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Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
BBC Breakfast viewers switch off after 'creepy' interview with national treasure
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video It was more a red face than a red sofa on BBC Breakfast this morning, thanks to Only Fools and Horses star Sir David Jason. The 85-year-old sat down with Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt to discuss his illustrious comedy career, during which he couldn't help but get distracted by Naga. Indeed, the legendary actor left a blushing Naga in fits of laughter, with the star clearly finding the TV presenter 'lovely jubbly'.Just as he was about to share an anecdote from his illustrious career, Sir David remarked, 'It's Naga, I just can't keep my eyes off her!' A red-faced Naga then asked the star 'Do you always do as you're told?' After he refused to spill any details about his latest project, saying he was under strict orders to keep it under wraps. Smiling, David said, 'Oh, Naga! Yes, I will, for certain people. Not you, Charlie!' Viewers at home wasted no time sharing their reactions on social media after the interview aired. Some commented that they found the interaction 'creepy' with Gary Robinson writing on X that David was 'nothing short of creepy on @BBCBreakfast this morning – national treasure of not'.One viewer went as far as to post 'Poor old sod…time for a nap I think!' with another referring to Sir David as a 'randy old goat', with a fourth person commenting that 'That piece with David Jason was way too long'. X user Ruth Green commented that 'I enjoy David Jason's work, but I had to switch off the interview as it was so embarrassing. Well done to Naga for being dignified.' However, there was some praise for Sir David, 85, with one X user writing, 'Lovely to see Sir David Jason, a great example of decency, hard work and hilarious TV for decades. A bright spot in this programme today.' Others added that 'Sir David Jason is a legend' and that he was an 'absolute delight' The comedy star clearly only had eyes for Naga, issuing a jaunty 'See you later!' as she was left giggling, leaving her co-star Charlie to wrap up proceedings. As well as entertaining with anecdotes from his 60 years in show business, he was also promoting his forthcoming tour, An Evening With Sir David Jason. More Trending This event will see Sir David reflect on his long career, and he'll be joined by special guests. Sir David made quite the impression from the start on the segment, with Charlie commenting that: 'Can I just describe for the viewers who are watching this morning, you make an entrance. 'I was quite impressed. As you came into our studio a moment ago, you were saying hello to everyone. You know how to make an entrance, would that be fair to say?' View More » It was clear to see that the actor was equally impressed with his co-stars, but he only had eyes for one of the presenting duo. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘TikTok is like an old-school variety show': what's behind the surprising boom in ventriloquism?
It is the greatest duet, performed solo. Ventriloquism acts became a popular entertainment in the 18th century and have flickered in and out of favour ever since, with a particular heyday on TV in the 1970s and 80s. Now a new generation of performers are reimagining the practice of 'throwing your voice' to a puppet or dummy – and they are doing so not just in cabaret and comedy clubs but also on social media feeds. The art form has such a rich history that its modern-day practitioners can be 'perceived as just doing an old thing', says 25-year-old Max Fulham, who is in Edinburgh with his debut fringe show, Full of Ham. Fulham fell in love with ventriloquism when he was nine, absorbing everything he could find about the craft online. 'I watched really old-school stuff like Ray Alan, Arthur Worsley and Terri Rogers … I have a massive appreciation for them.' Despite learning his trade with conventional puppets, Fulham now uses more unusual tricks in his act. 'I think what a lot of ventriloquists are doing now is trying to modernise,' he says. In Full of Ham, this means audiences will be treated to sketch comedy, ventriloquism with objects, and some ventriloquism without anything that resembles a puppet at all. 'It is very stripped back. That's why it feels fresh,' Fulham says. 'The stuff without puppets feels like a new path,' he continues. In the show, Fulham uses his voice to become characters that exist only in 'the audience's imagination' while being 'an extension' of himself. 'It has been a lot of fun to play with … it is the first time I've felt I've been truly alone on stage.' Fulham is not the only ventriloquist trying to push boundaries. The Australian David Salter, who performs the show An Evening With Dame Granny Smith, uses an apple as his puppet. 'The idea is that I'm having an interview with Australia's most famous apple of screen and stage,' he says. All he has to do to prepare his onstage companion is bite a face into the fruit 'and leave it in the fridge for a couple of days', he says. 'It is that simple. But there's something very whimsical about a puppet that sets out a childlike imagination.' Salter learned this firsthand. He began his career performing with a sock puppet at children's parties, before branching out into work for older audiences. He cites his early inspirations as Nina Conti and fellow Australian Shari Lewis. While the content of his shows has shifted dramatically, one thing has remained constant. With ventriloquism, the audience are 'having a shared hallucination', he says. 'You have to leave your sense of disbelief at the door.' Believing in the puppet is essential for performers, too. Lachlan Werner's first show, 2023's Voices of Evil, was created for his witch puppet, Brew, which he had saved up for weeks to buy from a toy shop in Worcester when he was seven. 'We're like old friends,' he says. 'I will talk to her off stage, and before a gig I'll be like, 'Are you ready?'' For Werner, this relationship makes his performance. 'It feels different to being on stage with someone else, but I do feel as if I always have backup,' he says, specifically mentioning the moments his puppet has 'saved him' from a flop. 'There is a strange thing where, if I think I'm not going to be funny today, I can look at Brew and she seems to say, 'I'm good, we'll be OK.'' The relationship between performer and puppet has always been central to ventriloquism's odd allure. At the peak of his career, the now 80-year-old Roger De Courcey appeared on the 1976 Royal Variety Performance and made regular TV appearances with his sidekick, the growly teddy Nookie Bear. 'You always feel there are two of you. You must believe in the bear,' he says. De Courcey came up during ventriloquism's golden age, when it dominated variety shows, primetime TV and children's programming. He credits his success to strong comic timing. 'I was lucky because I was funny,' he says. 'You've got to be able to think on your feet, just like a comic.' What drew him to ventriloquism was the licence it offered. 'As a 'vent', you have a freedom because you can say what you want. It's not you, it's that little fellow sitting on your knee.' A puppet can get away with saying what a person can't. The art form still thrives on provocation. In Werner's new show, WonderTwunk, he performs alongside a 'really horrible puppet' that is nearly lifesize. 'He's like the villain of the piece, just a really icky character – the only puppet I have that I don't like to be around.' For Werner, as with many ventriloquists, the key lies in building a full, believable persona. But which comes first: the puppet or its personality? For Fulham, the puppet he has used most over the years – Grandad – is rooted in old ventriloquist tropes. 'I'm fully aware that a lot of ventriloquists in the past, and still now, will have an old man character,' he says. 'It is sort of the archetypal puppet.' One of Werner's most recent creations came from a 'horrid boss character' he used to portray at gigs. 'I was playing him with my own body and voice, and then wanted him in the show,' Werner says. Now, a version of him is in WonderTwunk too: a full-sized dad character, designed by puppeteer and prop-maker Freddie Hayes. 'He's a puppet that feels like he's been grown out of me … he's like a mix of Donald Trump, Cruella de Vil and Liza Minnelli,' says Werner. The performer known as Steph Ventriloquist, meanwhile, specifically ordered and designed one of her puppets, Kaylee, to be a parody of the Kardashians. 'I knew exactly what her voice was going to be before I even got her,' she says. No matter how surreal the act, things ultimately always come back to the performer and their hand. Good technique matters – even though De Courcey insists throughout our conversation that he 'got away with' not having much of it. Still, most ventriloquists will have spent hours in front of the mirror, learning to keep their lips perfectly still. Steph first picked up a puppet during lockdown, and dedicated months to mastering the subtle arts of mouth control and hand movement. 'I had all this time on my hands, so I thought, 'OK, let's learn how to do this,'' she says. It took her around nine months to 'get good', she estimates, and she talks me through the fine details that made the difference: keeping the jaw relaxed, placing the tongue precisely, knowing which letters are most challenging. 'I spent more hours than I'd like to admit looking at myself. You have to, so you can see which words work.' Such precision is more important than ever in the age of social media, where tight camera angles leave no margin for error. Steph now has more than 22,000 followers on TikTok, where she regularly posts clips with her puppets. 'You see quite a few ventriloquists on TikTok,' she says. 'And I think those videos are making people stop and go: 'OK, that's actually quite cool.'' Fulham believes ventriloquism's growing visibility online is key to its resurgence. 'It has a bit of a visual hook that stops people scrolling,' he says. 'It's probably something most people haven't seen before.' The short-form content mirrors the quick bursts of performance that audiences would see from ventriloquists on old variety show bills, too. 'A ventriloquist would do, like, one minute of something on a TV show – that was all the time they had,' says Werner. 'TikTok feels like that very old-school variety thing, where you see a tiny gimmick and then they go off again.' Salter is confident that anyone who puts their mind to it can become a ventriloquist. When he began, he took out a book from the library and binge-watched YouTube videos. 'If you watch the best people do it, you'll really get a sense for the craft,' he says. 'But you have to really love it, because it does take a lot of time and effort.' For those who do put in the hours, the reward is a kind of magic: the ability to bring a character to life with only your hands, your voice and a great deal of imagination. 'It is a wonderful thing,' says De Courcey. 'With Nookie Bear, I could tell anyone to fuck off and it didn't matter.' Will the art ever regain the heights of De Courcey's television heyday? Fulham isn't so sure. 'Things have moved to the internet now,' he says. 'There isn't that same culture of late-night TV any more.' Salter thinks it is a possibility: 'It is still a niche act. But look what happened with Drag Race … the underground can just pop on to TV and become mainstream.' Whatever happens next, it is clear that a whole new generation of ventriloquists have begun to find their voices. Max Fulham: Full of Ham is at Pleasance Courtyard until 25 August. Lachlan Werner: WonderTwunk is at Pleasance Dome until 24 August. An Evening with Dame Granny Smith is at Underbelly George Square until 25 August. Steph Ventriloquist is on TikTok.
Extra.ie
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Pricing outrage as Obama Dublin 'cheap seats' sell out in seconds
Hope disappeared for plenty of Barack Obama fans after standard-priced tickets for his September appearance in Dublin were gone within seconds on Thursday morning. And those who snapped up seats for the event on September 26 won't have much change left, with tickets costing upwards of €130. The event is called An Evening With President Barack Obama and will see the two-time US president in conversation with journalist Fintan O'Toole. Barack Obama holding a hurley as he shares a laugh with Enda Kenny on his visit to Ireland in 2011. Pic: Maxwells/Pool/AFP via Getty Images General sale began on Thursday at 10am and, after waiting in Ticketmaster's digital queue, many people were shocked to see the standard tickets, which were priced from €25-€30, were already gone. Many were disappointed given that Ticketmaster had claimed tickets would be available from €25-€30, yet after queueing for a few minutes, they were able to purchase only higher-tier tickets, all priced upwards of €130. Barack Obama enjoying a pint of Guinness at a pub in Moneygall in Co Offaly in 2011. Pic: Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images The cheapest tickets to the event currently available on the Ticketmaster website are priced at €143.75. These tickets will only gain you access to the very back of the arena. To sit in the front section, just rows away from the former US president, you could expect to pay €368.75. There is also an option for those who wish to be even closer to Obama – a VIP ticket which promises a photo opportunity, premium seating, a champagne reception and a signed copy of his new book, A Promised Land. These tickets will set purchasers back over €2,000. This marks yet another controversy for online ticket manager Ticketmaster after tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras tour sold out in seconds in June 2024, and Oasis superfans faced very high prices for the band's reunion gig in Croke Park next month. Former US president Barack Obama. Pic:Ticketmaster told that lower-price tickets tend to sell first. The event will see Mr Obama discuss his two terms as president and the future of America. A similar event is due to take place in London's O2 arena. Although it is unclear how much the former president is making from the events, it marks another lucrative media deal for him after he signed a multi-year deal to produce content for Netflix in 2018.
Edinburgh Live
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Rylan Clark says he made one major change after twice surviving heart failure
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Celebrity Gogglebox favourite Rylan Clark has opened up about a significant lifestyle adjustment he made following a heart failure scare four years back. The 36-year-old BBC Radio 2 host shared that the frightening episode prompted him to completely overhaul his morning beverage choice. Speaking to The Times, Rylan said that he's ditched regular coffee for the decaf variety after the health crisis, which happened whilst he was going through his split from former husband Dan Neal, who he was married to between 2015 and 2021. Discussing his daily morning ritual, the Doctor Who star said: "The first thing I do is have a coffee, which has to be decaf after my heart failure four years ago - when I was getting divorced I ended up in an ambulance twice. "I have three or four cups to make myself function and the only breakfast I have is a sachet of collagen in a shake. Believe it or not, I'm very picky about what I put in my mouth; I like a tropical one." This revelation isn't the first time Rylan has candidly discussed battling heart failure throughout his divorce. (Image: Getty) At 'An Evening With Rylan Clark' held at London's Royal Festival Hall in 2022, he detailed how the immense stress caused his body to completely break down, according to the Metro. He said: "There were weeks that I couldn't speak. That sounds ridiculous because I can talk for England. My mum was genuinely concerned at one point that I'd had a stroke. "It was like my body had shut down. Twice last year I ended up back in an ambulance because my heart had failed and it was really strange because I just remember for a couple of weeks going, 'My heart hurts.'. "My heart had to be restarted. I just remember lying in resus[citation], because I had these pads on with all these wires, and not understanding what it was." After his divorce from Mr Neal, Rylan revealed that his biggest fear was solitude, which prompted the former X Factor contestant to recognise the importance of learning to cope with being by himself. He explained: "The one thing I was most frightened of was being on my own. But I think I was so frightened of being alone that I think that's what contributed to my downfall and my spiral that I was in. "But I've actually learnt to be alright on my own and I think that was a really important lesson to learn at the age of 33." What is heart failure? The NHS explains that heart failure develops when the heart "is unable to pump blood around the body properly. It usually happens because the heart has become too weak or stiff". The health service notes that warning signs of heart failure can include: Swollen ankles and legs Feeling lightheaded or fainting Breathlessness after activity or at rest Feeling tired most of the time and finding exercise exhausting A persistent cough Dizziness Anyone with worries should get in touch with their GP or look for additional guidance through the NHS.
Scottish Sun
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Huge Hollyoaks star quits after two years – sparking hopes of a return to iconic comedy series
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A HUGE Hollyoaks star has quit the show after 18 months - but it has sparked hopes of a return to one of her most iconic roles. Actress Sherrie Hewson joined the Channel 4 soap last year as the matriarch of the twisted Blake family with her serial killer son Jez. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 3 Sherrie Hewson has quit Hollyoaks after two years Credit: Splash News 3 The actress plays serial killer Jez Blake's twisted mum Martha Credit: Lime Pictures 3 It has sparked hopes that Sherrie will return to the Benidorm reboot as Joyce Temple Savage Credit: Tiger Aspect Productions And now it appears Sherrie's character Martha will fall prey to the son she has protected for years when she bows out in dramatic scenes later this year. A source said: 'Sherrie's loved her time at Hollyoaks as Martha but she was only ever going to be in the show for a limited time. 'Martha's become an iconic character but the end is nigh for her as the show races towards its 30th anniversary later this year. 'There are lots of twists and turns to play out over the coming months but it's definitely going to be an exit to remember.' And while it is bad news for Hollyoaks fans, it has sparked hopes that Sherrie will be returning to her iconic comedy role in Benidorm. The star played Solana manageress Joyce Temple Savage in the ITV sitcom between 2012 and it's ending in 2018. The Sun previously revealed how the show is in line for a comeback after ITV bosses approached creator Derren Litten about a revivial. Sherrie said her own tour, An Evening With Sherrie Hewson: 'I do know ITV have got new scripts and they love them and think they are wonderful.' She added: 'The problem with Benidorm is that it's probably one of the most expensive shows ever because it's in Spain, we have a Spanish crew, we have a British crew, so it costs a fortune to make. Benidorm Trailer ITV 'But it's on twice a day every day and those ratings are still as high as they ever were, so I think it will [return]. 'And I think they [ITV bosses] love the scripts anyway and Derren said he laughed out loud when he wrote them so I don't think there's any question, it's just when.'
