinderella Tale” starring Sterling Knight (Disney’s “So Random”), Kiely Williams (star of Cheetah Girls), Thomas Calabro (Melrose Place) and Ashlee Hewitt (Nashville Star).

She served as executive producer and casting director for “ELLE:

As a consultant, she worked as casting liaison to director Andrew Davis on the Disney / Touchstone feature film The Guardian (starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher). She music supervised and co-executive produced (with Jay Landers and Darren Higman) the soundtrack album for Disney’s original animated series Kim Possible. Treadwell was also included in VH1’s documentary series Driven, acknowledged for her contribution in launching the career of ‘NSYNC.

As an independent casting director, she cast The Scream Team (starring Kathy Najimy, Tommy Davidson, Kat Dennings and Eric Idle) as well as You Wish! (staring Spencer Breslin, Lalaine and Tim Reid) for Disney Channel.

During her tenure as an executive at Disney Channel, Ms Treadwell served VP of Talent Development and Alternative Programming. She oversaw talent development, talent relations and casting as well as the development and production of music specials, reality series and documentaries.

Treadwell oversaw the casting of all original movies including the critically acclaimed film, Northern Lights (with Diane Keaton), the Emmy Award winning film The Color of Friendship (directed by Kevin Hooks) and was involved in the development on the first Cheetah Girls movie with producer Debra Martin Chase.

reers of Shia LaBeouf, Hillary Duff and Lee Thompson Young) Mitchell Kriegman’s Bear in the Big Blue House, Douglas Love’s Out of The Box and Evolution’s Bug Juice.

Also at Disney, she developed and was the creative executive in charge of production for the network’s In Concert Series. She spearheaded 14 music specials for artists such as Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, LeAnn Rimes, Backstreet Boys, Aaron Carter and most notably ‘NSYNC. Ms Treadwell was recently invited to become an Arts Emissary for the US Embassies in Singapore,

Malaysia and Jakarta along with her client Erinn Westbrook.

Together with Ms Westbrook, she traveled to all three countries, August of 2014, to speak to students and diplomats about their experiences in the film and television industry.

She earned her degree in English Literature from Princeton University. She is an equestrian, a sprint triathlete and an avid tennis fan.

She is developing two feature films and working on a book about her parents, George and Faye Treadwell, managers of The Drifters and trailblazers in the music business.

She also oversaw series casting for Lizzie McGuire, Even Stevens, The Famous Jett Jackson (through which she helped launch the ca-

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COMING TO

TUSK Festival 2019 Day Tickets Friday 11 October – Sunday 13 October, Sage Gateshead TUSK Festival returns for its 9th edition this October, once again bringing its uniquely diverse programme of adventurous international music to the North East of England.

Continuing its partnership with Sage Gateshead, TUSK again makes full use of the landmark building, its flexible public spaces and truly high-end production values to showcase a TUSK 2019 line-up that is as unwavering as ever. Once more, alongside a truly eclectic and international music menu and TUSK’s trademark slew of UK debuts, festival-goers can again enjoy the festival’s renowned film programme, exhibitions, talks, installations, interactions

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and more.

Friday: Sunn Trio Audrey Chen Lasse+Mariam The Rolling Calf Mir8 Acrid Lactations Saturday: Eleh Ceylon Mange Moor Mother X LCO Jandek Ernie Fegg Ka Baird Luke Poot Sunday: The Necks Grupi Lab Magma Sonic Bothy Mondo Sadists Farmer Glitch

TUSK Festival 2019: Moor Mother X LCO Saturday 12 October, 9.30pm Electronic music artist and poet Moor Mother and London Contemporary Orchestra (who have

provided soundtracks for countless films by Paul Thomas Anderson and more) premier their new collaboration, first proposed by TUSK. CLICK HERE TO BOOK TICKETS TUSK Festival 2019: Magma Sunday 13 October, 7.30pm It seems for most writers the nearest they can get to a definitive categorization of the legendary French band Magma is to call their music prog rock.

Here at TUSK we’re more minded to accept that Magma just don’t fit any stylistic pigeonhole – they’re Magma!

How many times do you hear a band that sounds like the unlikely union of Philip Glass and Funkadelic? That sings in its own invented language? That has been going for 50 years? Then they’re off again and its Coltrane meets Mahavishnu, with added symphonic excess. You can often pick out influences in Magma’s music but the sum they have made of those disparate parts is unlike

anyone else.

African electronic artist Muzi.

Led by drummer and founder Christian Vander, Magma this year celebrate 50 years of existence and this TUSK appearance is one of only two UK shows this year to mark that milestone. Notable fans include snooker legend Steve Davis and dronelord Stephen O’Malley.

Gruff explains: “Pang! is a Welsh language song with an English title. It started life as a folk reel and soon expanded into a ‘list’ song, listing various reasons for pangs; hunger, regret, twitter, pain, bad design etc. Using the English word pang in a Welsh language track may appear weird but I suppose it’s like using the French word ‘Magazine’ in an English song. In that it’s slightly pretentious but completely acceptable.”

Arch druid Julian Cope described them as “truly from another planet”. On record and on stage, the Magma nontet sounds and impacts like something twice the size. Expect a genuine musical spectacular from a band genuinely unlike any other.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK TICKETS

CLICK HERE TO BOOK TICKETS Gruff Rhys Tuesday 15 October, 8pm Gruff Rhys released his new album Pang! this September!

Pang! is a pop album with a couple of verses of Zulu and an English title. Pang! developed unexpectedly over about 18 months. A solo album of songs by Gruff Rhys, produced and mixed by the South

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COMING TO

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets More Games For May Thursday 14 May, 7.30pm Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets are – Nick Mason, Gary Kemp, Guy Pratt, Lee Harris and Dom Beken.

Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets played their first gigs at four intimate and acclaimed live shows at London’s Dingwalls and The Half Moon in Putney in 2018, these were Nick Mason’s first live musical outings since Pink Floyd’s Division Bell Tour in 1994, and the show at Dingwalls was his first since Pink Floyd played at the 2005 Live 8 concert in London.

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The band went on to sell-out theatres around the world including three nights at London’s Roundhouse, where Pink Floyd played some of their most revered early

shows in the 1960s. The 2020 tour will see the band further expand their repertoire and will play songs from Pink Floyd’s early catalogue up to the 1972 album, Obscured

by Clouds.

On 12 September, Nick Mason was named Prog Magazine’s Prog God at the prestigious Progressive Music Awards at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, previous recipients

include Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Jon Anderson, Rick Wakeman, Ian Anderson, Carl Palmer and Steve Howe.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK TICKETS

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ALL ROUND TO THE HAIRY BIKERS’ FOR A NIGHT OF COOKING CONVERSATION WITH SI KING AND DAVE MYERS TICKETS ONSALE 10AM FRIDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2018 National Treasures Si King and Dave Myers, aka The Hairy Bikers have announced a huge nationwide tour. With their irresistible enthusiasm, An Evening With The Hairy Bikers will be an epic night of cooking and conversation.

Big hearted, down-to-earth cooks with a love of good food, Si and Dave have been cooking

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together for more than twenty years. They have created haute cuisine dishes with Michelinstarred chefs and travelled the world in the pursuit of great food. They’ve also explored the length and breadth of the British Isles to discover brand new recipes and create their own fresh takes on cooking classics.

The stars of several hit television shows, they are the UK’s most popular cookery duo with series including The Hairy Bikers’ Mediterranean Adventure, The Hairy Bikers’ Cook Book; Best of British; The Hairy Bikers’ Mississippi Adventure; Everyday Gourmets; The Hairy Bikers’ Food Tour of and two major

prime time series of Mums Know Best all drawing millions of audiences.

No strangers to the live arena, The Hairy Bikers performed their sell-out Big Night Out show in theatres across the UK in 2010 and completed another ambitious nationwide theatre tour in April 2013.

Tickets for The Hairy Bikers are on sale Fri 28 Sep from 10am and can be purchased online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge).

ROMESH RANGANATHAN COMES TO THE CITY HALL FRIDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2019 WITH A BRAND NEW SHOW TICKETS ON SALE 10AM FRIDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2018 Romesh Ranganathan is back with a brand-new show, The Cynic’s Mixtape, and it’s his most brutally honest show yet.

Fresh from The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, A League Of Their Own and Judge Romesh, he’s putting showbiz aside to deliver a carefully-curated

selection of all the things he has found unacceptable since his last tour, including why trying to save the environment is a scam, why none of us are truly free, and his suspicion that his wife is using gluten intolerance to avoid sleeping with him.

Romesh’s cynicism has become his trademark, but since being nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2013 Edinburgh Comedy Awards this deadpan humour has become one of Britain’s most respected and popular comics.

Now, though, it’s time for the

Asian Provocateur to return to his stand-up roots for a while – there’s things he needs to point out, discuss and have a good moan about. Care to join him?

Show drops 2019, don’t miss it.

Tickets for Romesh Ranganathan are on sale Fri 28 Sep from 10am and are £26.50.

Tickets can be purchased online at www. theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge)

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COMING TO

ENGLAND CRICKET LEGEND GRAEME SWANN AND BROADCASTING ICON HENRY BLOFELD ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW UK TOUR ‘DANCING DOWN THE WICKET’

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EDP are delighted to announce that cricket legend and dancing aficionado Graeme Swann and national treasure Henry Blofeld will embark on a brand new UK tour, following the enormous success of their previous live shows The Great British Spin Off and The Great British Spin Off – The Second Innings. The tour will take in an initial total of 20 dates, beginning at the Banbury Mill Arts Centre on 19th September 2019, with a show at Playhouse Whitley Bay

on 17th November 2019, and will conclude at The Lighthouse Kettering on 19th November 2019.

Tickets on sale now from www. dancingdownthewicket.com.

With Graeme hot off the dance floor and Henry’s quick wit, storytelling and sparkling personality in equally good shape, Dancing Down The Wicket is set to be a rip-roaring, belly laughing evening of not to be missed entertainment. The delectable duo will delve behind the scenes of everyone’s favourite dancing show, hear about Henry’s latest retirement antics and of course share their cricketing reviews and insights on 2019 including the Cricket World Cup, The Ashes and plenty, plenty

more.

Graeme Swann said: “What better way to celebrate the greatest ever summer of English cricket than listening to the voice of cricket Henry Blofeld put his unique spin on things and me talk about coming an incredible 7th on Strictly!’’

Henry Blofeld said: “It will be great to have the old firm back in action – caught Blofeld, bowled Swann… What a way to go!’’

Graeme Swann retired from professional cricket in 2013 after an illustrious career that sees him lie seventh on the list of England’s all-time wicket-takers. He made his test debut in 2008 having

broken into the England squad in 1999, played in three Ashes series wins and helped England become the number one test side in the world in 2011. In the same year, he became the top-ranked One Day International bowler and was part of the England side that clinched a first major world title in winning the 2010 World Twenty20.

Since 2014, Swanny has been a summariser for BBC Radio 5 Live’s Test Match Special. He was a regular on national television screens in 2018 as he reached the tenth week of Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Oti Mabuse, sending the British public into raptures with some of his moves.

On stage, Graeme has toured UK theatres twice with Henry Blofeld with their hit debut show The Great British Spin Off, which the pair took back on the road soon after due to phenomenal demand in The Great British Spin Off – The Second Innings.

Henry Blofeld retired from international cricket commentary

in June 2017 following a hugely celebrated 50 years behind the microphone. He has since released best-selling autobiography Over and Out (published by Hodder and Stoughton in 2017), enjoyed a total sell-out live tour with 78 Retired in Spring 2018, resulting in an additional string of sell-out dates for Autumn 2018, presented a four-part series for Classic FM called Blowers Around Britain, appeared on Would I Lie to You? (BBC One) and even recorded a sleep story for Calm.com. Henry’s latest book, My A-Z of Cricket, is out on 3rd October 2019, published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Our ‘Dear Old Thing’s’ plummy tones are known and loved worldwide thanks to his extensive cricket commentary career on both television and radio, and he has commentated on some of the most iconic moments in cricket

over the last half-century. Blowers is the longest serving member of the prestigious Test Match Special cricket commentary team, having joined the show in 1972. Between 1991 and 1994 he worked for Sky Television before returning to the BBC in 1994. His theatre credits include a series of one-man shows around the country, 78 Retired, An Evening with Blowers, and collaborations with John Bly and Peter Baxter including Blofeld and Baxter: Memories of Test Match Special and Rogues on the Road as well as The Great British Spin Off with Graeme Swann.

Tickets for Dancing Down The Wicket are on sale now at www. dancingdownthewicket.com My A-Z of Cricket by Henry Blofeld is out on 31st October 2019, published by Hodder & Stoughton

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ROMESH RANGANATHAN COMES TO THE CITY HALL FRIDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2019 WITH A BRAND NEW SHOW TICKETS ON SALE 10AM FRIDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2018 Romesh Ranganathan is back with a brand-new show, The Cynic’s Mixtape, and it’s his most brutally honest show yet.

Fresh from The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, A League Of Their Own and Judge Romesh, he’s putting showbiz aside to deliver a carefully-curated

selection of all the things he has found unacceptable since his last tour, including why trying to save the environment is a scam, why none of us are truly free, and his suspicion that his wife is using gluten intolerance to avoid sleeping with him.

Romesh’s cynicism has become his trademark, but since being nominated for Best Newcomer at the 2013 Edinburgh Comedy Awards this deadpan humour has become one of Britain’s most respected and popular comics.

Now, though, it’s time for the

Asian Provocateur to return to his stand-up roots for a while – there’s things he needs to point out, discuss and have a good moan about. Care to join him?

Show drops 2019, don’t miss it.

Tickets for Romesh Ranganathan are on sale Fri 28 Sep from 10am and are £26.50.

Tickets can be purchased online at www. theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (Calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge)

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