Latest news with #Manford
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jason Manford reveals drunken lockdown purchase
Jason Manford has revealed he bought the car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang during a night of drinking in lockdown. The comedian, TV presenter and musical theatre star confessed he had a surprise when the theatre prop arrived on his doorstep, as he had forgotten he had ordered it. But the father-of-six revealed the impulse purchase proved worth every penny as his children loved playing in it. Manford appeared on The One Show on Tuesday, 18 March, to chat to hosts Lauren Laverne and Vernon Kay about hosting the Big Night of Musicals on BBC One. The stand-up and actor starred as Caractacus Potts in the UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2016, and revealed he now owns one of the props from the show. Manford explained: "I was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. You have to be careful how you say that at 7 o'clock! I bought the prop, it was a lockdown purchase. You know when we were doing home measures, yeah, and I sort of forgot I'm, I'm not a big drinker at all. I totally forgot about it and then there was one morning, middle of lockdown, and there was a knock at the door and a fella's there with his mask and all that. He said, 'You bought a car?' I said, 'I've just sold one 'cause we we're we're in lockdown because we can't go anywhere. And he just pulled up and I thought, 'Oh yeah, now I remember.' "It was a lockdown purchase!"@JasonManford tells us one musical is so special to him, he has a tribute to it in his front garden 😂Watch #TheOneShow live now 👉 — BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) March 18, 2025 "They were selling all the old props from from the show that I'd gone and I bought it. Anyway, the kids were still young at the time, so they just played with it all the time. Beep beep and singing 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', which was great. And now it's been there and the kids have gotten older and now it's just, I would call it a bug hotel that's nice that all sorts of animals living in there." Manford has four children from his first marriages, teenage twin daughters born in 2009, a daughter born in 2010 and a son born in 2012. He married his second wife, Lucy Dyke in 2017 and they have two children together. Read more: Jason Manford Jason Manford at the Palladium review: observational wit that is harder than it looks (The Standard, 2 min read) Jason Manford on joining Waterloo Road: 'It's like being England manager!'(What to Watch, 5 min read) Jason Manford admits kids embarrassed by his comedy career (Yahoo UK, 3 min read) Manford - who briefly hosted The One Show himself in 2010 - appeared to take over presenting duties from hosts Laverne and Kay as they interviewed The Crown star Elizabeth Debicki. Debicki was on the show to talk about starring alongside Ewan McGregor in new West End play My Master Builder. At the end of the interview, Manford interjected, telling Debicki: "My tip in rehearsals while you're in them at the moment, is every so often just say to the director, 'I think my character would be sat down here.' Just because you've gotta do it for six months, haven't you, then you just get to sit down a bit, so just, you know, try it tomorrow." The show's theme tune began playing in the background as Laverne and Kay began trying to close the show, but struggled to interrupt Manford and Debicki's conversation. Kay said: "You two carry on chatting, we've got to end the show." And the credits began rolling and Manford's mic was cut as he continues chatting, ignoring Kay and Laverne. The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays. The Big Night of Musicals airs on BBC One at 6.50pm on Saturday, 22 March. Elizabeth Debicki stars in My Master Builder at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End from 29 April.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jason Manford at the Palladium review: observational wit that is harder than it looks
'You'd better be funny,' yelled a heckler at the start of Jason Manford's Palladium set. It might have sounded like a threat but it was really a playful request from someone who just wanted to forget their troubles for an evening. I'm sure the fan went home satisfied. When if comes to delivering the funnies, few do it better than Manford. He is versatile too. He plays a headmaster in TV drama Waterloo Road, he presents daytime quiz The Answer Run and if he seems relaxed onstage that might partly be due to the fact that he starred here as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz in 2023. The punning title of his show, A Manford All Seasons, succinctly sums up his style. The Salford-born stand-up excels at a cheeky brand of observational wit which everyone should appreciate. His speciality is relatable storytelling, tapping into truths that have his audience nodding in agreement en masse. His subject matter is often trivial – how we secretly love it when an event is cancelled and we can stay in, the 'ballache' of organising nights out, how children are skilled at waffling at bedtime. There is a lot about the travails of parenthood - as a father of six he is not short of source material. Family life certainly keeps him grounded. He recalls how half an hour after finishing an arena gig he was on his hands and knees doing chores in the kitchen. So much for the glamour of celebrity. Elsewhere there are self-deprecating tales drawn from his showbiz side. How he came off the sub's bench to replace Usain Bolt in a charity football match and let the side down, befriending a former England international, visiting a Chinese sauna on tour and not knowing how naked to get. He is happy to be the butt of the punchlines. Even when the gags are occasionally low-hanging fruit – such as his smutty Dion Dublin routine – Manford is an absolute master of drawing everyone in. He is a brilliant raconteur, the apotheosis of the superstar comedian who is essentially your funniest mate in the pub. He is certainly no mere 'who remembers when Snickers were called Marathon?' nostalgia merchant. One of many highlights is when he offers fans a peep behind the curtain, explaining with a judicious example the scientific percentage game of his accessible humour. Too universal and routines will feel obvious, too obscure and they won't resonate with enough people. In the process he makes you aware that stand-up is much harder than he makes it seem. If you want surrealism or state-of-the-nation sideswipes give this a swerve. But for comedy that simply tickles you Manford consistently hits the sweet spot. Touring until March 26, 2026. Dates and tickets here:
